Temporal and spatial changes in the environmental lapse rate distribution over the Arctic

Abstract

The Environmental Lapse Rate (ELR) depicts how the temperature near the surface varies with altitude and can be used for temperature downscaling coarse resolution data and for understanding boundary layer processes. We calculated the ELR using ERA5 reanalysis data, examined its temporal and larger-scale spatial variability, and found a prevalent seasonal ELR cycle over the Arctic. There are extensive positive ELR values resulting from pervasive inversions over most of the Arctic in winter; hence, we also explored the possible factors that lead to inversions in polar regions. Our results can serve as a reference for future research on the inversions in different morphological regions at different pressure levels. By improving the characterization of the ELR, we obtain a more explicit representation of the vertical temperature variation across the Arctic region and examine potential trends in ELR over time. Our results challenge the commonly assumed fixed ELR values that are typically used in the Arctic region in, for example, correcting ice-core temperature reconstructions or estimating higher-resolution runoff from land ice.