Data · dataset · 2026
Arctic and Antarctic sea ice mean state in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 and the influence of atmospheric chemistry
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
Arctic and Antarctic sea ice has undergone significant and rapid change with the changing climate.
Description
Here, we present preindustrial and historical results from the newly released Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) to assess the Arctic and Antarctic sea ice. Two configurations of the CESM2 are available that differ only in their atmospheric model top and the inclusion of comprehensive atmospheric chemistry, including prognostic aerosols.
The CESM2 configuration with comprehensive atmospheric chemistry has significantly thicker Arctic sea ice year-round and better captures decreasing trends in sea ice extent and volume over the satellite period. In the Antarctic, both CESM configurations have similar mean state ice extent and volume, but the ice extent trends are opposite to satellite observations. We find that differences in the Arctic sea ice between CESM2 configurations are the result of differences in liquid clouds.
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Over the Arctic, the CESM2 configuration without prognostic aerosol formation has fewer aerosols to form cloud condensation nuclei, leading to thinner liquid clouds. As a result, the sea ice receives much more shortwave radiation early in the melt season, driving a stronger ice albedo feedback and leading to additional sea ice loss and significantly thinner ice year-round. The aerosols necessary for the Arctic liquid cloud formation are produced from different precursor emissions and transported to the Arctic.
Thus, the main reason sea ice differs in the Arctic is the transport of cloud-impacting aerosols into the region, while the Antarctic remains relatively pristine from extrapolar aerosol transport.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7xk8jts ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/arctic-and-antarctic-sea-ice-mean-state-in-the-communi… ↗
National Center for Atmospheric Research dataset page
landing page · from data ucar edu
Catalogue records · 1
- CKAN API data.ucar.edu/api/3/action/package_show?id=9a8dd9e1-e0c8-4bf0-ab2d-0e7739ccc… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Satellite remote sensing 65%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | 9a8dd9e1-e0c8-4bf0-ab2d-0e7739ccca96 | 12 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:ocean-atmospheric | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[modality].local:modality:remote-sensing | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (65%) |
| created_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /notes |
| publication_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /title |
| updated_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 |