Articles | Volume 22, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12857-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Oct 2022
Research article |
| 06 Oct 2022
| 06 Oct 2022
Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau
Étienne Vignon
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL/Sorbonne Université/CNRS, 8539 UMR, Paris, France
Lea Raillard
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL/Sorbonne Université/CNRS, 8539 UMR, Paris, France
Christophe Genthon
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL/Sorbonne Université/CNRS, 8539 UMR, Paris, France
Massimo Del Guasta
Istituto Nazionale Ottica CNR, Sesto Fiorentino, 50019 Firenze,
Italy
Andrew J. Heymsfield
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Jean-Baptiste Madeleine
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique/IPSL/Sorbonne Université/CNRS, 8539 UMR, Paris, France
Alexis Berne
Environmental Remote Sensing Laboratory (LTE), École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
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Valentin Wiener, Marie-Laure Roussel, Christophe Genthon, Étienne Vignon, Jacopo Grazioli, and Alexis Berne
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This paper presents 7 years of data from a precipitation radar deployed at the Dumont d'Urville station in East Antarctica. The main characteristics of the dataset are outlined in a short statistical study. Interannual and seasonal variability are also investigated. Then, we extensively describe the processing method to retrieve snowfall profiles from the radar data. Lastly, a brief comparison is made with two climate models as an application example of the dataset.
Sophie Erb, Elias Graf, Yanick Zeder, Simone Lionetti, Alexis Berne, Bernard Clot, Gian Lieberherr, Fiona Tummon, Pascal Wullschleger, and Benoît Crouzy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 441–451, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-441-2024, 2024
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In this study, we focus on an automatic bioaerosol measurement instrument and investigate the impact of using its fluorescence measurement for pollen identification. The fluorescence signal is used together with a pair of images from the same instrument to identify single pollen grains via neural networks. We test whether considering fluorescence as a supplementary input improves the pollen identification performance by comparing three different neural networks.
Philippe Ricaud, Massimo Del Guasta, Angelo Lupi, Romain Roehrig, Eric Bazile, Pierre Durand, Jean-Luc Attié, Alessia Nicosia, and Paolo Grigioni
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 613–630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-613-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-613-2024, 2024
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Clouds affect the Earth's climate in ways that depend on the type of cloud (solid/liquid water). From observations at Concordia (Antarctica), we show that in supercooled liquid water (liquid water for temperatures below 0°C) clouds (SLWCs), temperature and SLWC radiative forcing increase with liquid water (up to 70 W m−2). We extrapolated that the maximum SLWC radiative forcing can reach 40 W m−2 over the Antarctic Peninsula, highlighting the importance of SLWCs for global climate prediction.
Alfonso Ferrone, Étienne Vignon, Andrea Zonato, and Alexis Berne
The Cryosphere, 17, 4937–4956, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4937-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-17-4937-2023, 2023
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In austral summer 2019/2020, three K-band Doppler profilers were deployed across the Sør Rondane Mountains, south of the Belgian base Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Their measurements, along with atmospheric simulations and reanalyses, have been used to study the spatial variability in precipitation over the region, as well as investigate the interaction between the complex terrain and the typical flow associated with precipitating systems.
Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Josué Gehring, Louis Jaffeux, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Pierre Coutris, Athanasios Nenes, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10207–10234, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10207-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10207-2023, 2023
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Secondary ice production plays a key role in clouds and precipitation. In this study, we analyze radar measurements from a snowfall event in the Jura Mountains. Complex signatures are observed, which reveal that ice crystals were formed through various processes. An analysis of multi-sensor data suggests that distinct ice multiplication processes were taking place. Both the methods used and the insights gained through this case study contribute to a better understanding of snowfall microphysics.
Armin Blanke, Andrew J. Heymsfield, Manuel Moser, and Silke Trömel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2089–2106, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2089-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2089-2023, 2023
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We present an evaluation of current retrieval techniques in the ice phase applied to polarimetric radar measurements with collocated in situ observations of aircraft conducted over the Olympic Mountains, Washington State, during winter 2015. Radar estimates of ice properties agreed most with aircraft observations in regions with pronounced radar signatures, but uncertainties were identified that indicate issues of some retrievals, particularly in warmer temperature regimes.
