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Abstract
Albedo is a key component in the energy budget of the Arctic region, and a thorough understanding of it is essential for climate modelling. An analysis of the changes in Arctic sea-ice from 1982 to 2009 indicates that late summer sea-ice albedo is becoming dimmer. The rate of albedo decrease is shown to be accelerating over the study period. The surface albedo of the Arctic sea-ice zone is a crucial component in the energy budget of the Arctic region1,2. The treatment of sea-ice albedo has been identified as an important source of variability in the future sea-ice mass loss forecasts in coupled climate models3. There is a clear need to establish data sets of Arctic sea-ice albedo to study the changes based on observational data and to aid future modelling efforts. Here we present an analysis of observed changes in the mean albedo of the Arctic sea-ice zone using a data set consisting of 28 years of homogenized satellite data4. Along with the albedo reduction resulting from the well-known loss of late-summer sea-ice cover5,6, we show that the mean albedo of the remaining Arctic sea-ice zone is decreasing. The change per decade in the mean August sea-ice zone albedo is −0.029±0.011. All albedo trends, except for the sea-ice zone in May, are significant with a 99% confidence interval. Variations in mean sea-ice albedo can be explained using sea-ice concentration, surface air temperature and elapsed time from onset of melt as drivers.Cite this article
Riihelä, A., Manninen, T. & Laine, V. Observed changes in the albedo of the Arctic sea-ice zone for the period 1982–2009. Nature Clim Change 3, 895–898 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1963 