Articles | Volume 23, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023
© Author(s) 2023. 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-23-8705-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
08 Aug 2023
Research article |
| 08 Aug 2023
| 08 Aug 2023
Influence of atmospheric rivers and associated weather systems on precipitation in the Arctic
Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Annette Rinke
Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Potsdam, Germany
Irina Gorodetskaya
Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Michael Sprenger
Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Mario Mech
Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
Susanne Crewell
Institute for Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany
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Andreas Walbröl, Hannes J. Griesche, Mario Mech, Susanne Crewell, and Kerstin Ebell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6223–6245, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6223-2024, 2024
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Marc Federer, Lukas Papritz, Michael Sprenger, and Christian M. Grams
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Andreas Walbröl, Janosch Michaelis, Sebastian Becker, Henning Dorff, Kerstin Ebell, Irina Gorodetskaya, Bernd Heinold, Benjamin Kirbus, Melanie Lauer, Nina Maherndl, Marion Maturilli, Johanna Mayer, Hanno Müller, Roel A. J. Neggers, Fiona M. Paulus, Johannes Röttenbacher, Janna E. Rückert, Imke Schirmacher, Nils Slättberg, André Ehrlich, Manfred Wendisch, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8007–8029, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8007-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8007-2024, 2024
Short summary
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Bjorn Stevens, Stefan Adami, Tariq Ali, Hartwig Anzt, Zafer Aslan, Sabine Attinger, Jaana Bäck, Johanna Baehr, Peter Bauer, Natacha Bernier, Bob Bishop, Hendryk Bockelmann, Sandrine Bony, Guy Brasseur, David N. Bresch, Sean Breyer, Gilbert Brunet, Pier Luigi Buttigieg, Junji Cao, Christelle Castet, Yafang Cheng, Ayantika Dey Choudhury, Deborah Coen, Susanne Crewell, Atish Dabholkar, Qing Dai, Francisco Doblas-Reyes, Dale Durran, Ayoub El Gaidi, Charlie Ewen, Eleftheria Exarchou, Veronika Eyring, Florencia Falkinhoff, David Farrell, Piers M. Forster, Ariane Frassoni, Claudia Frauen, Oliver Fuhrer, Shahzad Gani, Edwin Gerber, Debra Goldfarb, Jens Grieger, Nicolas Gruber, Wilco Hazeleger, Rolf Herken, Chris Hewitt, Torsten Hoefler, Huang-Hsiung Hsu, Daniela Jacob, Alexandra Jahn, Christian Jakob, Thomas Jung, Christopher Kadow, In-Sik Kang, Sarah Kang, Karthik Kashinath, Katharina Kleinen-von Königslöw, Daniel Klocke, Uta Kloenne, Milan Klöwer, Chihiro Kodama, Stefan Kollet, Tobias Kölling, Jenni Kontkanen, Steve Kopp, Michal Koran, Markku Kulmala, Hanna Lappalainen, Fakhria Latifi, Bryan Lawrence, June Yi Lee, Quentin Lejeun, Christian Lessig, Chao Li, Thomas Lippert, Jürg Luterbacher, Pekka Manninen, Jochem Marotzke, Satoshi Matsouoka, Charlotte Merchant, Peter Messmer, Gero Michel, Kristel Michielsen, Tomoki Miyakawa, Jens Müller, Ramsha Munir, Sandeep Narayanasetti, Ousmane Ndiaye, Carlos Nobre, Achim Oberg, Riko Oki, Tuba Özkan-Haller, Tim Palmer, Stan Posey, Andreas Prein, Odessa Primus, Mike Pritchard, Julie Pullen, Dian Putrasahan, Johannes Quaas, Krishnan Raghavan, Venkatachalam Ramaswamy, Markus Rapp, Florian Rauser, Markus Reichstein, Aromar Revi, Sonakshi Saluja, Masaki Satoh, Vera Schemann, Sebastian Schemm, Christina Schnadt Poberaj, Thomas Schulthess, Cath Senior, Jagadish Shukla, Manmeet Singh, Julia Slingo, Adam Sobel, Silvina Solman, Jenna Spitzer, Philip Stier, Thomas Stocker, Sarah Strock, Hang Su, Petteri Taalas, John Taylor, Susann Tegtmeier, Georg Teutsch, Adrian Tompkins, Uwe Ulbrich, Pier-Luigi Vidale, Chien-Ming Wu, Hao Xu, Najibullah Zaki, Laure Zanna, Tianjun Zhou, and Florian Ziemen
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 2113–2122, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2113-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-2113-2024, 2024
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Katharina Heitmann, Michael Sprenger, Hanin Binder, Heini Wernli, and Hanna Joos
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 537–557, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-537-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-537-2024, 2024
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Lukas Jansing, Lukas Papritz, and Michael Sprenger
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 463–489, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-463-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-463-2024, 2024
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Evelyn Jäkel, Sebastian Becker, Tim R. Sperzel, Hannah Niehaus, Gunnar Spreen, Ran Tao, Marcel Nicolaus, Wolfgang Dorn, Annette Rinke, Jörg Brauchle, and Manfred Wendisch
The Cryosphere, 18, 1185–1205, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1185-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1185-2024, 2024
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Nina Maherndl, Manuel Moser, Johannes Lucke, Mario Mech, Nils Risse, Imke Schirmacher, and Maximilian Maahn
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1475–1495, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1475-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1475-2024, 2024
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Hilla Afargan-Gerstman, Dominik Büeler, C. Ole Wulff, Michael Sprenger, and Daniela I. V. Domeisen
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 231–249, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-231-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-231-2024, 2024
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The stratosphere is a layer of Earth's atmosphere found above the weather systems. Changes in the stratosphere can affect the winds and the storm tracks in the North Atlantic region for a relatively long time, lasting for several weeks and even months. We show that the stratosphere can be important for weather forecasts beyond 1 week, but more work is needed to improve the accuracy of these forecasts for 3–4 weeks.
Yonatan Givon, Or Hess, Emmanouil Flaounas, Jennifer Louise Catto, Michael Sprenger, and Shira Raveh-Rubin
Weather Clim. Dynam., 5, 133–162, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-133-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-5-133-2024, 2024
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A novel classification of Mediterranean cyclones is presented, enabling a separation between storms driven by different atmospheric processes. The surface impact of each cyclone class differs greatly by precipitation, winds, and temperatures, providing an invaluable tool to study the climatology of different types of Mediterranean storms and enhancing the understanding of their predictability, on both weather and climate scales.
Sabrina Schnitt, Andreas Foth, Heike Kalesse-Los, Mario Mech, Claudia Acquistapace, Friedhelm Jansen, Ulrich Löhnert, Bernhard Pospichal, Johannes Röttenbacher, Susanne Crewell, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 16, 681–700, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-681-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-16-681-2024, 2024
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This publication describes the microwave radiometric measurements performed during the EUREC4A campaign at Barbados Cloud Observatory (BCO) and aboard RV Meteor and RV Maria S Merian. We present retrieved integrated water vapor (IWV), liquid water path (LWP), and temperature and humidity profiles as a unified, quality-controlled, multi-site data set on a 3 s temporal resolution for a core period between 19 January 2020 and 14 February 2020.
Stefania Gilardoni, Dominic Heslin-Rees, Mauro Mazzola, Vito Vitale, Michael Sprenger, and Radovan Krejci
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15589–15607, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15589-2023, 2023
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Models still fail in reproducing black carbon (BC) temporal variability in the Arctic. Analysis of equivalent BC concentrations in the European Arctic shows that BC seasonal variability is modulated by the efficiency of removal by precipitation during transport towards high latitudes. Short-term variability is controlled by synoptic-scale circulation patterns. The advection of warm air from lower latitudes is an effective pollution transport pathway during summer.
Marcus Klingebiel, André Ehrlich, Elena Ruiz-Donoso, Nils Risse, Imke Schirmacher, Evelyn Jäkel, Michael Schäfer, Kevin Wolf, Mario Mech, Manuel Moser, Christiane Voigt, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15289–15304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15289-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15289-2023, 2023
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In this study we explain how we use aircraft measurements from two Arctic research campaigns to identify cloud properties (like droplet size) over sea-ice and ice-free ocean. To make sure that our measurements make sense, we compare them with other observations. Our results show, e.g., larger cloud droplets in early summer than in spring. Moreover, the cloud droplets are also larger over ice-free ocean than compared to sea ice. In the future, our data can be used to improve climate models.
Thomas Trickl, Martin Adelwart, Dina Khordakova, Ludwig Ries, Christian Rolf, Michael Sprenger, Wolfgang Steinbrecht, and Hannes Vogelmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5145–5165, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5145-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5145-2023, 2023
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Tropospheric ozone have been measured for more than a century. Highly quantitative ozone measurements have been made at monitoring stations. However, deficits have been reported for vertical sounding systems. Here, we report a thorough intercomparison effort between a differential-absorption lidar system and two types of balloon-borne ozone sondes, also using ozone sensors at nearby mountain sites as references. The sondes agree very well with the lidar after offset corrections.
Imke Schirmacher, Pavlos Kollias, Katia Lamer, Mario Mech, Lukas Pfitzenmaier, Manfred Wendisch, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4081–4100, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4081-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4081-2023, 2023
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CloudSat’s relatively coarse spatial resolution, low sensitivity, and blind zone limit its assessment of Arctic low-level clouds, which affect the surface energy balance. We compare cloud fractions from CloudSat and finely resolved airborne radar observations to determine CloudSat’s limitations. Cloudsat overestimates cloud fractions above its blind zone, especially during cold-air outbreaks over open water, and misses a cloud fraction of 32 % and half of the precipitation inside its blind zone.
Emmanouil Flaounas, Leonardo Aragão, Lisa Bernini, Stavros Dafis, Benjamin Doiteau, Helena Flocas, Suzanne L. Gray, Alexia Karwat, John Kouroutzoglou, Piero Lionello, Mario Marcello Miglietta, Florian Pantillon, Claudia Pasquero, Platon Patlakas, María Ángeles Picornell, Federico Porcù, Matthew D. K. Priestley, Marco Reale, Malcolm J. Roberts, Hadas Saaroni, Dor Sandler, Enrico Scoccimarro, Michael Sprenger, and Baruch Ziv
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 639–661, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-639-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-639-2023, 2023
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Cyclone detection and tracking methods (CDTMs) have different approaches in defining and tracking cyclone centers. This leads to disagreements on extratropical cyclone climatologies. We present a new approach that combines tracks from individual CDTMs to produce new composite tracks. These new tracks are shown to correspond to physically meaningful systems with distinctive life stages.
Manuel Moser, Christiane Voigt, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, Valerian Hahn, Guillaume Mioche, Olivier Jourdan, Régis Dupuy, Christophe Gourbeyre, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Johannes Lucke, Yvonne Boose, Mario Mech, Stephan Borrmann, André Ehrlich, Andreas Herber, Christof Lüpkes, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7257–7280, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7257-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7257-2023, 2023
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This study provides a comprehensive microphysical and thermodynamic phase analysis of low-level clouds in the northern Fram Strait, above the sea ice and the open ocean, during spring and summer. Using airborne in situ cloud data, we show that the properties of Arctic low-level clouds vary significantly with seasonal meteorological situations and surface conditions. The observations presented in this study can help one to assess the role of clouds in the Arctic climate system.
Jan Chylik, Dmitry Chechin, Regis Dupuy, Birte S. Kulla, Christof Lüpkes, Stephan Mertes, Mario Mech, and Roel A. J. Neggers
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4903–4929, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4903-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4903-2023, 2023
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Arctic low-level clouds play an important role in the ongoing warming of the Arctic. Unfortunately, these clouds are not properly represented in weather forecast and climate models. This study tries to cover this gap by focusing on clouds over open water during the spring, observed by research aircraft near Svalbard. The study combines the high-resolution model with sets of observational data. The results show the importance of processes that involve both ice and the liquid water in the clouds.
Hanna Joos, Michael Sprenger, Hanin Binder, Urs Beyerle, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 133–155, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-133-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-133-2023, 2023
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are strongly ascending, cloud- and precipitation-forming airstreams in extratropical cyclones. In this study we assess their representation in a climate simulation and their changes under global warming. They become moister, become more intense, and reach higher altitudes in a future climate, implying that they potentially have an increased impact on the mid-latitude flow.