Alfonso Ferrone and Alexis Berne
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 15, 1115–1132, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1115-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-15-1115-2023, 2023
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This article presents the datasets collected between November 2019 and February 2020 in the vicinity of the Belgian research base Princess Elisabeth Antarctica. Five meteorological radars, a multi-angle snowflake camera, three weather stations, and two radiometers have been deployed at five sites, up to a maximum distance of 30 km from the base. Their varied locations allow the study of spatial variability in snowfall and its interaction with the complex terrain in the region.
Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Gionata Ghiggi, Louis Jaffeux, Audrey Martini, Nicolas Viltard, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 911–940, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-911-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-911-2023, 2023
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Better understanding and modeling snowfall properties and processes is relevant to many fields, ranging from weather forecasting to aircraft safety. Meteorological radars can be used to gain insights into the microphysics of snowfall. In this work, we propose a new method to retrieve snowfall properties from measurements of radars with different frequencies. It relies on an original deep-learning framework, which incorporates knowledge of the underlying physics, i.e., electromagnetic scattering.
Gianluca Di Natale, David D. Turner, Giovanni Bianchini, Massimo Del Guasta, Luca Palchetti, Alessandro Bracci, Luca Baldini, Tiziano Maestri, William Cossich, Michele Martinazzo, and Luca Facheris
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7235–7258, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7235-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7235-2022, 2022
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In this paper, we describe a new approach to test the consistency of the precipitating ice cloud optical and microphysical properties in Antarctica, Dome C, retrieved from hyperspectral measurements in the far-infrared, with the reflectivity detected by a co-located micro rain radar operating at 24 GHz. The retrieved ice crystal sizes were found in accordance with the direct measurements of an optical imager, also installed at Dome C, which can collect the falling ice particles.
Thomas Caton Harrison, Stavroula Biri, Thomas J. Bracegirdle, John C. King, Elizabeth C. Kent, Étienne Vignon, and John Turner
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1415–1437, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1415-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1415-2022, 2022
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Easterly winds encircle Antarctica, impacting sea ice and helping drive ocean currents which shield ice shelves from warmer waters. Reanalysis datasets give us our most complete picture of how these winds behave. In this paper we use satellite data, surface measurements and weather balloons to test how realistic recent reanalysis estimates are. The winds are generally accurate, especially in the most recent of the datasets, but important short-term variations are often misrepresented.
Massimo Del Guasta
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6521–6544, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6521-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6521-2022, 2022
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Any instrument on the Antarctic plateau must cope with a harsh environment. Concordia station is a special place for testing new instruments. With low temperatures and weak winds, precipitation can be studied by simply collecting it on horizontal surfaces. This is typically done manually. ICE-CAMERA is intended as an automatic alternative. The combined construction of rugged equipment for taking photographs of particles and the adoption of machine learning techniques have served this purpose.
Claudia Mignani, Lukas Zimmermann, Rigel Kivi, Alexis Berne, and Franz Conen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13551–13568, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13551-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13551-2022, 2022
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We determined over the course of 8 winter months the phase of clouds associated with snowfall in Northern Finland using radiosondes and observations of ice particle habits at ground level. We found that precipitating clouds were extending from near ground to at least 2.7 km altitude and approximately three-quarters of them were likely glaciated. Possible moisture sources and ice formation processes are discussed.
Christoph Kittel, Charles Amory, Stefan Hofer, Cécile Agosta, Nicolas C. Jourdain, Ella Gilbert, Louis Le Toumelin, Étienne Vignon, Hubert Gallée, and Xavier Fettweis
The Cryosphere, 16, 2655–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2655-2022, 2022
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Model projections suggest large differences in future Antarctic surface melting even for similar greenhouse gas scenarios and warming rates. We show that clouds containing a larger amount of liquid water lead to stronger melt. As surface melt can trigger the collapse of the ice shelves (the safety band of the Antarctic Ice Sheet), clouds could be a major source of uncertainties in projections of sea level rise.
Alfonso Ferrone, Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3569–3592, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3569-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3569-2022, 2022
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The Micro Rain Radar PRO (MRR-PRO) is a meteorological radar, with a relevant set of features for deployment in remote locations. We developed an algorithm, named ERUO, for the processing of its measurements of snowfall. The algorithm addresses typical issues of the raw spectral data, such as interference lines, but also improves the quality and sensitivity of the radar variables. ERUO has been evaluated over four different datasets collected in Antarctica and in the Swiss Jura.
