Articles | Volume 18, issue 21
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15623-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15623-2018
Research article
 | 
30 Oct 2018
Research article |  | 30 Oct 2018

Widespread polar stratospheric ice clouds in the 2015–2016 Arctic winter – implications for ice nucleation

Christiane Voigt, Andreas Dörnbrack, Martin Wirth, Silke M. Groß, Michael C. Pitts, Lamont R. Poole, Robert Baumann, Benedikt Ehard, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Wolfgang Woiwode, and Hermann Oelhaf

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Cited articles

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Chepfer, H. and Noel, V.: A tropical “NAT-like” belt observed from space, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L03813, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL036289, 2009. 
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Short summary
The 2015–2016 stratospheric winter was the coldest in the 36-year climatological data record. The extreme conditions promoted the formation of persistent Arctic polar stratospheric ice clouds. An extended ice PSC detected by airborne lidar in January 2016 shows a second mode with higher particle depolarization ratios. Back-trajectories from the high-depol ice matched to CALIOP PSC curtains provide evidence for ice nucleation on NAT. The novel data consolidate our understanding of PSC formation.
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