Andreas Schäfler, Michael Sprenger, Heini Wernli, Andreas Fix, and Martin Wirth
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 999–1018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-999-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-999-2023, 2023
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In this study, airborne lidar profile measurements of H2O and O3 across a midlatitude jet stream are combined with analyses in tracer–trace space and backward trajectories. We highlight that transport and mixing processes in the history of the observed air masses are governed by interacting tropospheric weather systems on synoptic timescales. We show that these weather systems play a key role in the high variability of the paired H2O and O3 distributions near the tropopause.
Hanin Binder, Hanna Joos, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 19–37, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-19-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-19-2023, 2023
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are the main cloud- and precipitation-producing airstreams in extratropical cyclones. The latent heat release that occurs during cloud formation often contributes to the intensification of the associated cyclone. Based on the Community Earth System Model Large Ensemble coupled climate simulations, we show that WCBs and associated latent heating will become stronger in a future climate and be even more important for explosive cyclone intensification than in the present.
Michael A. Barnes, Thando Ndarana, Michael Sprenger, and Willem A. Landman
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1291–1309, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1291-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1291-2022, 2022
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Stratospheric air can intrude into the troposphere and is associated with cyclonic development throughout the atmosphere. Through a highly idealized systematic approach, the effect that different intrusion characteristics have on surface cyclogenetic forcing is investigated. The proximity of stratospheric intrusions to the surface is shown to be the main factor in surface cyclogenetic forcing, whilst its width is an additional contributing factor.
Lukas Jansing, Lukas Papritz, Bruno Dürr, Daniel Gerstgrasser, and Michael Sprenger
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 1113–1138, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1113-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-1113-2022, 2022
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This study presents a 5-year climatology of three main foehn types and three deep-foehn subtypes. The main types differ in their large-scale and Alpine-scale weather conditions and the subtypes in terms of the amount and extent of precipitation on the Alpine south side. The different types of foehn are found to strongly affect the local meteorological conditions at Altdorf. The study concludes by setting the new classification into a historic context.
Annakaisa von Lerber, Mario Mech, Annette Rinke, Damao Zhang, Melanie Lauer, Ana Radovan, Irina Gorodetskaya, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7287–7317, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7287-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7287-2022, 2022
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Snowfall is an important climate indicator. However, microphysical snowfall processes are challenging for atmospheric models. In this study, the performance of a regional climate model is evaluated in modeling the spatial and temporal distribution of Arctic snowfall when compared to CloudSat satellite observations. Excellent agreement in averaged annual snowfall rates is found, and the shown methodology offers a promising diagnostic tool to investigate the shown differences further.
Jan Clemens, Felix Ploeger, Paul Konopka, Raphael Portmann, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3841–3860, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, 2022
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Highly polluted air flows from the surface to higher levels of the atmosphere during the Asian summer monsoon. At high levels, the air is trapped within eddies. Here, we study how air masses can leave the eddy within its cutoff, how they distribute, and how their chemical composition changes. We found evidence for transport from the eddy to higher latitudes over the North Pacific and even Alaska. During transport, trace gas concentrations within cutoffs changed gradually, showing steady mixing.
Klaus Dethloff, Wieslaw Maslowski, Stefan Hendricks, Younjoo J. Lee, Helge F. Goessling, Thomas Krumpen, Christian Haas, Dörthe Handorf, Robert Ricker, Vladimir Bessonov, John J. Cassano, Jaclyn Clement Kinney, Robert Osinski, Markus Rex, Annette Rinke, Julia Sokolova, and Anja Sommerfeld
The Cryosphere, 16, 981–1005, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-981-2022, 2022
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Sea ice thickness anomalies during the MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) winter in January, February and March 2020 were simulated with the coupled Regional Arctic climate System Model (RASM) and compared with CryoSat-2/SMOS satellite data. Hindcast and ensemble simulations indicate that the sea ice anomalies are driven by nonlinear interactions between ice growth processes and wind-driven sea-ice transports, with dynamics playing a dominant role.
Jörg Wieder, Claudia Mignani, Mario Schär, Lucie Roth, Michael Sprenger, Jan Henneberger, Ulrike Lohmann, Cyril Brunner, and Zamin A. Kanji
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3111–3130, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3111-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3111-2022, 2022
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We investigate the variation in ice-nucleating particles (INPs) relevant for primary ice formation in mixed-phased clouds over the Alps based on simultaneous in situ observations at a mountaintop and a nearby high valley (1060 m height difference). In most cases, advection from the surrounding lower regions was responsible for changes in INP concentration, causing a diurnal cycle at the mountaintop. Our study underlines the importance of the planetary boundary layer as an INP reserve.
Lukas Bösiger, Michael Sprenger, Maxi Boettcher, Hanna Joos, and Tobias Günther
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 1079–1096, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1079-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1079-2022, 2022
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Jet streams are coherent air flows that interact with atmospheric structures such as warm conveyor belts (WCBs) and the tropopause. Individually, these structures have a significant impact on the weather evolution. A first step towards a deeper understanding of the meteorological processes is to extract jet stream core lines, for which we develop a novel feature extraction algorithm. Based on the line geometry, we automatically detect and visualize potential interactions between WCBs and jets.
Carolina Viceto, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Annette Rinke, Marion Maturilli, Alfredo Rocha, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 441–463, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-441-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-441-2022, 2022
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We focus on anomalous moisture transport events known as atmospheric rivers (ARs). During ACLOUD and PASCAL, three AR events were identified: 30 May, 6 June, and 9 June 2017. We explore their spatio-temporal evolution and precipitation patterns using measurements, reanalyses, and a model. We show the importance of the following: Atlantic and Siberian pathways during spring–summer in the Arctic, AR-associated heat/moisture increase, precipitation phase transition, and high-resolution datasets.
Claudia Acquistapace, Richard Coulter, Susanne Crewell, Albert Garcia-Benadi, Rosa Gierens, Giacomo Labbri, Alexander Myagkov, Nils Risse, and Jan H. Schween
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 14, 33–55, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-33-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-33-2022, 2022
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This publication describes the unprecedented high-resolution cloud and precipitation dataset collected by two radars deployed on the Maria S. Merian research vessel. The ship operated in the west Atlantic Ocean during the measurement campaign called EUREC4A, between 19 January and 19 February 2020. The data collected are crucial to investigate clouds and precipitation and understand how they form and change over the ocean, where it is so difficult to measure them.
Hélène Bresson, Annette Rinke, Mario Mech, Daniel Reinert, Vera Schemann, Kerstin Ebell, Marion Maturilli, Carolina Viceto, Irina Gorodetskaya, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 173–196, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-173-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-173-2022, 2022
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Arctic warming is pronounced, and one factor in this is the poleward atmospheric transport of heat and moisture. This study assesses the 4D structure of an Arctic moisture intrusion event which occurred in June 2017. For the first time, high-resolution pan-Arctic ICON simulations are performed and compared with global models, reanalysis, and observations. Results show the added value of high resolution in the event representation and the impact of the intrusion on the surface energy fluxes.
Heike Konow, Florian Ewald, Geet George, Marek Jacob, Marcus Klingebiel, Tobias Kölling, Anna E. Luebke, Theresa Mieslinger, Veronika Pörtge, Jule Radtke, Michael Schäfer, Hauke Schulz, Raphaela Vogel, Martin Wirth, Sandrine Bony, Susanne Crewell, André Ehrlich, Linda Forster, Andreas Giez, Felix Gödde, Silke Groß, Manuel Gutleben, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Theresa Lang, Bernhard Mayer, Mario Mech, Marc Prange, Sabrina Schnitt, Jessica Vial, Andreas Walbröl, Manfred Wendisch, Kevin Wolf, Tobias Zinner, Martin Zöger, Felix Ament, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 5545–5563, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-5545-2021, 2021
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The German research aircraft HALO took part in the research campaign EUREC4A in January and February 2020. The focus area was the tropical Atlantic east of the island of Barbados. We describe the characteristics of the 15 research flights, provide auxiliary information, derive combined cloud mask products from all instruments that observe clouds on board the aircraft, and provide code examples that help new users of the data to get started.
Sebastian Landwehr, Michele Volpi, F. Alexander Haumann, Charlotte M. Robinson, Iris Thurnherr, Valerio Ferracci, Andrea Baccarini, Jenny Thomas, Irina Gorodetskaya, Christian Tatzelt, Silvia Henning, Rob L. Modini, Heather J. Forrer, Yajuan Lin, Nicolas Cassar, Rafel Simó, Christel Hassler, Alireza Moallemi, Sarah E. Fawcett, Neil Harris, Ruth Airs, Marzieh H. Derkani, Alberto Alberello, Alessandro Toffoli, Gang Chen, Pablo Rodríguez-Ros, Marina Zamanillo, Pau Cortés-Greus, Lei Xue, Conor G. Bolas, Katherine C. Leonard, Fernando Perez-Cruz, David Walton, and Julia Schmale
Earth Syst. Dynam., 12, 1295–1369, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esd-12-1295-2021, 2021
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The Antarctic Circumnavigation Expedition surveyed a large number of variables describing the dynamic state of ocean and atmosphere, freshwater cycle, atmospheric chemistry, ocean biogeochemistry, and microbiology in the Southern Ocean. To reduce the dimensionality of the dataset, we apply a sparse principal component analysis and identify temporal patterns from diurnal to seasonal cycles, as well as geographical gradients and
hotspotsof interaction. Code and data are open access.
Philippe Besson, Luise J. Fischer, Sebastian Schemm, and Michael Sprenger
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 991–1009, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-991-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-991-2021, 2021
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The strongest cyclone intensification is associated with a strong dry-dynamical forcing. Moreover, strong forcing and strong intensification correspond to a tendency for poleward cyclone propagation, which occurs in distinct regions in the Northern Hemisphere. There is a clear spatial pattern in the occurrence of certain forcing combinations. This implies a fundamental relationship between dry-dynamical processes and the intensification as well as the propagation of extratropical cyclones.
