Replication Data for: Differences in cloud optical and microphysical properties in the Arc

Cloud property data derived from Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (AERI) measurements at polar field sites in Eureka, Canada, and McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The dataset contains variables like optical depth, ice fraction, and effective radii for three distinct subsets spanning 2006 to 2022. Joseph Hung and Kimberly Strong authored this replication data for a 2026 submission.

Use Cases

• Compare cloud microphysical properties between the Arctic and Antarctic based on the described optical depth and effective radius variables.
• Analyze temporal trends in polar cloud characteristics using the timestamped data spanning up to 16 years.
• Validate or improve climate model parameterizations for cloud processes based on the retrieved ice fraction and liquid effective radius.
• Study the relationship between cloud properties and atmospheric conditions using the included temperature and precipitable water vapour data.

Strengths

• Data spans a long temporal range, with subsets covering periods from 2006 to 2022.
• Provides comparative measurements from two distinct polar regions, the Arctic and Antarctic.
• Includes multiple derived cloud property variables such as optical depth, ice fraction, and effective radii.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.

Provenance

Source

Borealis Harvested Dataverse, authored by Joseph Hung.

Collection Method

Derived from downwelling atmospheric emission measurements by AERI instruments, with cloud boundary information retrieved via CO2 slicing or prescribed from lidar.

Time Range

2006 to 2022

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-25 04:16:59; freshness should be verified.

Geography

Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) in Eureka, Nunavut, Canada (80N, 86W) and McMurdo Station, Antarctica (77S, 166E).