Diverse cloud radiative effects and global surface temperature simulations induced by different ice cloud optical property parameterizations

The representation of ice cloud optical properties in climate models has long been a difficult problem. Very different ice cloud optical property parameterization schemes developed based on very different assumptions of ice particle shape habits, particle size distributions, and surface roughness conditions, are used in various models. It is not clear as to how simulated climate variables are affected by the ice cloud optical property parameterizations. A total of five ice cloud optical property parameterization schemes, including three based on the ice habit mixtures suitable for general ice clouds, mid-latitude synoptic ice clouds, and tropical deep convective ice clouds, and the other two based on single ice habits (smooth hexagonal column and severely roughened column aggregate), are developed under a same framework and are implemented in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Atmospheric Model version 5. A series of atmosphere-only climate simulations are carried out for each of the five cases with different ice parameterizations. The differences in the simulated top of the atmosphere shortwave and longwave cloud radiative effects (CREs) are evaluated, and the global averaged net CRE differences among different cases range from − 1.93 to 1.03 Wm(−2). The corresponding changes in simulated surface temperature are found to be most prominent on continental regions which amount to several degrees in Kelvin. Our results indicate the importance of choosing a reasonable ice cloud optical property parameterization in climate simulations.