Bjorn Stevens, Sandrine Bony, David Farrell, Felix Ament, Alan Blyth, Christopher Fairall, Johannes Karstensen, Patricia K. Quinn, Sabrina Speich, Claudia Acquistapace, Franziska Aemisegger, Anna Lea Albright, Hugo Bellenger, Eberhard Bodenschatz, Kathy-Ann Caesar, Rebecca Chewitt-Lucas, Gijs de Boer, Julien Delanoë, Leif Denby, Florian Ewald, Benjamin Fildier, Marvin Forde, Geet George, Silke Gross, Martin Hagen, Andrea Hausold, Karen J. Heywood, Lutz Hirsch, Marek Jacob, Friedhelm Jansen, Stefan Kinne, Daniel Klocke, Tobias Kölling, Heike Konow, Marie Lothon, Wiebke Mohr, Ann Kristin Naumann, Louise Nuijens, Léa Olivier, Robert Pincus, Mira Pöhlker, Gilles Reverdin, Gregory Roberts, Sabrina Schnitt, Hauke Schulz, A. Pier Siebesma, Claudia Christine Stephan, Peter Sullivan, Ludovic Touzé-Peiffer, Jessica Vial, Raphaela Vogel, Paquita Zuidema, Nicola Alexander, Lyndon Alves, Sophian Arixi, Hamish Asmath, Gholamhossein Bagheri, Katharina Baier, Adriana Bailey, Dariusz Baranowski, Alexandre Baron, Sébastien Barrau, Paul A. Barrett, Frédéric Batier, Andreas Behrendt, Arne Bendinger, Florent Beucher, Sebastien Bigorre, Edmund Blades, Peter Blossey, Olivier Bock, Steven Böing, Pierre Bosser, Denis Bourras, Pascale Bouruet-Aubertot, Keith Bower, Pierre Branellec, Hubert Branger, Michal Brennek, Alan Brewer, Pierre-Etienne Brilouet, Björn Brügmann, Stefan A. Buehler, Elmo Burke, Ralph Burton, Radiance Calmer, Jean-Christophe Canonici, Xavier Carton, Gregory Cato Jr., Jude Andre Charles, Patrick Chazette, Yanxu Chen, Michal T. Chilinski, Thomas Choularton, Patrick Chuang, Shamal Clarke, Hugh Coe, Céline Cornet, Pierre Coutris, Fleur Couvreux, Susanne Crewell, Timothy Cronin, Zhiqiang Cui, Yannis Cuypers, Alton Daley, Gillian M. Damerell, Thibaut Dauhut, Hartwig Deneke, Jean-Philippe Desbios, Steffen Dörner, Sebastian Donner, Vincent Douet, Kyla Drushka, Marina Dütsch, André Ehrlich, Kerry Emanuel, Alexandros Emmanouilidis, Jean-Claude Etienne, Sheryl Etienne-Leblanc, Ghislain Faure, Graham Feingold, Luca Ferrero, Andreas Fix, Cyrille Flamant, Piotr Jacek Flatau, Gregory R. Foltz, Linda Forster, Iulian Furtuna, Alan Gadian, Joseph Galewsky, Martin Gallagher, Peter Gallimore, Cassandra Gaston, Chelle Gentemann, Nicolas Geyskens, Andreas Giez, John Gollop, Isabelle Gouirand, Christophe Gourbeyre, Dörte de Graaf, Geiske E. de Groot, Robert Grosz, Johannes Güttler, Manuel Gutleben, Kashawn Hall, George Harris, Kevin C. Helfer, Dean Henze, Calvert Herbert, Bruna Holanda, Antonio Ibanez-Landeta, Janet Intrieri, Suneil Iyer, Fabrice Julien, Heike Kalesse, Jan Kazil, Alexander Kellman, Abiel T. Kidane, Ulrike Kirchner, Marcus Klingebiel, Mareike Körner, Leslie Ann Kremper, Jan Kretzschmar, Ovid Krüger, Wojciech Kumala, Armin Kurz, Pierre L'Hégaret, Matthieu Labaste, Tom Lachlan-Cope, Arlene Laing, Peter Landschützer, Theresa Lang, Diego Lange, Ingo Lange, Clément Laplace, Gauke Lavik, Rémi Laxenaire, Caroline Le Bihan, Mason Leandro, Nathalie Lefevre, Marius Lena, Donald Lenschow, Qiang Li, Gary Lloyd, Sebastian Los, Niccolò Losi, Oscar Lovell, Christopher Luneau, Przemyslaw Makuch, Szymon Malinowski, Gaston Manta, Eleni Marinou, Nicholas Marsden, Sebastien Masson, Nicolas Maury, Bernhard Mayer, Margarette Mayers-Als, Christophe Mazel, Wayne McGeary, James C. McWilliams, Mario Mech, Melina Mehlmann, Agostino Niyonkuru Meroni, Theresa Mieslinger, Andreas Minikin, Peter Minnett, Gregor Möller, Yanmichel Morfa Avalos, Caroline Muller, Ionela Musat, Anna Napoli, Almuth Neuberger, Christophe Noisel, David Noone, Freja Nordsiek, Jakub L. Nowak, Lothar Oswald, Douglas J. Parker, Carolyn Peck, Renaud Person, Miriam Philippi, Albert Plueddemann, Christopher Pöhlker, Veronika Pörtge, Ulrich Pöschl, Lawrence Pologne, Michał Posyniak, Marc Prange, Estefanía Quiñones Meléndez, Jule Radtke, Karim Ramage, Jens Reimann, Lionel Renault, Klaus Reus, Ashford Reyes, Joachim Ribbe, Maximilian Ringel, Markus Ritschel, Cesar B. Rocha, Nicolas Rochetin, Johannes Röttenbacher, Callum Rollo, Haley Royer, Pauline Sadoulet, Leo Saffin, Sanola Sandiford, Irina Sandu, Michael Schäfer, Vera Schemann, Imke Schirmacher, Oliver Schlenczek, Jerome Schmidt, Marcel Schröder, Alfons Schwarzenboeck, Andrea Sealy, Christoph J. Senff, Ilya Serikov, Samkeyat Shohan, Elizabeth Siddle, Alexander Smirnov, Florian Späth, Branden Spooner, M. Katharina Stolla, Wojciech Szkółka, Simon P. de Szoeke, Stéphane Tarot, Eleni Tetoni, Elizabeth Thompson, Jim Thomson, Lorenzo Tomassini, Julien Totems, Alma Anna Ubele, Leonie Villiger, Jan von Arx, Thomas Wagner, Andi Walther, Ben Webber, Manfred Wendisch, Shanice Whitehall, Anton Wiltshire, Allison A. Wing, Martin Wirth, Jonathan Wiskandt, Kevin Wolf, Ludwig Worbes, Ethan Wright, Volker Wulfmeyer, Shanea Young, Chidong Zhang, Dongxiao Zhang, Florian Ziemen, Tobias Zinner, and Martin Zöger
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 13, 4067–4119, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-4067-2021, 2021
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The EUREC4A field campaign, designed to test hypothesized mechanisms by which clouds respond to warming and benchmark next-generation Earth-system models, is presented. EUREC4A comprised roughly 5 weeks of measurements in the downstream winter trades of the North Atlantic – eastward and southeastward of Barbados. It was the first campaign that attempted to characterize the full range of processes and scales influencing trade wind clouds.
Susanne Crewell, Kerstin Ebell, Patrick Konjari, Mario Mech, Tatiana Nomokonova, Ana Radovan, David Strack, Arantxa M. Triana-Gómez, Stefan Noël, Raul Scarlat, Gunnar Spreen, Marion Maturilli, Annette Rinke, Irina Gorodetskaya, Carolina Viceto, Thomas August, and Marc Schröder
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4829–4856, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4829-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4829-2021, 2021
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Water vapor (WV) is an important variable in the climate system. Satellite measurements are thus crucial to characterize the spatial and temporal variability in WV and how it changed over time. In particular with respect to the observed strong Arctic warming, the role of WV still needs to be better understood. However, as shown in this paper, a detailed understanding is still hampered by large uncertainties in the various satellite WV products, showing the need for improved methods to derive WV.
Raphael Portmann, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 507–534, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-507-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-507-2021, 2021
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We explore the three-dimensional life cycle of cyclonic structures
(so-called PV cutoffs) near the tropopause. PV cutoffs are frequent weather systems in the extratropics that lead to high-impact weather. However, many unknowns exist regarding their evolution. We present a new method to track PV cutoffs as 3D objects in reanalysis data by following air parcels along the flow. We study the climatological life cycles of PV cutoffs in detail and propose a classification into three types.
Iris Thurnherr, Katharina Hartmuth, Lukas Jansing, Josué Gehring, Maxi Boettcher, Irina Gorodetskaya, Martin Werner, Heini Wernli, and Franziska Aemisegger
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 331–357, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-331-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-331-2021, 2021
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Extratropical cyclones are important for the transport of moisture from low to high latitudes. In this study, we investigate how the isotopic composition of water vapour is affected by horizontal temperature advection associated with extratropical cyclones using measurements and modelling. It is shown that air–sea moisture fluxes induced by this horizontal temperature advection lead to the strong variability observed in the isotopic composition of water vapour in the marine boundary layer.
Maxi Boettcher, Andreas Schäfler, Michael Sprenger, Harald Sodemann, Stefan Kaufmann, Christiane Voigt, Hans Schlager, Donato Summa, Paolo Di Girolamo, Daniele Nerini, Urs Germann, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5477–5498, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5477-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5477-2021, 2021
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are important airstreams in extratropical cyclones, often leading to the formation of intense precipitation. We present a case study that involves aircraft, lidar and radar observations of water and clouds in a WCB ascending from western Europe across the Alps towards the Baltic Sea during the field campaigns HyMeX and T-NAWDEX-Falcon in October 2012. A probabilistic trajectory measure and an airborne tracer experiment were used to confirm the long pathway of the WCB.
Melissa L. Breeden, Amy H. Butler, John R. Albers, Michael Sprenger, and Andrew O'Neil Langford
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2781–2794, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2781-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2781-2021, 2021
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Prior research has found a maximum in deep stratosphere-to-troposphere mass/ozone transport over the western United States in boreal spring, which can enhance surface ozone concentrations, reducing air quality. We find that the winter-to-summer evolution of the north Pacific jet increases the frequency of stratospheric intrusions that drive transport, helping explain the observed maximum. The El Niño–Southern Oscillation affects the timing of the spring jet transition and therefore transport.
Annika Oertel, Michael Sprenger, Hanna Joos, Maxi Boettcher, Heike Konow, Martin Hagen, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 89–110, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-89-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-89-2021, 2021
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Convection embedded in the stratiform cloud band of strongly ascending airstreams in extratropical cyclones (so-called warm conveyor belts) can influence not only surface precipitation but also the
upper-tropospheric potential vorticity (PV) and waveguide. The comparison of intense vs. moderate embedded convection shows that its strength alone is not a reliable measure for upper-tropospheric PV modification. Instead, characteristics of the ambient flow co-determine its dynamical significance.
Emmanouil Flaounas, Matthias Röthlisberger, Maxi Boettcher, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 2, 71–88, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-71-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2-71-2021, 2021
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In this study we identify the wettest seasons globally and address their meteorological characteristics. We show that in different regions the wettest seasons occur in different times of the year and result from either unusually high frequencies of wet days and/or daily extremes. These high frequencies can be largely attributed to four specific weather systems, especially cyclones. Our analysis uses a thoroughly explained, novel methodology that could also be applied to climate models.
Claudia Mignani, Jörg Wieder, Michael A. Sprenger, Zamin A. Kanji, Jan Henneberger, Christine Alewell, and Franz Conen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 657–664, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-657-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-657-2021, 2021
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Most precipitation above land starts with ice in clouds. It is promoted by extremely rare particles. Some ice-nucleating particles (INPs) cause cloud droplets to already freeze above −15°C, a temperature at which many clouds begin to snow. We found that the abundance of such INPs among other particles of similar size is highest in precipitating air masses and lowest when air carries desert dust. This brings us closer to understanding the interactions between land, clouds, and precipitation.
Marek Jacob, Pavlos Kollias, Felix Ament, Vera Schemann, and Susanne Crewell
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 5757–5777, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5757-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-5757-2020, 2020
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We compare clouds in different cloud-resolving atmosphere simulations with airborne remote sensing observations. The focus is on warm shallow clouds in the Atlantic trade wind region. Those clouds are climatologically important but challenging for climate models. We use forward operators to apply instrument-specific thresholds for cloud detection to model outputs. In this comparison, the higher-resolution model better reproduces the layered cloud structure.
Maialen Iturbide, José M. Gutiérrez, Lincoln M. Alves, Joaquín Bedia, Ruth Cerezo-Mota, Ezequiel Cimadevilla, Antonio S. Cofiño, Alejandro Di Luca, Sergio Henrique Faria, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Mathias Hauser, Sixto Herrera, Kevin Hennessy, Helene T. Hewitt, Richard G. Jones, Svitlana Krakovska, Rodrigo Manzanas, Daniel Martínez-Castro, Gemma T. Narisma, Intan S. Nurhati, Izidine Pinto, Sonia I. Seneviratne, Bart van den Hurk, and Carolina S. Vera
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 12, 2959–2970, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2959-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2959-2020, 2020
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We present an update of the IPCC WGI reference regions used in AR5 for the synthesis of climate change information. This revision was guided by the basic principles of climatic consistency and model representativeness (in particular for the new CMIP6 simulations). We also present a new dataset of monthly CMIP5 and CMIP6 spatially aggregated information using the new reference regions and describe a worked example of how to use this dataset to inform regional climate change studies.
Stefan Rüdisühli, Michael Sprenger, David Leutwyler, Christoph Schär, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 675–699, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-675-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-675-2020, 2020
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Most precipitation over Europe is linked to low-pressure systems, cold fronts, warm fronts, or high-pressure systems. Based on a massive computer simulation able to resolve thunderstorms, we quantify in detail how much precipitation these weather systems produced during 2000–2008. We find distinct seasonal and regional differences, such as fronts precipitating a lot in fall and winter over the North Atlantic but high-pressure systems mostly in summer over the continent by way of thunderstorms.
