Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE): The Arctic Radiant Energy System During the Critical Seasonal Ice Transition

Abstract

ASA?s Arctic Radiation-IceBridge Sea and Ice Experiment (ARISE) acquired unique aircraft data on atmospheric radiation and sea-ice properties during the critical late-summer to autumn sea-ice minimum and commencement of re-freezing. The C-130 aircraft flew 15 missions over the Beaufort Sea between 4 and 24 September 2014. ARISE deployed a shortwave and longwave Broadband Radiometer system (BBR) from the Naval Research Laboratory, a Solar Spectral Flux Radiometer (SSFR) from the University of Colorado, the NASA Ames Research Center Spectral sky-scanning, zenith viewing sunphotometer (4STAR), cloud microprobes from NASA Langley Research Center, and the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center?s Land, Vegetation and Ice Sensor (LVIS) laser altimeter system. These instruments sampled the radiant energy exchange between clouds and a variety of sea-ice scenarios, including prior to and after re-freezing began. The most critical and unique aspect of ARISE mission planning was to coordinate the flight tracks with NASA Cloud and Earth Radiant Energy System (CERES) satellite sensor observations, in such a way satellite sensor angular dependence models and derived top-of-atmosphere fluxes could be validated against the aircraft data over large grid box domains of order 100-200 km. This was accomplished over open ocean, over the marginal ice zone (MIZ), and over a region of heavy sea-ice concentration, in cloudy and clear skies. ARISE data will be valuable for the community for providing a better interpretation of satellite energy budget measurements in the Arctic, and for process studies involving ice-cloud-atmosphere energy exchange during the sea-ice transition period.