On the cloud and precipitating systems over the Mackenzie Basin

Abstract

Cloud systems and their associated precipitation are fundamental aspects of the Mackenzie Basin climate system. Special measurements of these systems, including cloud radar sampling, were carried out in three intense observing periods between autumn 1998 and spring 1999 at Fort Simpson near the center of the basin. Cloud and precipitation features were closely linked to synoptic forcing conditions. Multi-layering of clouds was common and precipitation was typically reduced through sublimation beneath or between cloud layers. Proposed satellite missions such as CloudSat will detect many of the clouds but will lead to biases in inferred cloud thickness and multi-layering. State-of-the-art operational models tend to produce too much high cloud but too little surface precipitation due to sublimation and evaporation rates being too high. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.