Ilias Bougoudis, Anne-Marlene Blechschmidt, Andreas Richter, Sora Seo, John Philip Burrows, Nicolas Theys, and Annette Rinke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11869–11892, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11869-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11869-2020, 2020
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A 22-year (1996 to 2017) consistent Arctic tropospheric BrO dataset derived from four satellite remote sensing instruments is presented. An increase in tropospheric BrO VCDs over this period, and especially during polar springs, can be seen. Comparisons of tropospheric BrO VCDs with first-year sea ice reveal a moderate spatial and temporal correlation between the two, suggesting that the increase in first-year sea ice in the Arctic has an impact on tropospheric BrO abundancies.
Raphael Portmann, Juan Jesús González-Alemán, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 597–615, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-597-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-597-2020, 2020
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In September 2018 an intense Mediterranean cyclone with structural similarities to a hurricane, a so-called medicane, caused severe damage in Greece. Its development was uncertain, even just a few days in advance. The reason for this was uncertainties in the jet stream over the North Atlantic 3 d prior to cyclogenesis that propagated into the Mediterranean. They led to an uncertain position of the upper-level disturbance and, as a result, of the position and thermal structure of the cyclone.
Hanin Binder, Maxi Boettcher, Hanna Joos, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 577–595, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-577-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-577-2020, 2020
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are important cloud- and
precipitation-producing airstreams in extratropical cyclones. By combining satellite observations with model data from a new reanalysis dataset, this study provides detailed observational insight into the vertical cloud structure of WCBs. We find that the reanalyses essentially capture the observed cloud pattern, but the observations reveal mesoscale structures not resolved by the temporally and spatially much coarser-resolution model data.
Mario Mech, Maximilian Maahn, Stefan Kneifel, Davide Ori, Emiliano Orlandi, Pavlos Kollias, Vera Schemann, and Susanne Crewell
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 4229–4251, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4229-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-4229-2020, 2020
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The Passive and Active Microwave TRAnsfer tool (PAMTRA) is a public domain software package written in Python and Fortran for the simulation of microwave remote sensing observations. PAMTRA models the interaction of radiation with gases, clouds, precipitation, and the surface using either in situ observations or model output as input parameters. The wide range of applications is demonstrated for passive (radiometer) and active (radar) instruments on ground, airborne, and satellite platforms.
Sebastian Schemm, Stefan Rüdisühli, and Michael Sprenger
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 459–479, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-459-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-459-2020, 2020
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Troughs and ridges are ubiquitous flow features in the upper troposphere and are centerpiece elements of weather and climate research. A novel method is introduced to identify and track the life cycle of troughs and ridges and their orientation. The aim is to close the existing gap between methods that detect the initiation phase and methods that detect the decaying phase of Rossby wave development. Global climatologies, the influence of ENSO and Lagrangian characteristics are discussed.
Xiaoyong Yu, Annette Rinke, Wolfgang Dorn, Gunnar Spreen, Christof Lüpkes, Hiroshi Sumata, and Vladimir M. Gryanik
The Cryosphere, 14, 1727–1746, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1727-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1727-2020, 2020
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This study presents an evaluation of Arctic sea ice drift speed for the period 2003–2014 in a state-of-the-art coupled regional model for the Arctic, called HIRHAM–NAOSIM. In particular, the dependency of the drift speed on the near-surface wind speed and sea ice conditions is presented. Effects of sea ice form drag included by an improved parameterization of the transfer coefficients for momentum and heat over sea ice are discussed.
Nicolas Jullien, Étienne Vignon, Michael Sprenger, Franziska Aemisegger, and Alexis Berne
The Cryosphere, 14, 1685–1702, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-14-1685-2020, 2020
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Although snowfall is the main input of water to the Antarctic ice sheet, snowflakes are often evaporated by dry and fierce winds near the surface of the continent. The amount of snow that actually reaches the ground is therefore considerably reduced. By analyzing the position of cyclones and fronts as well as by back-tracing the atmospheric moisture pathway towards Antarctica, this study explains in which meteorological conditions snowfall is either completely evaporated or reaches the ground.
Montserrat Costa-Surós, Odran Sourdeval, Claudia Acquistapace, Holger Baars, Cintia Carbajal Henken, Christa Genz, Jonas Hesemann, Cristofer Jimenez, Marcel König, Jan Kretzschmar, Nils Madenach, Catrin I. Meyer, Roland Schrödner, Patric Seifert, Fabian Senf, Matthias Brueck, Guido Cioni, Jan Frederik Engels, Kerstin Fieg, Ksenia Gorges, Rieke Heinze, Pavan Kumar Siligam, Ulrike Burkhardt, Susanne Crewell, Corinna Hoose, Axel Seifert, Ina Tegen, and Johannes Quaas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5657–5678, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5657-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5657-2020, 2020
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The impact of anthropogenic aerosols on clouds is a key uncertainty in climate change. This study analyses large-domain simulations with a new high-resolution model to investigate the differences in clouds between 1985 and 2013 comparing multiple observational datasets. The differences in aerosol and in cloud droplet concentrations are clearly detectable. For other quantities, the detection and attribution proved difficult, despite a substantial impact on the Earth's energy budget.
Elena Ruiz-Donoso, André Ehrlich, Michael Schäfer, Evelyn Jäkel, Vera Schemann, Susanne Crewell, Mario Mech, Birte Solveig Kulla, Leif-Leonard Kliesch, Roland Neuber, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5487–5511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5487-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5487-2020, 2020
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Mixed-phase clouds, formed of water droplets and ice crystals, appear frequently in Arctic regions. Characterizing the distribution of liquid water and ice inside the cloud appropriately is important because it influences the cloud's impact on the surface temperature. In this study, we combined images of the cloud top with measurements inside the cloud to analyze in detail the 3D spatial distribution of liquid and ice in two mixed-phase clouds occurring under different meteorological scenarios.
Annika Oertel, Maxi Boettcher, Hanna Joos, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 127–153, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-127-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-127-2020, 2020
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) are important, mainly stratiform cloud forming airstreams in extratropical cyclones that can include embedded convection. This WCB case study systematically compares the characteristics of convective vs. slantwise ascent of the WCB. We find that embedded convection leads to regions of significantly stronger precipitation. Moreover, it strongly modifies the potential vorticity distribution in the lower and upper troposphere, where its also influences the waveguide.
Maria P. Cadeddu, Virendra P. Ghate, and Mario Mech
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1485–1499, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1485-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1485-2020, 2020
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A combination of ground-based active and passive observations is used to partition cloud and precipitation liquid water path in precipitating stratocumulous clouds. Results show that neglecting scattering effects from drizzle drops leads to 8–15 % overestimation of the liquid amount in the cloud. In closed-cell systems only ~20 % of the available drizzle in the cloud falls below the cloud base, compared to ~40 % in open-cell systems.
Matthias Röthlisberger, Michael Sprenger, Emmanouil Flaounas, Urs Beyerle, and Heini Wernli
Weather Clim. Dynam., 1, 45–62, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-45-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-1-45-2020, 2020
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In this study we quantify how much the coldest, middle and hottest third of all days during extremely hot summers contribute to their respective seasonal mean anomaly. This
extreme-summer substructurevaries substantially across the Northern Hemisphere and is directly related to the local physical drivers of extreme summers. Furthermore, comparing re-analysis (i.e. measurement-based) and climate model extreme-summer substructures reveals a remarkable level of agreement.
Tobias Marke, Ulrich Löhnert, Vera Schemann, Jan H. Schween, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1723–1736, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1723-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1723-2020, 2020
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In this study, land surface and atmosphere interactions are addressed using ground-based remote sensing, satellite products, and high-resolution large-eddy simulations. The focus is on water vapor transport from the surface into the atmosphere. Patterns found in long-term observations can be linked to properties of the surrounding land surface. The simulation results suggest that a different distribution of land use types has implications for boundary layer characteristics and clouds.
Thomas Trickl, Hannes Vogelmann, Ludwig Ries, and Michael Sprenger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 243–266, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-243-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-243-2020, 2020
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Ozone transfer from the stratosphere to the troposphere seems to to have grown over the past decade, parallel to global warming. Lidar measurements, carried out in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, between 2007 and 2016 show a considerable stratospheric influence in the free troposphere over these sites, with observations of stratospheric layers in the troposphere on 84 % of the measurement days. This high fraction is almost reached also in North America, but frequently not throughout the year.
André Ehrlich, Manfred Wendisch, Christof Lüpkes, Matthias Buschmann, Heiko Bozem, Dmitri Chechin, Hans-Christian Clemen, Régis Dupuy, Olliver Eppers, Jörg Hartmann, Andreas Herber, Evelyn Jäkel, Emma Järvinen, Olivier Jourdan, Udo Kästner, Leif-Leonard Kliesch, Franziska Köllner, Mario Mech, Stephan Mertes, Roland Neuber, Elena Ruiz-Donoso, Martin Schnaiter, Johannes Schneider, Johannes Stapf, and Marco Zanatta
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1853–1881, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1853-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1853-2019, 2019
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During the Arctic CLoud Observations Using airborne measurements during polar Day (ACLOUD) campaign, two research aircraft (Polar 5 and 6) jointly performed 22 research flights over the transition zone between open ocean and closed sea ice. The data set combines remote sensing and in situ measurement of cloud, aerosol, and trace gas properties, as well as turbulent and radiative fluxes, which will be used to study Arctic boundary layer and mid-level clouds and their role in Arctic amplification.
Mario Mech, Leif-Leonard Kliesch, Andreas Anhäuser, Thomas Rose, Pavlos Kollias, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 5019–5037, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-5019-2019, 2019
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An improved understanding of Arctic mixed-phase clouds and their contribution to Arctic warming can be achieved by observations from airborne platforms with remote sensing instruments. Such an instrument is MiRAC combining active and passive techniques to gain information on the distribution of clouds, the occurrence of precipitation, and the amount of liquid and ice within the cloud. Operated during a campaign in Arctic summer, it could observe lower clouds often not seen by spaceborne radars.
Heike Konow, Marek Jacob, Felix Ament, Susanne Crewell, Florian Ewald, Martin Hagen, Lutz Hirsch, Friedhelm Jansen, Mario Mech, and Bjorn Stevens
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 921–934, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-921-2019, 2019
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High-resolution measurements of maritime clouds are relatively scarce. Airborne cloud radar, microwave radiometer and dropsonde observations are used to expand these data. The measurements are unified into one data set to enable easy joint analyses of several or all instruments together to gain insight into cloud properties and atmospheric state. The data set contains measurements from four campaigns between December 2013 and October 2016 over the tropical and midlatitude Atlantic.
Evelyn Jäkel, Johannes Stapf, Manfred Wendisch, Marcel Nicolaus, Wolfgang Dorn, and Annette Rinke
The Cryosphere, 13, 1695–1708, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1695-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-1695-2019, 2019
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The sea ice surface albedo parameterization of a coupled regional climate model was validated against aircraft measurements performed in May–June 2017 north of Svalbard. The albedo parameterization was run offline from the model using the measured parameters surface temperature and snow depth to calculate the surface albedo and the individual fractions of the ice surface subtypes. An adjustment of the variables and additionally accounting for cloud cover reduced the root-mean-squared error.
Marek Jacob, Felix Ament, Manuel Gutleben, Heike Konow, Mario Mech, Martin Wirth, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3237–3254, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3237-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3237-2019, 2019
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Tropical clouds are a key climate component but are still not fully understood. Therefore, we analyze airborne remote sensing measurements that were taken in the dry and wet seasons over the Atlantic east of Barbados. From these we derive sub-kilometer resolution data of vertically integrated atmospheric water vapor and liquid water. Results show that although the humidity is lower in the dry season, clouds are more frequent, contain more water, and produce more rain than in the wet season.
Bojan Škerlak, Stephan Pfahl, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 6535–6549, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6535-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-6535-2019, 2019
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Upper-level fronts are often associated with the rapid transport of stratospheric air to the lower troposphere, leading to significantly enhanced ozone concentrations. This paper considers the multi-scale nature that is needed to bring stratospheric air down to the surface. The final transport step to the surface can be related to frontal zones and the associated vertical winds or to near-horizontal tracer transport followed by entrainment into a growing planetary boundary layer.
