CALIPSO observations of wave-induced PSCs with near-unity optical depth over Antarctica in 2006-2007

• Main Authors: Noel, Vincent, Hertzog, Albert, Chepfer, Hélène
• Other Authors: Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (UMR 8539) (LMD), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-École des Ponts ParisTech (ENPC)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Département des Géosciences - ENS Paris, École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École normale supérieure - Paris (ENS-PSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL), Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace (IPSL), Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-École polytechnique (X)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales Toulouse (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2009
• Subjects: CALIPSO; PSC; Antarctica; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00439693; https://hal.science/hal-00439693/document; https://hal.science/hal-00439693/file/Opt_Thick_PSC_7.pdf

International audience Ground-based and satellite observations have hinted at the existence of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) with relatively high optical depths, even if optical depth values are hard to come by. This study documents a type II PSC observed from spaceborne lidar, with visible optical depths up to 0.8. Comparisons with multiple temperature fields, including reanalyses and results from mesoscale simulations, suggest that intense small-scale temperature fluctuations due to gravity waves play an important role in its formation, while nearby observations show the presence of a potentially related type Ia PSC farther downstream inside the polar vortex. Following this first case, the geographic distribution and microphysical properties of PSCs with optical depths above 0.3 are explored over Antarctica during the 2006 and 2007 austral winters. These clouds are rare (less than 1% of profiles) and concentrated over areas where strong winds hit steep ground slopes in the Western Hemisphere, especially over the peninsula. Such PSCs are colder than the general PSC population, and their detection is correlated with daily temperature minima across Antarctica. Lidar and depolarization ratios within these clouds suggest they are most likely ice-based (type II). Similarities between the case study and other PSCs suggest they might share the same formation mechanisms.