Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau
As the near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine, its physico-chemical conditions resemble to a certain extent those of the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this paper, we carry out an observational analysis of two shallow fog clouds forming in situ at cirr...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 |
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ftncar:oai:drupal-site.org:articles_25795 2024-04-14T08:01:23+00:00 Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau Vignon, Étienne (author) Raillard, Lea (author) Genthon, Christophe (author) Del Guasta, Massimo (author) Heymsfield, Andrew J. (author) Madeleine, Jean-Baptiste (author) Berne, Alexis (author) 2022-10-06 https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 en eng Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics--Atmos. Chem. Phys.--1680-7324 Baseline surface radiation data (1992-2017)--10.1594/PANGAEA.880000 Ten years of shielded ventilated atmospheric temperature observation on a 45-m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.932512 Ten years of wind speed observation on a 45-m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.932513 Water vapor observation in the lower atmospheric boundary layer at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.939425 articles:25795 doi:10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 ark:/85065/d7qn6bmp Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. article Text 2022 ftncar https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 2024-03-21T18:00:26Z As the near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine, its physico-chemical conditions resemble to a certain extent those of the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this paper, we carry out an observational analysis of two shallow fog clouds forming in situ at cirrus temperatures - that is, temperatures lower than 235 K - at Dome C, inner Antarctic Plateau. The combination of lidar profiles with temperature and humidity measurements from advanced thermo-hygrometers along a 45 m mast makes it possible to characterise the formation and development of the fog. High supersaturations with respect to ice are observed before the initiation of fog, and the values attained suggest that the nucleation process at play is the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosol droplets. This is the first time that in situ observations show that this nucleation pathway can be at the origin of an ice fog. Once nucleation occurs, the relative humidity gradually decreases down to subsaturated values with respect to ice in a few hours, owing to vapour deposition onto ice crystals and turbulent mixing. The development of fog is tightly coupled with the dynamics of the boundary layer which, in the first study case, experiences a weak diurnal cycle, while in the second case, it transits from a very stable to a weakly stable dynamical regime. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of the site of Dome C for carrying out observational studies of very cold cloud microphysical processes in natural conditions and using in situ ground-based instruments. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) Antarctic The Antarctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 22 19 12857 12872 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
OpenSky (NCAR/UCAR - National Center for Atmospheric Research/University Corporation for Atmospheric Research) |
op_collection_id |
ftncar |
language |
English |
description |
As the near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine, its physico-chemical conditions resemble to a certain extent those of the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this paper, we carry out an observational analysis of two shallow fog clouds forming in situ at cirrus temperatures - that is, temperatures lower than 235 K - at Dome C, inner Antarctic Plateau. The combination of lidar profiles with temperature and humidity measurements from advanced thermo-hygrometers along a 45 m mast makes it possible to characterise the formation and development of the fog. High supersaturations with respect to ice are observed before the initiation of fog, and the values attained suggest that the nucleation process at play is the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosol droplets. This is the first time that in situ observations show that this nucleation pathway can be at the origin of an ice fog. Once nucleation occurs, the relative humidity gradually decreases down to subsaturated values with respect to ice in a few hours, owing to vapour deposition onto ice crystals and turbulent mixing. The development of fog is tightly coupled with the dynamics of the boundary layer which, in the first study case, experiences a weak diurnal cycle, while in the second case, it transits from a very stable to a weakly stable dynamical regime. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of the site of Dome C for carrying out observational studies of very cold cloud microphysical processes in natural conditions and using in situ ground-based instruments. |
author2 |
Vignon, Étienne (author) Raillard, Lea (author) Genthon, Christophe (author) Del Guasta, Massimo (author) Heymsfield, Andrew J. (author) Madeleine, Jean-Baptiste (author) Berne, Alexis (author) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
title |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
spellingShingle |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_short |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_full |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_fullStr |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau |
title_sort |
ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at dome c, antarctic plateau |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 |
geographic |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_relation |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics--Atmos. Chem. Phys.--1680-7324 Baseline surface radiation data (1992-2017)--10.1594/PANGAEA.880000 Ten years of shielded ventilated atmospheric temperature observation on a 45-m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.932512 Ten years of wind speed observation on a 45-m tower at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.932513 Water vapor observation in the lower atmospheric boundary layer at Dome C, East Antarctic plateau--10.1594/PANGAEA.939425 articles:25795 doi:10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 ark:/85065/d7qn6bmp |
op_rights |
Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
22 |
container_issue |
19 |
container_start_page |
12857 |
op_container_end_page |
12872 |
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1796308643223699456 |