Saturday Talk 7-26-2014
Nok Acker
The Effect of Ice Crystal Growth on Stratocumulus Clouds
WHO: Kara Sulia
WHEN: Saturday, July 26, 2014, at 1:30 pm
WHERE: Barrow Arctic Research Center
(new science building)
ALL AGES WELCOME
Need a ride? A van will be in front of Cold Man Coffee at 1:00,
at Tuzzy Library at 1:15 pm to
take people to and from the presentation.
HOST: Nokinba Acker, BASC
Stratocumulus clouds containing both liquid and ice are common in the Arctic. Because ice is
more effective at incorporating water vapor molecules onto its surface than liquid, they grow in
size and mass more quickly than liquid. Because of this, it is common for the liquid drops to
evaporate so that more water vapor can be supplied for ice growth. A consequence of this loss
in liquid mass is the thinning of the cloud layer, or even complete cloud dissipation. The loss of
a cloud affects the surface temperature as more solar radiation can reach the surface during the
day, and more heat is lost from the earth’s surface at night that would otherwise be “trapped” by
the cloud. Changes in surface and above-surface air temperatures results in changes in Arctic
sea-ice, potentially impacting the Arctic climate.The effect of ice particle growth at the expense of the liquid mass is even more important when
ice particle shape is considered. Improvements to cloud models show that a particle that has a
“snowflake-like” shape grows more quickly and evaporates the available liquid more effectively
than a spherical particle, which is how particles are commonly represented in cloud and climate
models. The speed in which liquid is lost and clouds are dissipated can have a large overall
impact on the predicted air and surface temperatures, and therefore it is important to consider
the shapes of ice particles in models.
Brought to you by the Barrow Arctic Science Consortium
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SCHOOLYARD PROJECT
For more information call Nokinba Acker at 852-4881 or email – nok....@arcticscience.org