Airborne springtime IOP measurements of radiative exchange and albedos in the Barrow, Alaska, region and comparisons to growing season results

Abstract

On April 8, 1999, at approximately local solar noon, airborne measurements of longwave and shortwave radiation were conducted in the Barrow, Alaska, region. Over the pack ice (100 km north of Point Barrow), albedo averaged 0.83, net radiation flux (average 32.4 W m-2) was into the surface, and surface temperatures were positively correlated to observed cloudiness and measured sky temperatures. Over the coastal "fast" ice and tundra, albedo averaged 0.90, net radiation flux (average 2.7 W m-2) was out of the surface, and surface temperatures were not significantly correlated to observed cloudiness or measured sky temperatures. Albedo was not a significant function of observed variation in cloudiness or sky temperature but may have been affected by measurable snowfall the previous day at Barrow. Compared to growing season albedos, springtime albedos had lower coefficients of variation. Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.