New Data from Greenland for Arctic Climate Research

Published: 18 December 2012

In 2010, researchers installed a powerful suite of climate and weather instruments at Greenland’s frozen research outpost, Summit Station, for a long-term project called the Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric State, and Precipitation over Summit, or ICECAPS. Initial data from this project, funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), are now available through the ARM Data Archive.

Data from ICECAPS are an important contribution to the Arctic Observing Network, an NSF effort to expand understanding of Arctic climate change. Scientist will use these data to study how cloud and atmospheric processes—particularly clouds, precipitation, and atmospheric structure—contribute to recent warming and melting in the Arctic.

Instruments at the station include a cloud radar, two microwave radiometers, an Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer, an X-band precipitation sensor, a sodar, and a cloud and aerosol polarization and backscatter lidar, as well as a ceilometer and micropulse lidar provided by the ARM Facility. Weather balloons are also launched twice daily to measure the atmospheric structure above the station.

ICECAPS measurements will continue through at least the summer of 2013, with a potential 5-year extension beyond then. If the extension is granted, the ARM instrumentation will remain at Summit and additional aerosol measurements will augment the existing cloud and atmosphere observations. This enhancement creates possibilities for new studies focused on cloud-aerosol interactions. Over the life of the ICECAPS project, data will continue to be updated at the ARM Data Archive.