Christoph Böhm, Odran Sourdeval, Johannes Mülmenstädt, Johannes Quaas, and Susanne Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1841–1860, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1841-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1841-2019, 2019
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The cloud base height (CBH) is important for air traffic, for describing the energy budget of the Earth and for other applications. Ground-based CBH measurements are only available for individual sites and mostly limited to land. Satellites are a powerful tool for global coverage. While the cloud top height is derived operationally, the derivation of CBH from space is more difficult as the clouds hide their base. Here, we present a method to retrieve the CBH from multi-angle satellite data.
Florentin Lemonnier, Jean-Baptiste Madeleine, Chantal Claud, Christophe Genthon, Claudio Durán-Alarcón, Cyril Palerme, Alexis Berne, Niels Souverijns, Nicole van Lipzig, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Tristan L'Ecuyer, and Norman Wood
The Cryosphere, 13, 943–954, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-943-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-943-2019, 2019
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Evaluation of the vertical precipitation rate profiles of CloudSat radar by comparison with two surface-based micro-rain radars (MRR) located at two antarctic stations gives a near-perfect correlation between both datasets, even though climatic and geographic conditions are different for the stations. A better understanding and reassessment of CloudSat uncertainties ranging from −13 % up to +22 % confirms the robustness of the CloudSat retrievals of snowfall over Antarctica.
Kevin Wolf, André Ehrlich, Marek Jacob, Susanne Crewell, Martin Wirth, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1635–1658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1635-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1635-2019, 2019
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Using passive spectral solar radiation and active lidar, radar, and microwave measurements with HALO during NARVAL-II, the cloud droplet number concentration of shallow trade wind cumulus is estimated. With stepwise inclusion of the different instruments into the retrieval, the benefits of the synergetic approach based on artificial measurements and two cloud cases are demonstrated. Significant improvement with the synergetic method compared to the solar-radiation-only method is reported.
Alexandra Gossart, Stephen P. Palm, Niels Souverijns, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Stef Lhermitte, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
The Cryosphere Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-25, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-2019-25, 2019
Manuscript not accepted for further review
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Blowing snow measurements are scarce, both in time and space over the Antarctic ice sheet. We compare here CALIPSO satellite blowing snow measurements, to ground-base remote sensing ceilometer retrievals at two coastal stations in East Antarctica. Results indicate that 95 % of the blowing snow occurs under cloudy conditions, and are missed by the satellite. In addition, difficulties arise if comparing point locations to satellite overpasses.
Claudio Durán-Alarcón, Brice Boudevillain, Christophe Genthon, Jacopo Grazioli, Niels Souverijns, Nicole P. M. van Lipzig, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, and Alexis Berne
The Cryosphere, 13, 247–264, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-247-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-13-247-2019, 2019
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Precipitation is the main input in the surface mass balance of the Antarctic ice sheet, but it is still poorly understood due to a lack of observations in this region. We analyzed the vertical structure of the precipitation using multiyear observation of vertically pointing micro rain radars (MRRs) at two stations located in East Antarctica. The use of MRRs showed the potential to study the effect of climatology and hydrometeor microphysics on the vertical structure of Antarctic precipitation.
Paul Herenz, Heike Wex, Alexander Mangold, Quentin Laffineur, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Zoë L. Fleming, Marios Panagi, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 275–294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-275-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-275-2019, 2019
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Atmospheric aerosol particles were observed in Antarctica, at the Belgian Princess Elisabeth station during three austral summers. Possible source regions for the particles were examined. Air that spent more than 90 %; of the time during 10 days over Antarctica had low and stable number concentrations, while the highest (new particle formation) and lowest (scavenging and wet deposition) concentrations were observed for air masses that were more strongly influenced by the Southern Ocean.
Erlend M. Knudsen, Bernd Heinold, Sandro Dahlke, Heiko Bozem, Susanne Crewell, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Georg Heygster, Daniel Kunkel, Marion Maturilli, Mario Mech, Carolina Viceto, Annette Rinke, Holger Schmithüsen, André Ehrlich, Andreas Macke, Christof Lüpkes, and Manfred Wendisch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 17995–18022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018, 2018
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The paper describes the synoptic development during the ACLOUD/PASCAL airborne and ship-based field campaign near Svalbard in spring 2017. This development is presented using near-surface and upperair meteorological observations, satellite, and model data. We first present time series of these data, from which we identify and characterize three key periods. Finally, we put our observations in historical and regional contexts and compare our findings to other Arctic field campaigns.
Niels Souverijns, Alexandra Gossart, Stef Lhermitte, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Jacopo Grazioli, Alexis Berne, Claudio Duran-Alarcon, Brice Boudevillain, Christophe Genthon, Claudio Scarchilli, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
The Cryosphere, 12, 3775–3789, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3775-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-3775-2018, 2018
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Snowfall observations over Antarctica are scarce and currently limited to information from the CloudSat satellite. Here, a first evaluation of the CloudSat snowfall record is performed using observations of ground-based precipitation radars. Results indicate an accurate representation of the snowfall climatology over Antarctica, despite the low overpass frequency of the satellite, outperforming state-of-the-art model estimates. Individual snowfall events are however not well represented.
Wolfgang Dorn, Annette Rinke, Cornelia Köberle, Klaus Dethloff, and Rüdiger Gerdes
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2018-278, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2018-278, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
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A new version of the coupled Arctic climate model HIRHAM-NAOSIM has been designed to study interactions between atmosphere, sea ice, and ocean in the Arctic. This version utilizes upgraded, high-resolution model components and a revised coupling procedure. Simulations with the new version reveal that Arctic sea ice is thicker in all seasons and closer to observations than in the previous version. Wintertime biases in sea-ice extent and near-surface air temperatures are reduced as well.
Christine A. Shields, Jonathan J. Rutz, Lai-Yung Leung, F. Martin Ralph, Michael Wehner, Brian Kawzenuk, Juan M. Lora, Elizabeth McClenny, Tashiana Osborne, Ashley E. Payne, Paul Ullrich, Alexander Gershunov, Naomi Goldenson, Bin Guan, Yun Qian, Alexandre M. Ramos, Chandan Sarangi, Scott Sellars, Irina Gorodetskaya, Karthik Kashinath, Vitaliy Kurlin, Kelly Mahoney, Grzegorz Muszynski, Roger Pierce, Aneesh C. Subramanian, Ricardo Tome, Duane Waliser, Daniel Walton, Gary Wick, Anna Wilson, David Lavers, Prabhat, Allison Collow, Harinarayan Krishnan, Gudrun Magnusdottir, and Phu Nguyen
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 2455–2474, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2455-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-2455-2018, 2018
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ARTMIP (Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project) is a community effort with the explicit goal of understanding the uncertainties, and the implications of those uncertainties, in atmospheric river science solely due to detection algorithm. ARTMIP strives to quantify these differences and provide guidance on appropriate algorithmic choices for the science question posed. Project goals, experimental design, and preliminary results are provided.
Niels Souverijns, Alexandra Gossart, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Stef Lhermitte, Alexander Mangold, Quentin Laffineur, Andy Delcloo, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
The Cryosphere, 12, 1987–2003, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1987-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-1987-2018, 2018
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This work is the first to gain insight into the local surface mass balance over Antarctica using accurate long-term snowfall observations. A non-linear relationship between accumulation and snowfall is discovered, indicating that total surface mass balance measurements are not a good proxy for snowfall over Antarctica. Furthermore, the meteorological drivers causing changes in the local SMB are identified.
Yulan Zhang, Shichang Kang, Michael Sprenger, Zhiyuan Cong, Tanguang Gao, Chaoliu Li, Shu Tao, Xiaofei Li, Xinyue Zhong, Min Xu, Wenjun Meng, Bigyan Neupane, Xiang Qin, and Mika Sillanpää
The Cryosphere, 12, 413–431, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-413-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-413-2018, 2018
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Light-absorbing impurities deposited on snow can reduce surface albedo and contribute to the near-worldwide melting of snowpack and ice. This study focused on the black carbon and mineral dust in snow cover on the Tibetan Plateau. We discussed their concentrations, distributions, possible sources, and albedo reduction and radiative forcing. Findings indicated that the impacts of black carbon and mineral dust need to be properly accounted for in future regional climate projections.
Thomas Trickl, Hannes Vogelmann, Ludwig Ries, Hans-Eckhart Scheel, and Michael Sprenger
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-1192, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-1192, 2018
Revised manuscript not accepted
Alexandra Gossart, Niels Souverijns, Irina V. Gorodetskaya, Stef Lhermitte, Jan T. M. Lenaerts, Jan H. Schween, Alexander Mangold, Quentin Laffineur, and Nicole P. M. van Lipzig
The Cryosphere, 11, 2755–2772, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2755-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-11-2755-2017, 2017
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Blowing snow plays an important role on local surface mass balance of Antarctica. We present here the blowing snow detection algorithm, to retrieve blowing snow occurrence from the attenuated backscatter signal of ceilometers set up at two station. There is a good correspondence in detection of heavy blowing snow by the algorithm and the visual observations performed at Neumayer station. Moreover, most of the blowing snow occurs during events bringing precipitation from the coast inland.
Andreas Macke, Patric Seifert, Holger Baars, Christian Barthlott, Christoph Beekmans, Andreas Behrendt, Birger Bohn, Matthias Brueck, Johannes Bühl, Susanne Crewell, Thomas Damian, Hartwig Deneke, Sebastian Düsing, Andreas Foth, Paolo Di Girolamo, Eva Hammann, Rieke Heinze, Anne Hirsikko, John Kalisch, Norbert Kalthoff, Stefan Kinne, Martin Kohler, Ulrich Löhnert, Bomidi Lakshmi Madhavan, Vera Maurer, Shravan Kumar Muppa, Jan Schween, Ilya Serikov, Holger Siebert, Clemens Simmer, Florian Späth, Sandra Steinke, Katja Träumner, Silke Trömel, Birgit Wehner, Andreas Wieser, Volker Wulfmeyer, and Xinxin Xie
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4887–4914, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4887-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4887-2017, 2017
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This article provides an overview of the instrumental setup and the main results obtained during the two HD(CP)2 Observational Prototype Experiments HOPE-Jülich and HOPE-Melpitz conducted in Germany in April–May and Sept 2013, respectively. Goal of the field experiments was to provide high-resolution observational datasets for both, improving the understaning of boundary layer and cloud processes, as well as for the evaluation of the new ICON model that is run at 156 m horizontal resolution.
Carolina Cavazos Guerra, Axel Lauer, Andreas B. Herber, Tim M. Butler, Annette Rinke, and Klaus Dethloff
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-942, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2016-942, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
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Accurate description of the Arctic atmosphere is a challenge for the modelling comunity. We evaluate the performance of the Weather Research and Forecast model (WRF) in the Eurasian Arctic and analyse the implications of data to initialise the model and a land surface scheme. The results show that biases can be related to the quality of data used and in the case of black carbon concentrations, to emission data. More long term measurements are need for model Validation in the area.
Davide Putero, Paolo Cristofanelli, Michael Sprenger, Bojan Škerlak, Laura Tositti, and Paolo Bonasoni
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 14203–14217, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14203-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14203-2016, 2016
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The aim of this paper is to present STEFLUX, a tool to obtain a fast-computing identification of the stratospheric intrusion (SI) events occurring at a specific location and during a specified time window. STEFLUX results are compared to the SI observations at two high-mountain WMO/GAW global stations in Nepal and Italy, representative of two hot spots for climate change. Furthermore, the climatology of SI at the two stations is assessed, and the impact of several climate factors investigated.
Dimitris Akritidis, Andrea Pozzer, Prodromos Zanis, Evangelos Tyrlis, Bojan Škerlak, Michael Sprenger, and Jos Lelieveld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 14025–14039, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14025-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-14025-2016, 2016
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We investigate the contribution of tropopause folds in the summertime tropospheric ozone pool over the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. For this purpose we use the EMAC atmospheric chemistry–climate model and a fold identification algorithm. A clear increase of ozone is found in the middle troposphere due to fold activity. The interannual variability of near-surface ozone over the eastern Mediterranean is related to that of both tropopause folds and ozone in the free troposphere.
