The Cryosphere
The Cryosphere
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Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2159-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-2159-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 12, issue 6
Research article
 | 
27 Jun 2018
Research article |  | 27 Jun 2018

Sunlight, clouds, sea ice, albedo, and the radiative budget: the umbrella versus the blanket

Donald K. Perovich

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Short summary
The balance of longwave and shortwave radiation plays a central role in the summer melt of Arctic sea ice. It is governed by clouds and surface albedo. The basic question is what causes more melting, sunny skies or cloudy skies. It depends on the albedo of the ice surface. For snow-covered or bare ice, sunny skies always result in less radiative heat input. In contrast, the open ocean always has, and melt ponds usually have, more radiative input under sunny skies than cloudy skies.
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