Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau
Supersaturation often occurs at the top of the troposphere where cirrus clouds form, but is comparatively unusual near the surface where the air is generally warmer and laden with liquid and/or ice condensation nuclei. One exception is the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau. One year of atmospher...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:124059c874624f0999285e0e8c8d2d2d 2023-05-15T14:00:13+02:00 Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau C. Genthon L. Piard E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine M. Casado H. Gallée 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 https://doaj.org/article/124059c874624f0999285e0e8c8d2d2d EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/691/2017/acp-17-691-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 1680-7316 1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 https://doaj.org/article/124059c874624f0999285e0e8c8d2d2d Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 691-704 (2017) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 2022-12-31T05:19:55Z Supersaturation often occurs at the top of the troposphere where cirrus clouds form, but is comparatively unusual near the surface where the air is generally warmer and laden with liquid and/or ice condensation nuclei. One exception is the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau. One year of atmospheric moisture measurement at the surface of Dome C on the East Antarctic Plateau is presented. The measurements are obtained using commercial hygrometry sensors modified to allow air sampling without affecting the moisture content, even in the case of supersaturation. Supersaturation is found to be very frequent. Common unadapted hygrometry sensors generally fail to report supersaturation, and most reports of atmospheric moisture on the Antarctic Plateau are thus likely biased low. The measurements are compared with results from two models implementing cold microphysics parameterizations: the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts through its operational analyses, and the Model Atmosphérique Régional. As in the observations, supersaturation is frequent in the models but the statistical distribution differs both between models and observations and between the two models, leaving much room for model improvement. This is unlikely to strongly affect estimations of surface sublimation because supersaturation is more frequent as temperature is lower, and moisture quantities and thus water fluxes are small anyway. Ignoring supersaturation may be a more serious issue when considering water isotopes, a tracer of phase change and temperature, largely used to reconstruct past climates and environments from ice cores. Because observations are easier in the surface atmosphere, longer and more continuous in situ observation series of atmospheric supersaturation can be obtained than higher in the atmosphere to test parameterizations of cold microphysics, such as those used in the formation of high-altitude cirrus clouds in meteorological and climate models. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 17 1 691 704 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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language |
English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
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Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 C. Genthon L. Piard E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine M. Casado H. Gallée Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Supersaturation often occurs at the top of the troposphere where cirrus clouds form, but is comparatively unusual near the surface where the air is generally warmer and laden with liquid and/or ice condensation nuclei. One exception is the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau. One year of atmospheric moisture measurement at the surface of Dome C on the East Antarctic Plateau is presented. The measurements are obtained using commercial hygrometry sensors modified to allow air sampling without affecting the moisture content, even in the case of supersaturation. Supersaturation is found to be very frequent. Common unadapted hygrometry sensors generally fail to report supersaturation, and most reports of atmospheric moisture on the Antarctic Plateau are thus likely biased low. The measurements are compared with results from two models implementing cold microphysics parameterizations: the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts through its operational analyses, and the Model Atmosphérique Régional. As in the observations, supersaturation is frequent in the models but the statistical distribution differs both between models and observations and between the two models, leaving much room for model improvement. This is unlikely to strongly affect estimations of surface sublimation because supersaturation is more frequent as temperature is lower, and moisture quantities and thus water fluxes are small anyway. Ignoring supersaturation may be a more serious issue when considering water isotopes, a tracer of phase change and temperature, largely used to reconstruct past climates and environments from ice cores. Because observations are easier in the surface atmosphere, longer and more continuous in situ observation series of atmospheric supersaturation can be obtained than higher in the atmosphere to test parameterizations of cold microphysics, such as those used in the formation of high-altitude cirrus clouds in meteorological and climate models. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Genthon L. Piard E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine M. Casado H. Gallée |
author_facet |
C. Genthon L. Piard E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine M. Casado H. Gallée |
author_sort |
C. Genthon |
title |
Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_short |
Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_full |
Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_sort |
atmospheric moisture supersaturation in the near-surface atmosphere at dome c, antarctic plateau |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 https://doaj.org/article/124059c874624f0999285e0e8c8d2d2d |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 17, Iss 1, Pp 691-704 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/17/691/2017/acp-17-691-2017.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 1680-7316 1680-7324 doi:10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 https://doaj.org/article/124059c874624f0999285e0e8c8d2d2d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-691-2017 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
17 |
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1 |
container_start_page |
691 |
op_container_end_page |
704 |
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1766269214209867776 |