María Barrera-Verdejo, Susanne Crewell, Ulrich Löhnert, Emiliano Orlandi, and Paolo Di Girolamo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4013–4028, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4013-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4013-2016, 2016
Wenli Wang, Annette Rinke, John C. Moore, Duoying Ji, Xuefeng Cui, Shushi Peng, David M. Lawrence, A. David McGuire, Eleanor J. Burke, Xiaodong Chen, Bertrand Decharme, Charles Koven, Andrew MacDougall, Kazuyuki Saito, Wenxin Zhang, Ramdane Alkama, Theodore J. Bohn, Philippe Ciais, Christine Delire, Isabelle Gouttevin, Tomohiro Hajima, Gerhard Krinner, Dennis P. Lettenmaier, Paul A. Miller, Benjamin Smith, Tetsuo Sueyoshi, and Artem B. Sherstiukov
The Cryosphere, 10, 1721–1737, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1721-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-1721-2016, 2016
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The winter snow insulation is a key process for air–soil temperature coupling and is relevant for permafrost simulations. Differences in simulated air–soil temperature relationships and their modulation by climate conditions are found to be related to the snow model physics. Generally, models with better performance apply multilayer snow schemes.
Thomas Trickl, Hannes Vogelmann, Andreas Fix, Andreas Schäfler, Martin Wirth, Bertrand Calpini, Gilbert Levrat, Gonzague Romanens, Arnoud Apituley, Keith M. Wilson, Robert Begbie, Jens Reichardt, Holger Vömel, and Michael Sprenger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8791–8815, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8791-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8791-2016, 2016
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A rather homogeneous deep stratospheric intrusion event was mapped by vertical sounding over central Europe and by model calculations along the transport path. The very low minimum H2O mixing ratios demonstrate almost negligible mixing with tropospheric air during the downward transport. The vertical distributions of O3 and aerosol were transferred from the source region to Europe without major change. A rather shallow outflow from the stratosphere was found.
Florian Berkes, Peter Hoor, Heiko Bozem, Daniel Kunkel, Michael Sprenger, and Stephan Henne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6011–6025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6011-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6011-2016, 2016
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We presented airborne measurements of CO2 and O3 across the entrainment zone over a semi-remote environment in southwestern Germany in late summer 2011 .
For the first time CO2 and O3 were used as tracer to identify mixing through this transport barrier. We demonstrated that the tracer--tracer correlation of CO2 and O3 is a powerful tool to identify entrainment and mixing.
W. Wang, A. Rinke, J. C. Moore, X. Cui, D. Ji, Q. Li, N. Zhang, C. Wang, S. Zhang, D. M. Lawrence, A. D. McGuire, W. Zhang, C. Delire, C. Koven, K. Saito, A. MacDougall, E. Burke, and B. Decharme
The Cryosphere, 10, 287–306, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-287-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-287-2016, 2016
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We use a model-ensemble approach for simulating permafrost on the Tibetan Plateau. We identify the uncertainties across models (state-of-the-art land surface models) and across methods (most commonly used methods to define permafrost).
We differentiate between uncertainties stemming from climatic driving data or from physical process parameterization, and show how these uncertainties vary seasonally and inter-annually, and how estimates are subject to the definition of permafrost used.
We differentiate between uncertainties stemming from climatic driving data or from physical process parameterization, and show how these uncertainties vary seasonally and inter-annually, and how estimates are subject to the definition of permafrost used.
S. Peng, P. Ciais, G. Krinner, T. Wang, I. Gouttevin, A. D. McGuire, D. Lawrence, E. Burke, X. Chen, B. Decharme, C. Koven, A. MacDougall, A. Rinke, K. Saito, W. Zhang, R. Alkama, T. J. Bohn, C. Delire, T. Hajima, D. Ji, D. P. Lettenmaier, P. A. Miller, J. C. Moore, B. Smith, and T. Sueyoshi
The Cryosphere, 10, 179–192, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-179-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-10-179-2016, 2016
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Soil temperature change is a key indicator of the dynamics of permafrost. Using nine process-based ecosystem models with permafrost processes, a large spread of soil temperature trends across the models. Air temperature and longwave downward radiation are the main drivers of soil temperature trends. Based on an emerging observation constraint method, the total boreal near-surface permafrost area decrease comprised between 39 ± 14 × 103 and 75 ± 14 × 103 km2 yr−1 from 1960 to 2000.
P. Reutter, B. Škerlak, M. Sprenger, and H. Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 10939–10953, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10939-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-10939-2015, 2015
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In this manuscript, we investigate the exchange of air masses across the dynamical tropopause (stratosphere-troposphere exchange, STE) in the vicinity of North Atlantic cyclones. By using two 6-hourly resolved ERA-Interim climatologies of STE and cyclones from 1979 to 2011, we are able to directly compute the amount of STE in the vicinity of every individual cyclone in this time period. This enables us to provide a robust and consistent quantification of STE near North Atlantic cyclones.
M. Sprenger and H. Wernli
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2569–2586, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2569-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2569-2015, 2015
M. Barrera-Verdejo, S. Crewell, U. Löhnert, E. Orlandi, and P. Di Girolamo
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-8-5467-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amtd-8-5467-2015, 2015
Revised manuscript not accepted
S. Steinke, S. Eikenberg, U. Löhnert, G. Dick, D. Klocke, P. Di Girolamo, and S. Crewell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 2675–2692, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2675-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2675-2015, 2015
I. V. Gorodetskaya, S. Kneifel, M. Maahn, K. Van Tricht, W. Thiery, J. H. Schween, A. Mangold, S. Crewell, and N. P. M. Van Lipzig
The Cryosphere, 9, 285–304, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-285-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-285-2015, 2015
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Our paper presents a new cloud-precipitation-meteorological observatory established in the escarpment zone of Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica. The site is characterised by bimodal cloud occurrence (clear sky or overcast) with liquid-containing clouds occurring 20% of the cloudy periods. Local surface mass balance strongly depends on rare intense snowfall events. A substantial part of the accumulated snow is removed by surface and drifting snow sublimation and wind-driven snow erosion.
M. Mech, E. Orlandi, S. Crewell, F. Ament, L. Hirsch, M. Hagen, G. Peters, and B. Stevens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4539–4553, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4539-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4539-2014, 2014
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Here the High Altitude and LOng range research aircraft Microwave Package (HAMP) is introduced. The package consists
of three passive radiometer modules with 26 channels between 22
and 183 GHz and a 36 GHz Doppler cloud radar. The manuscript
describes the instrument specifications, the installation in the aircraft, and the operation. Furthermore, results from simulation
and retrieval studies, as well as measurements from a first test
campaign, are shown.
J. H. Schween, A. Hirsikko, U. Löhnert, and S. Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 3685–3704, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3685-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-3685-2014, 2014
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Two different methods for the determination of the mixing layer height (MLH) are investigated with a one-year data set from central Europe: (i) based on a significant gradient of backscatter and (ii) on the vertical velocity. The aerosol-based method shows significant over-estimation in the morning hours when the ML grows into the residual layer and late afternoon hours when turbulent mixing decays. This results in systematic over-estimation of average characteristcs as e.g. maximum MLH.
T. Trickl, H. Vogelmann, H. Giehl, H.-E. Scheel, M. Sprenger, and A. Stohl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 9941–9961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9941-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-9941-2014, 2014
M. Mielke, N. S. Zinoviev, K. Dethloff, A. Rinke, V. J. Kustov, A. P. Makshtas, V. T. Sokolov, R. Neuber, M. Maturilli, D. Klaus, D. Handorf, and J. Graeser
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-14-11855-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acpd-14-11855-2014, 2014
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
K. Van Tricht, I. V. Gorodetskaya, S. Lhermitte, D. D. Turner, J. H. Schween, and N. P. M. Van Lipzig
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 1153–1167, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1153-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-1153-2014, 2014
B. Škerlak, M. Sprenger, and H. Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 913–937, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-913-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-913-2014, 2014
G. Maschwitz, U. Löhnert, S. Crewell, T. Rose, and D. D. Turner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 2641–2658, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2641-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-2641-2013, 2013
V. Meunier, U. Löhnert, P. Kollias, and S. Crewell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 1171–1187, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1171-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-6-1171-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Clouds and Precipitation | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Correction of ERA5 temperature and relative humidity biases by bivariate quantile mapping for contrail formation analysis
Can pollen affect precipitation?
Potential impacts of marine fuel regulations on an Arctic stratocumulus case and its radiative response
The impact of the mesh size and microphysics scheme on the representation of mid-level clouds in the ICON model in hilly and complex terrain
The role of ascent timescales for warm conveyor belt (WCB) moisture transport into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS)
Estimating the concentration of silver iodide needed to detect unambiguous signatures of glaciogenic cloud seeding
Ice-nucleating particle concentration impacts cloud properties over Dronning Maud Land, East Antarctica, in COSMO-CLM2
Numerical simulation of aerosol concentration effects on cloud droplet size spectrum evolutions of warm stratiform clouds in Jiangxi, China
The impact of aerosol on cloud water: a heuristic perspective
The presence of clouds lowers climate sensitivity in the MPI-ESM1.2 climate model
Diurnal variation in an amplified canopy urban heat island during heat wave periods in the megacity of Beijing: roles of mountain–valley breeze and urban morphology
Diurnal evolution of non-precipitating marine stratocumuli in a large-eddy simulation ensemble
High ice water content in tropical mesoscale convective systems (a conceptual model)
Evolution of cloud droplet temperature and lifetime in spatiotemporally varying subsaturated environments with implications for ice nucleation at cloud edges
Effect of secondary ice production processes on the simulation of ice pellets using the Predicted Particle Properties microphysics scheme
Simulated particle evolution within a winter storm: contributions of riming to radar moments and precipitation fallout
A thermal-driven graupel generation process to explain dry-season convective vigor over the Amazon
Modeling homogeneous ice nucleation from drop-freezing experiments: impact of droplet volume dispersion and cooling rates
Cloud water adjustments to aerosol perturbations are buffered by solar heating in non-precipitating marine stratocumuli
Glaciation of mixed-phase clouds: insights from bulk model and bin-microphysics large-eddy simulation informed by laboratory experiment
Microphysical processes involving the vapour phase dominate in simulated low-level Arctic clouds
Understanding aerosol–cloud interactions using a single-column model for a cold-air outbreak case during the ACTIVATE campaign
Investigating ice formation pathways using a novel two-moment multi-class cloud microphysics scheme
On the sensitivity of aerosol–cloud interactions to changes in sea surface temperature in radiative–convective equilibrium
Exploring aerosol–cloud interactions in liquid-phase clouds over eastern China and its adjacent ocean using the WRF-Chem–SBM model
How the representation of microphysical processes affects tropical condensate in a global storm-resolving model
Impact of secondary ice production on thunderstorm electrification under different aerosol conditions
Finite domains cause bias in measured and modeled distributions of cloud sizes
A systematic evaluation of high-cloud controlling factors
Tracking precipitation features and associated large-scale environments over southeastern Texas
Revisiting the evolution of downhill thunderstorms over Beijing: a new perspective from a radar wind profiler mesonet
How well can persistent contrails be predicted? An update
Model analysis of biases in satellite diagnosed aerosol effect on cloud liquid water path
Dynamical imprints on precipitation cluster statistics across a hierarchy of high-resolution simulations
Present-day correlations are insufficient to predict cloud albedo change by anthropogenic aerosols in E3SM v2
Simulations of primary and secondary ice production during an Arctic mixed-phase cloud case from the Ny-Ålesund Aerosol Cloud Experiment (NASCENT) campaign
Microphysical characteristics of precipitation within convective overshooting over East China observed by GPM DPR and ERA5
Effects of radiative cooling on advection fog over the northwest Pacific Ocean: observations and large-eddy simulations
Evaluating the Wegener–Bergeron–Findeisen process in ICON in large-eddy mode with in situ observations from the CLOUDLAB project
Aerosol-induced closure of marine cloud cells: enhanced effects in the presence of precipitation
Impact of ice multiplication on the cloud electrification of a cold-season thunderstorm: a numerical case study
Developing a climatological simplification of aerosols to enter the cloud microphysics of a global climate model
Interactions between trade wind clouds and local forcings over the Great Barrier Reef: a case study using convection-permitting simulations
Variability in the properties of the distribution of the relative humidity with respect to ice: implications for contrail formation
Simulating the seeder–feeder impacts on cloud ice and precipitation over the Alps
Cloud response to co-condensation of water and organic vapors over the boreal forest
Distribution and morphology of non-persistent contrail and persistent contrail formation areas in ERA5
Connection of Surface Snowfall Bias to Cloud Phase Bias – Satellite Observations, ERA5, and CMIP6
Above-cloud concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei help to sustain some Arctic low-level clouds
Contrail formation on ambient aerosol particles for aircraft with hydrogen combustion: a box model trajectory study
Kevin Wolf, Nicolas Bellouin, Olivier Boucher, Susanne Rohs, and Yun Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 157–181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-157-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-157-2025, 2025
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ERA5 atmospheric reanalysis and airborne in situ observations from IAGOS are compared in terms of the representation of the contrail formation potential and the presence of supersaturation. Differences are traced back to biases in ERA5 relative humidity fields. Those biases are addressed by applying a quantile mapping technique that significantly improved contrail estimation based on post-processed ERA5 data.