Jeong-Su Ko, Kyo-Sun Sunny Lim, Kwonil Kim, Gyuwon Lee, Gregory Thompson, and Alexis Berne
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 4529–4553, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4529-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-4529-2022, 2022
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This study evaluates the performance of the four microphysics parameterizations, the WDM6, WDM7, Thompson, and Morrison schemes, in simulating snowfall events during the ICE-POP 2018 field campaign. Eight snowfall events are selected and classified into three categories (cold-low, warm-low, and air–sea interaction cases). The evaluation focuses on the simulated hydrometeors, microphysics budgets, wind fields, and precipitation using the measurement data.
Patrick Le Moigne, Eric Bazile, Anning Cheng, Emanuel Dutra, John M. Edwards, William Maurel, Irina Sandu, Olivier Traullé, Etienne Vignon, Ayrton Zadra, and Weizhong Zheng
The Cryosphere, 16, 2183–2202, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2183-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-2183-2022, 2022
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This paper describes an intercomparison of snow models, of varying complexity, used for numerical weather prediction or academic research. The results show that the simplest models are, under certain conditions, able to reproduce the surface temperature just as well as the most complex models. Moreover, the diversity of surface parameters of the models has a strong impact on the temporal variability of the components of the simulated surface energy balance.
Christophe Genthon, Dana E. Veron, Etienne Vignon, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, and Luc Piard
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 1571–1580, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-1571-2022, 2022
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The surface atmosphere of the high Antarctic Plateau is very cold and clean. Such conditions favor water vapor supersaturation. A 3-year quasi-continuous series of atmospheric moisture in a ~40 m atmospheric layer at Dome C is reported that documents time variability, vertical profiles and occurrences of supersaturation. Supersaturation with respect to ice is frequently observed throughout the column, with relative humidities occasionally reaching values near liquid water saturation.
Marie Sicard, Masa Kageyama, Sylvie Charbit, Pascale Braconnot, and Jean-Baptiste Madeleine
Clim. Past, 18, 607–629, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-607-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-18-607-2022, 2022
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The Last Interglacial (129–116 ka) is characterised by an increased summer insolation over the Arctic region, which leads to a strong temperature rise. The aim of this study is to identify and quantify the main processes and feedback causing this Arctic warming. Using the IPSL-CM6A-LR model, we investigate changes in the energy budget relative to the pre-industrial period. We highlight the crucial role of Arctic sea ice cover, ocean and clouds on the Last Interglacial Arctic warming.
Paraskevi Georgakaki, Georgia Sotiropoulou, Étienne Vignon, Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Alexis Berne, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1965–1988, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1965-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1965-2022, 2022
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The modelling study focuses on the importance of ice multiplication processes in orographic mixed-phase clouds, which is one of the least understood cloud types in the climate system. We show that the consideration of ice seeding and secondary ice production through ice–ice collisional breakup is essential for correct predictions of precipitation in mountainous terrain, with important implications for radiation processes.
Monika Feldmann, Urs Germann, Marco Gabella, and Alexis Berne
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 1225–1244, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1225-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-1225-2021, 2021
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Mesocyclones are the rotating updraught of supercell thunderstorms that present a particularly hazardous subset of thunderstorms. A first-time characterisation of the spatiotemporal occurrence of mesocyclones in the Alpine region is presented, using 5 years of Swiss operational radar data. We investigate parallels to hailstorms, particularly the influence of large-scale flow, daily cycles and terrain. Improving understanding of mesocyclones is valuable for risk assessment and warning purposes.
Christophe Genthon, Dana Veron, Etienne Vignon, Delphine Six, Jean-Louis Dufresne, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, Emmanuelle Sultan, and François Forget
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5731–5746, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5731-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5731-2021, 2021
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A 10-year dataset of observation in the atmospheric boundary layer at Dome C on the high Antarctic plateau is presented. This is obtained with sensors at six levels along a tower higher than 40 m. The temperature inversion can reach more than 25 °C along the tower in winter, while full mixing by convection can occur in summer. Different amplitudes of variability for wind and temperature at the different levels reflect different signatures of solar vs. synoptic forcing of the boundary layer.
Kamil Mroz, Alessandro Battaglia, Cuong Nguyen, Andrew Heymsfield, Alain Protat, and Mengistu Wolde
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7243–7254, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7243-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7243-2021, 2021
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A method for estimating microphysical properties of ice clouds based on radar measurements is presented. The algorithm exploits the information provided by differences in the radar response at different frequency bands in relation to changes in the snow morphology. The inversion scheme is based on a statistical relation between the radar simulations and the properties of snow calculated from in-cloud sampling.
