Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau
The air at the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau is very cold, dry and clean. Under such conditions, the atmospheric moisture can significantly deviate from thermodynamic equilibrium, and supersaturation with respect to ice can occur. Most conventional humidity sensors for meteorological applica...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8bef62dab99740d885019e883e21769f 2023-05-15T13:47:14+02:00 Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau C. Genthon D. E. Veron E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine L. Piard 2022-04-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 https://doaj.org/article/8bef62dab99740d885019e883e21769f EN eng Copernicus Publications https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/1571/2022/essd-14-1571-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1866-3508 https://doaj.org/toc/1866-3516 doi:10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 1866-3508 1866-3516 https://doaj.org/article/8bef62dab99740d885019e883e21769f Earth System Science Data, Vol 14, Pp 1571-1580 (2022) Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 2022-12-30T22:44:42Z The air at the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau is very cold, dry and clean. Under such conditions, the atmospheric moisture can significantly deviate from thermodynamic equilibrium, and supersaturation with respect to ice can occur. Most conventional humidity sensors for meteorological applications cannot report supersaturation in this environment. A simple approach for measuring supersaturation using conventional instruments, with one being operated in a heated airflow, is presented. Since 2018, this instrumental setup has been deployed at three levels in the lower ∼40 m above the surface at Dome C on the high Antarctic Plateau. A resulting 3-year (2018–2020) record (Genthon et al., 2021a) is presented and analyzed for features such as the frequency of supersaturation with respect to ice, diurnal and seasonal variability, and vertical distribution. As supercooled liquid water droplets are frequently observed in clouds at the temperatures experienced on the high Antarctic Plateau, the distribution of relative humidity with respect to liquid water at Dome C is also discussed. It is suggested that, while not strictly mimicking the conditions of the high troposphere, the surface atmosphere on the Antarctic Plateau is a convenient natural laboratory to test parametrizations of cold microphysics predominantly developed to handle the genesis of high tropospheric clouds. Data are available from the PANGAEA data repository at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.939425 (Genthon et al., 2021a). Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Antarctic The Antarctic Handle The ENVELOPE(161.983,161.983,-78.000,-78.000) Earth System Science Data 14 4 1571 1580 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 C. Genthon D. E. Veron E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine L. Piard Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
topic_facet |
Environmental sciences GE1-350 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
The air at the surface of the high Antarctic Plateau is very cold, dry and clean. Under such conditions, the atmospheric moisture can significantly deviate from thermodynamic equilibrium, and supersaturation with respect to ice can occur. Most conventional humidity sensors for meteorological applications cannot report supersaturation in this environment. A simple approach for measuring supersaturation using conventional instruments, with one being operated in a heated airflow, is presented. Since 2018, this instrumental setup has been deployed at three levels in the lower ∼40 m above the surface at Dome C on the high Antarctic Plateau. A resulting 3-year (2018–2020) record (Genthon et al., 2021a) is presented and analyzed for features such as the frequency of supersaturation with respect to ice, diurnal and seasonal variability, and vertical distribution. As supercooled liquid water droplets are frequently observed in clouds at the temperatures experienced on the high Antarctic Plateau, the distribution of relative humidity with respect to liquid water at Dome C is also discussed. It is suggested that, while not strictly mimicking the conditions of the high troposphere, the surface atmosphere on the Antarctic Plateau is a convenient natural laboratory to test parametrizations of cold microphysics predominantly developed to handle the genesis of high tropospheric clouds. Data are available from the PANGAEA data repository at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.939425 (Genthon et al., 2021a). |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. Genthon D. E. Veron E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine L. Piard |
author_facet |
C. Genthon D. E. Veron E. Vignon J.-B. Madeleine L. Piard |
author_sort |
C. Genthon |
title |
Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
title_short |
Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
title_full |
Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
title_fullStr |
Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of Dome C, East Antarctic Plateau |
title_sort |
water vapor in cold and clean atmosphere: a 3-year data set in the boundary layer of dome c, east antarctic plateau |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 https://doaj.org/article/8bef62dab99740d885019e883e21769f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(161.983,161.983,-78.000,-78.000) |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic Handle The |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic Handle The |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
Earth System Science Data, Vol 14, Pp 1571-1580 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/14/1571/2022/essd-14-1571-2022.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1866-3508 https://doaj.org/toc/1866-3516 doi:10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 1866-3508 1866-3516 https://doaj.org/article/8bef62dab99740d885019e883e21769f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022 |
container_title |
Earth System Science Data |
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14 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1571 |
op_container_end_page |
1580 |
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1766246795630870528 |