Marje Prank, Juha Tonttila, Xiaoxia Shang, Sami Romakkaniemi, and Tomi Raatikainen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 183–197, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-183-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-183-2025, 2025
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Large primary bioparticles such as pollen can be abundant in the atmosphere. In humid conditions pollen can rupture and release a large number of fine sub-pollen particles (SPPs). The paper investigates what kind of birch pollen concentrations are needed for the pollen and SPPs to start playing a noticeable role in cloud processes and alter precipitation formation. In the studied cases only the largest observed pollen concentrations were able to noticeably alter the precipitation formation.
Luís Filipe Escusa dos Santos, Hannah C. Frostenberg, Alejandro Baró Pérez, Annica M. L. Ekman, Luisa Ickes, and Erik S. Thomson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 119–142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-119-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-119-2025, 2025
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The Arctic is experiencing enhanced surface warming. The observed decline in Arctic sea-ice extent is projected to lead to an increase in Arctic shipping activity, which may lead to further climatic feedbacks. Using an atmospheric model and results from marine engine experiments that focused on fuel sulfur content reduction and exhaust wet scrubbing, we investigate how ship exhaust particles influence the properties of Arctic clouds. Implications for radiative surface processes are discussed.
Nadja Omanovic, Brigitta Goger, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14145–14175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14145-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14145-2024, 2024
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We evaluated the numerical weather model ICON in two horizontal resolutions with two bulk microphysics schemes over hilly and complex terrain in Switzerland and Austria, respectively. We focused on the model's ability to simulate mid-level clouds in summer and winter. By combining observational data from two different field campaigns, we show that an increase in the horizontal resolution and a more advanced cloud microphysics scheme is strongly beneficial for cloud representation.
Cornelis Schwenk and Annette Miltenberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14073–14099, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14073-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14073-2024, 2024
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Warm conveyor belts (WCBs) transport moisture into the upper atmosphere, where it acts as a greenhouse gas. This transport is not well understood, and the role of rapidly rising air is unclear. We simulate a WCB and look at fast- and slow-rising air to see how moisture is (differently) transported. We find that for fast-ascending air more ice particles reach higher into the atmosphere and that frozen cloud particles are removed differently than during slow ascent, which has more water vapour.
Jing Yang, Jiaojiao Li, Meilian Chen, Xiaoqin Jing, Yan Yin, Bart Geerts, Zhien Wang, Yubao Liu, Baojun Chen, Shaofeng Hua, Hao Hu, Xiaobo Dong, Ping Tian, Qian Chen, and Yang Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13833–13848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13833-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13833-2024, 2024
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Detecting unambiguous signatures is vital for examining cloud-seeding impacts, but often, seeding signatures are immersed in natural variability. In this study, reflectivity changes induced by glaciogenic seeding using different AgI concentrations are investigated under various conditions, and a method is developed to estimate the AgI concentration needed to detect unambiguous seeding signatures. The results aid in operational seeding-based decision-making regarding the amount of AgI dispersed.
Florian Sauerland, Niels Souverijns, Anna Possner, Heike Wex, Preben Van Overmeiren, Alexander Mangold, Kwinten Van Weverberg, and Nicole van Lipzig
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13751–13768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13751-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13751-2024, 2024
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We use a regional climate model, COSMO-CLM², enhanced with a module resolving aerosol processes, to study Antarctic clouds. We prescribe different concentrations of ice-nucleating particles to our model to assess how these clouds respond to concentration changes, validating results with cloud and aerosol observations from the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica station. Our results show that aerosol–cloud interactions vary with temperature, providing valuable insights into Antarctic cloud dynamics.
Yi Li, Xiaoli Liu, and Hengjia Cai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13525–13540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13525-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13525-2024, 2024
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The influence of different aerosol modes on cloud processes remains controversial. We modified the aerosol spectra and concentrations to simulate a warm stratiform cloud process in Jiangxi, China, using the WRF-SBM scheme. Research shows that different aerosol spectra have diverse effects on cloud droplet spectra, cloud development, and the correlation between dispersion (ε) and cloud physics quantities. Compared to cloud droplet concentration, ε is more sensitive to the volume radius.
Fabian Hoffmann, Franziska Glassmeier, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13403–13412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13403-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13403-2024, 2024
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Clouds constitute a major cooling influence on Earth's climate system by reflecting a large fraction of the incident solar radiation back to space. This ability is controlled by the number of cloud droplets, which is governed by the number of aerosol particles in the atmosphere, laying the foundation for so-called aerosol–cloud–climate interactions. In this study, a simple model to understand the effect of aerosol on cloud water is developed and applied.
Andrea Mosso, Thomas Hocking, and Thorsten Mauritsen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12793–12806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12793-2024, 2024
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Clouds play a crucial role in the Earth's energy balance, as they can either warm up or cool down the area they cover depending on their height and depth. They are expected to alter their behaviour under climate change, affecting the warming generated by greenhouse gases. This paper proposes a new method to estimate their overall effect on this warming by simulating a climate where clouds are transparent. Results show that with the model used, clouds have a stabilising effect on climate.
Tao Shi, Yuanjian Yang, Ping Qi, and Simone Lolli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12807–12822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12807-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12807-2024, 2024
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This paper explored the formation mechanisms of the amplified canopy urban heat island intensity (ΔCUHII) during heat wave (HW) periods in the megacity of Beijing from the perspectives of mountain–valley breeze and urban morphology. During the mountain breeze phase, high-rise buildings with lower sky view factors (SVFs) had a pronounced effect on the ΔCUHII. During the valley breeze phase, high-rise buildings exerted a dual influence on the ΔCUHII.
Yao-Sheng Chen, Jianhao Zhang, Fabian Hoffmann, Takanobu Yamaguchi, Franziska Glassmeier, Xiaoli Zhou, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12661–12685, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12661-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12661-2024, 2024
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Marine stratocumulus cloud is a type of shallow cloud that covers the vast areas of Earth's surface. It plays an important role in Earth's energy balance by reflecting solar radiation back to space. We used numerical models to simulate a large number of marine stratocumuli with different characteristics. We found that how the clouds develop throughout the day is affected by the level of humidity in the air above the clouds and how closely the clouds connect to the ocean surface.
Alexei Korolev, Zhipeng Qu, Jason Milbrandt, Ivan Heckman, Mélissa Cholette, Mengistu Wolde, Cuong Nguyen, Greg M. McFarquhar, Paul Lawson, and Ann M. Fridlind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11849–11881, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11849-2024, 2024
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The phenomenon of high ice water content (HIWC) occurs in mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) when a large number of small ice particles with typical sizes of a few hundred micrometers is found at high altitudes. It was found that secondary ice production in the vicinity of the melting layer plays a key role in the formation and maintenance of HIWC. This study presents a conceptual model of the formation of HIWC in tropical MCSs based on in situ observations and numerical simulation.
Puja Roy, Robert M. Rauber, and Larry Di Girolamo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11653–11678, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11653-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11653-2024, 2024
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Cloud droplet temperature and lifetime impact cloud microphysical processes such as the activation of ice-nucleating particles. We investigate the thermal and radial evolution of supercooled cloud droplets and their surrounding environments with an aim to better understand observed enhanced ice formation at supercooled cloud edges. This analysis shows that the magnitude of droplet cooling during evaporation is greater than estimated from past studies, especially for drier environments.
Mathieu Lachapelle, Mélissa Cholette, and Julie M. Thériault
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11285–11304, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11285-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11285-2024, 2024
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Hazardous precipitation types such as ice pellets and freezing rain are difficult to predict because they are associated with complex microphysical processes. Using Predicted Particle Properties (P3), this work shows that secondary ice production processes increase the amount of ice pellets simulated while decreasing the amount of freezing rain. Moreover, the properties of the simulated precipitation compare well with those that were measured.
Andrew DeLaFrance, Lynn A. McMurdie, Angela K. Rowe, and Andrew J. Heymsfield
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11191–11206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11191-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11191-2024, 2024
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Using a numerical model, the process whereby falling ice crystals accumulate supercooled liquid water droplets is investigated to elucidate its effects on radar-based measurements and surface precipitation. We demonstrate that this process accounted for 55% of the precipitation during a wintertime storm and is uniquely discernable from other ice crystal growth processes in Doppler velocity measurements. These results have implications for measurements from airborne and spaceborne platforms.
Toshi Matsui, Daniel Hernandez-Deckers, Scott E. Giangrande, Thiago S. Biscaro, Ann Fridlind, and Scott Braun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10793–10814, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10793-2024, 2024
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Using computer simulations and real measurements, we discovered that storms over the Amazon were narrower but more intense during the dry periods, producing heavier rain and more ice particles in the clouds. Our research showed that cumulus bubbles played a key role in creating these intense storms. This study can improve the representation of the effect of continental and ocean environments on tropical regions' rainfall patterns in simulations.
Ravi Kumar Reddy Addula, Ingrid de Almeida Ribeiro, Valeria Molinero, and Baron Peters
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10833–10848, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10833-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10833-2024, 2024
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Ice nucleation from supercooled droplets is important in many weather and climate modeling efforts. For experiments where droplets are steadily supercooled from the freezing point, our work combines nucleation theory and survival probability analysis to predict the nucleation spectrum, i.e., droplet freezing probabilities vs. temperature. We use the new framework to extract approximately consistent rate parameters from experiments with different cooling rates and droplet sizes.
Jianhao Zhang, Yao-Sheng Chen, Takanobu Yamaguchi, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10425–10440, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10425-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10425-2024, 2024
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Quantifying cloud response to aerosol perturbations presents a major challenge in understanding the human impact on climate. Using a large number of process-resolving simulations of marine stratocumulus, we show that solar heating drives a negative feedback mechanism that buffers the persistent negative trend in cloud water adjustment after sunrise. This finding has implications for the dependence of the cloud cooling effect on the timing of deliberate aerosol perturbations.
Aaron Wang, Steve Krueger, Sisi Chen, Mikhail Ovchinnikov, Will Cantrell, and Raymond A. Shaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10245–10260, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10245-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10245-2024, 2024
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We employ two methods to examine a laboratory experiment on clouds with both ice and liquid phases. The first assumes well-mixed properties; the second resolves the spatial distribution of turbulence and cloud particles. Results show that while the trends in mean properties generally align, when turbulence is resolved, liquid droplets are not fully depleted by ice due to incomplete mixing. This underscores the threshold of ice mass fraction in distinguishing mixed-phase clouds from ice clouds.
Theresa Kiszler, Davide Ori, and Vera Schemann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10039–10053, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10039-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10039-2024, 2024
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Microphysical processes impact the phase-partitioning of clouds. In this study we evaluate these processes while focusing on low-level Arctic clouds. To achieve this we used an extensive simulation set in combination with a new diagnostic tool. This study presents our findings on the relevance of these processes and their behaviour under different thermodynamic regimes.
Shuaiqi Tang, Hailong Wang, Xiang-Yu Li, Jingyi Chen, Armin Sorooshian, Xubin Zeng, Ewan Crosbie, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Luke D. Ziemba, and Christiane Voigt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10073–10092, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10073-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10073-2024, 2024
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We examined marine boundary layer clouds and their interactions with aerosols in the E3SM single-column model (SCM) for a case study. The SCM shows good agreement when simulating the clouds with high-resolution models. It reproduces the relationship between cloud droplet and aerosol particle number concentrations as produced in global models. However, the relationship between cloud liquid water and droplet number concentration is different, warranting further investigation.