Jussi Leinonen, Jacopo Grazioli, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6851–6866, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6851-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6851-2021, 2021
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Measuring the shape, size and mass of a large number of snowflakes is a challenging task; it is hard to achieve in an automatic and instrumented manner. We present a method to retrieve these properties of individual snowflakes using as input a triplet of images/pictures automatically collected by a multi-angle snowflake camera (MASC) instrument. Our method, based on machine learning, is trained on artificially generated snowflakes and evaluated on 3D-printed snowflake replicas.
Marc Schwaerzel, Dominik Brunner, Fabian Jakub, Claudia Emde, Brigitte Buchmann, Alexis Berne, and Gerrit Kuhlmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6469–6482, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6469-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6469-2021, 2021
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NO2 maps from airborne imaging remote sensing often appear much smoother than one would expect from high-resolution model simulations of NO2 over cities, despite the small ground-pixel size of the sensors. Our case study over Zurich, using the newly implemented building module of the MYSTIC radiative transfer solver, shows that the 3D effect can explain part of the smearing and that building shadows cause a noticeable underestimation and noise in the measured NO2 columns.
William Cossich, Tiziano Maestri, Davide Magurno, Michele Martinazzo, Gianluca Di Natale, Luca Palchetti, Giovanni Bianchini, and Massimo Del Guasta
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13811–13833, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13811-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13811-2021, 2021
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The presence of clouds over Concordia, in the Antarctic Plateau, is investigated. Results are obtained by applying a machine learning algorithm to measurements of the infrared radiation emitted by the atmosphere toward the surface. The clear-sky, ice cloud, and mixed-phase cloud occurrence at different timescales is studied. A comparison with satellite measurements highlights the ability of the algorithm to identify multiple cloud conditions and study their variability at different timescales.
Anna Špačková, Vojtěch Bareš, Martin Fencl, Marc Schleiss, Joël Jaffrain, Alexis Berne, and Jörg Rieckermann
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4219–4240, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4219-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4219-2021, 2021
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An original dataset of microwave signal attenuation and rainfall variables was collected during 1-year-long field campaign. The monitored 38 GHz dual-polarized commercial microwave link with a short sampling resolution (4 s) was accompanied by five disdrometers and three rain gauges along its path. Antenna radomes were temporarily shielded for approximately half of the campaign period to investigate antenna wetting impacts.
Paraskevi Georgakaki, Aikaterini Bougiatioti, Jörg Wieder, Claudia Mignani, Fabiola Ramelli, Zamin A. Kanji, Jan Henneberger, Maxime Hervo, Alexis Berne, Ulrike Lohmann, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10993–11012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10993-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10993-2021, 2021
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Aerosol and cloud observations coupled with a droplet activation parameterization was used to investigate the aerosol–cloud droplet link in alpine mixed-phase clouds. Predicted droplet number, Nd, agrees with observations and never exceeds a characteristic “limiting droplet number”, Ndlim, which depends solely on σw. Nd becomes velocity limited when it is within 50 % of Ndlim. Identifying when dynamical changes control Nd variability is central for understanding aerosol–cloud interactions.
Noémie Planat, Josué Gehring, Étienne Vignon, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4543–4564, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4543-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4543-2021, 2021
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We implement a new method to identify microphysical processes during cold precipitation events based on the sign of the vertical gradient of polarimetric radar variables. We analytically asses the meteorological conditions for this vertical analysis to hold, apply it on two study cases and successfully compare it with other methods informing about the microphysics. Finally, we are able to obtain the main vertical structure and characteristics of the different processes during these study cases.
Daniel Wolfensberger, Marco Gabella, Marco Boscacci, Urs Germann, and Alexis Berne
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3169–3193, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3169-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3169-2021, 2021
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In this work, we present a novel quantitative precipitation estimation method for Switzerland that uses random forests, an ensemble-based machine learning technique. The estimator has been trained with a database of 4 years of ground and radar observations. The results of an in-depth evaluation indicate that, compared with the more classical method in use at MeteoSwiss, this novel estimator is able to reduce both the average error and bias of the predictions.
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Short summary
The near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine and resembles to a certain extent the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this study, we use innovative humidity measurements at Concordia Station to study the formation of ice fogs at temperatures <−40°C. We provide observational evidence that ice fogs can form through the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosols, a common nucleation pathway for cirrus clouds.
The near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine and resembles to a...
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