#A05 High Resolution Modeling and Measurements in the Arctic

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Abstract

We present results from a variety of simulations targeted at understanding mixed-phase low clouds in the Arctic, particularly over the North Slope of Alaska.   We will show the resolution sensitivity and phase partioning of cloud amount in the Department of Energy’s ACME model with uniform low, uniform high, and variable resolutions with active atmosphere and land components.   These results are compared with observations.   The modeled cloud profiles differ substantially between the resolutions with potential for convergence.  We also present results from simulations with a Large Eddy Simulation (LES) model, the System for Atmospheric Modeling (SAM), and a super-parameterized version of the atmospheric model in ACME.    The stand-alone LES gives us insight into the phase partitioning of the cloud when compared with sensors mounted on a tethered balloon system taking in situ cloud measurements during various campaigns at Oliktok Point, Alaska.   We find that the constrained ice crystal concentration plays a large role in the amount of liquid cloud produced when compared to observations.  Synergistically, we will show work on detecting and tracking Arctic storms in the variable-resolution ACME configuration with the Stride Search software.  We have expectations that this work will aid in informing the future ACME-Arctic regionally refined grid configuration.