Tim Lüttmer, Peter Spichtinger, and Axel Seifert
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2157, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2157, 2024
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We investigate ice formation pathways in idealized convective clouds using a novel microphysics scheme, that distinguishes between five ice classes each with their unique formation mechanism. Ice crystals from rime splintering forms the lowermost layer of ice crystals around the updraft core. The majority of ice crystals in the anvil of the convective cloud stems from frozen droplets. Ice stemming from homogeneous and deposition nucleation was only relevant in the overshoot.
Suf Lorian and Guy Dagan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9323–9338, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9323-2024, 2024
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We examine the combined effect of aerosols and sea surface temperature (SST) on clouds under equilibrium conditions in cloud-resolving radiative–convective equilibrium simulations. We demonstrate that the aerosol–cloud interaction's effect on top-of-atmosphere energy gain strongly depends on the underlying SST, while the shortwave part of the spectrum is significantly more sensitive to SST. Furthermore, increasing aerosols influences upper-troposphere stability and thus anvil cloud fraction.
Jianqi Zhao, Xiaoyan Ma, Johannes Quaas, and Hailing Jia
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9101–9118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9101-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9101-2024, 2024
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We explore aerosol–cloud interactions in liquid-phase clouds over eastern China and its adjacent ocean in winter based on the WRF-Chem–SBM model, which couples a spectral-bin microphysics scheme and an online aerosol module. Our study highlights the differences in aerosol–cloud interactions between land and ocean and between precipitation clouds and non-precipitation clouds, and it differentiates and quantifies their underlying mechanisms.
Ann Kristin Naumann, Monika Esch, and Bjorn Stevens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2268, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2268, 2024
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This study explores how uncertainties in the representation of microphysical processes affect the tropical condensate distribution in the global storm-resolving model ICON. The results point to the importance of the fall speed of hydrometeor particles and to a simple relationship: the faster a condensate falls, the less there is of it. Implications for the energy balance and precipitation properties are discussed.
Shiye Huang, Jing Yang, Qian Chen, Jiaojiao Li, Qilin Zhang, and Fengxia Guo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2013, 2024
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Aerosol and secondary ice production are both vital to charge separation in thunderstorms, but the relative importance of different SIP processes to cloud electrification under different aerosol conditions is not well understood. In this study, we show in a clean environment, the shattering of freezing drops has the greatest effect on the charging rate, while in a polluted environment, both rime splintering and the shattering of freezing drops have a significant effect on cloud electrification.
Thomas D. DeWitt and Timothy J. Garrett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8457–8472, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8457-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8457-2024, 2024
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There is considerable disagreement on mathematical parameters that describe the number of clouds of different sizes as well as the size of the largest clouds. Both are key defining characteristics of Earth's atmosphere. A previous study provided an incorrect explanation for the disagreement. Instead, the disagreement may be explained by prior studies not properly accounting for the size of their measurement domain. We offer recommendations for how the domain size can be accounted for.
Sarah Wilson Kemsley, Paulo Ceppi, Hendrik Andersen, Jan Cermak, Philip Stier, and Peer Nowack
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8295–8316, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8295-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8295-2024, 2024
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Aiming to inform parameter selection for future observational constraint analyses, we incorporate five candidate meteorological drivers specifically targeting high clouds into a cloud controlling factor framework within a range of spatial domain sizes. We find a discrepancy between optimal domain size for predicting locally and globally aggregated cloud radiative anomalies and identify upper-tropospheric static stability as an important high-cloud controlling factor.
Ye Liu, Yun Qian, Larry K. Berg, Zhe Feng, Jianfeng Li, Jingyi Chen, and Zhao Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8165–8181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8165-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8165-2024, 2024
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Deep convection under various large-scale meteorological patterns (LSMPs) shows distinct precipitation features. In southeastern Texas, mesoscale convective systems (MCSs) contribute significantly to precipitation year-round, while isolated deep convection (IDC) is prominent in summer and fall. Self-organizing maps (SOMs) reveal convection can occur without large-scale lifting or moisture convergence. MCSs and IDC events have distinct life cycles influenced by specific LSMPs.
Xiaoran Guo, Jianping Guo, Tianmeng Chen, Ning Li, Fan Zhang, and Yuping Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8067–8083, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8067-2024, 2024
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The prediction of downhill thunderstorms (DSs) remains elusive. We propose an objective method to identify DSs, based on which enhanced and dissipated DSs are discriminated. A radar wind profiler (RWP) mesonet is used to derive divergence and vertical velocity. The mid-troposphere divergence and prevailing westerlies enhance the intensity of DSs, whereas low-level divergence is observed when the DS dissipates. The findings highlight the key role that an RWP mesonet plays in the evolution of DSs.
Sina Hofer, Klaus Gierens, and Susanne Rohs
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7911–7925, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7911-2024, 2024
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We try to improve the forecast of ice supersaturation (ISS) and potential persistent contrails using data on dynamical quantities in addition to temperature and relative humidity in a modern kind of regression model. Although the results are improved, they are not good enough for flight routing. The origin of the problem is the strong overlap of probability densities conditioned on cases with and without ice-supersaturated regions (ISSRs) in the important range of 70–100 %.
Harri Kokkola, Juha Tonttila, Silvia Calderón, Sami Romakkaniemi, Antti Lipponen, Aapo Peräkorpi, Tero Mielonen, Edward Gryspeerdt, Timo H. Virtanen, Pekka Kolmonen, and Antti Arola
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1964, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1964, 2024
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Understanding how atmospheric aerosols affect clouds is a scientific challenge. One question is how aerosols affects the amount cloud water. We used a cloud-scale model to study these effects on marine clouds. The study showed that variations in cloud properties and instrument noise can cause bias in satellite derived cloud water content. However, our results suggest that for similar weather conditions with well-defined aerosol concentrations, satellite data can reliably track these effects.
Claudia Christine Stephan and Bjorn Stevens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2020, 2024
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Tropical precipitation cluster area and intensity distributions follow power laws, but the physical processes responsible for this behavior remain unknown. We analyze global simulations that realistically represent precipitation processes. We consider Earth-like planets as well as virtual planets to realize different types of large-scale dynamics. Our finding is that power laws in Earth’s precipitation cluster statistics stem from the robust power laws in Earth’s atmospheric wind field.
Naser Mahfouz, Johannes Mülmenstädt, and Susannah Burrows
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7253–7260, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7253-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7253-2024, 2024
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Climate models are our primary tool to probe past, present, and future climate states unlike the more recent observation record. By constructing a hypothetical model configuration, we show that present-day correlations are insufficient to predict a persistent uncertainty in climate projection (how much sun because clouds will reflect in a changing climate). We hope our result will contribute to the scholarly conversation on better utilizing observations to constrain climate uncertainties.
Britta Schäfer, Robert Oscar David, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Julie Thérèse Pasquier, Georgia Sotiropoulou, and Trude Storelvmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7179–7202, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7179-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7179-2024, 2024
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Mixed-phase clouds, i.e., clouds consisting of ice and supercooled water, are very common in the Arctic. However, how these clouds form is often not correctly represented in standard weather models. We show that both ice crystal concentrations in the cloud and precipitation from the cloud can be improved in the model when aerosol concentrations are prescribed from observations and when more processes for ice multiplication, i.e., the production of new ice particles from existing ice, are added.
Nan Sun, Gaopeng Lu, and Yunfei Fu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7123–7135, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7123-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7123-2024, 2024
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Microphysical characteristics of convective overshooting are essential but poorly understood, and we examine them by using the latest data. (1) Convective overshooting events mainly occur over NC (Northeast China) and northern MEC (Middle and East China). (2) Radar reflectivity of convective overshooting over NC accounts for a higher proportion below the zero level, while the opposite is the case for MEC and SC (South China). (3) Droplets of convective overshooting are large but sparse.
Liu Yang, Saisai Ding, Jing-Wu Liu, and Su-Ping Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6809–6824, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6809-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6809-2024, 2024
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Advection fog occurs when warm and moist air moves over a cold sea surface. In this situation, the temperature of the foggy air usually drops below the sea surface temperature (SST), particularly at night. High-resolution simulations show that the cooling effect of longwave radiation from the top of the fog layer permeates through the fog, resulting in a cooling of the surface air below SST. This study emphasizes the significance of monitoring air temperature to enhance sea fog forecasting.
Nadja Omanovic, Sylvaine Ferrachat, Christopher Fuchs, Jan Henneberger, Anna J. Miller, Kevin Ohneiser, Fabiola Ramelli, Patric Seifert, Robert Spirig, Huiying Zhang, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6825–6844, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6825-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6825-2024, 2024
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We present simulations with a high-resolution numerical weather prediction model to study the growth of ice crystals in low clouds following glaciogenic seeding. We show that the simulated ice crystals grow slower than observed and do not consume as many cloud droplets as measured in the field. This may have implications for forecasting precipitation, as the ice phase is crucial for precipitation at middle and high latitudes.
Matthew W. Christensen, Peng Wu, Adam C. Varble, Heng Xiao, and Jerome D. Fast
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6455–6476, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6455-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6455-2024, 2024
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Clouds are essential to keep Earth cooler by reflecting sunlight back to space. We show that an increase in aerosol concentration suppresses precipitation in clouds, causing them to accumulate water and expand in a polluted environment with stronger turbulence and radiative cooling. This process enhances their reflectance by 51 %. It is therefore prudent to account for cloud fraction changes in assessments of aerosol–cloud interactions to improve predictions of climate change.
Jing Yang, Shiye Huang, Tianqi Yang, Qilin Zhang, Yuting Deng, and Yubao Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5989–6010, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5989-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5989-2024, 2024
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This study contributes to filling the dearth of understanding the impacts of different secondary ice production (SIP) processes on the cloud electrification in cold-season thunderstorms. The results suggest that SIP, especially the rime-splintering process and the shattering of freezing drops, has significant impacts on the charge structure of the storm. In addition, the modeled radar composite reflectivity and flash rate are improved after implementing the SIP processes in the model.
Ulrike Proske, Sylvaine Ferrachat, and Ulrike Lohmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5907–5933, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5907-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5907-2024, 2024
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Climate models include treatment of aerosol particles because these influence clouds and radiation. Over time their representation has grown increasingly detailed. This complexity may hinder our understanding of model behaviour. Thus here we simplify the aerosol representation of our climate model by prescribing mean concentrations, which saves run time and helps to discover unexpected model behaviour. We conclude that simplifications provide a new perspective for model study and development.
Wenhui Zhao, Yi Huang, Steven Siems, Michael Manton, and Daniel Harrison
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5713–5736, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5713-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5713-2024, 2024
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We studied how shallow clouds and rain behave over the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) using a detailed weather model. We found that the shape of the land, especially mountains, and particles in the air play big roles in influencing these clouds. Surprisingly, the sea's temperature had a smaller effect. Our research helps us understand the GBR's climate and how various factors can influence it, where the importance of the local cloud in thermal coral bleaching has recently been identified.
Sidiki Sanogo, Olivier Boucher, Nicolas Bellouin, Audran Borella, Kevin Wolf, and Susanne Rohs
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5495–5511, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5495-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5495-2024, 2024
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Relative humidity relative to ice (RHi) is a key variable in the formation of cirrus clouds and contrails. This study shows that the properties of the probability density function of RHi differ between the tropics and higher latitudes. In line with RHi and temperature variability, aircraft are likely to produce more contrails with bioethanol and liquid hydrogen as fuel. The impact of this fuel change decreases with decreasing pressure levels but increases from high latitudes to the tropics.
Zane Dedekind, Ulrike Proske, Sylvaine Ferrachat, Ulrike Lohmann, and David Neubauer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5389–5404, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5389-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5389-2024, 2024
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Ice particles precipitating into lower clouds from an upper cloud, the seeder–feeder process, can enhance precipitation. A numerical modeling study conducted in the Swiss Alps found that 48 % of observed clouds were overlapping, with the seeder–feeder process occurring in 10 % of these clouds. Inhibiting the seeder–feeder process reduced the surface precipitation and ice particle growth rates, which were further reduced when additional ice multiplication processes were included in the model.
Liine Heikkinen, Daniel G. Partridge, Sara Blichner, Wei Huang, Rahul Ranjan, Paul Bowen, Emanuele Tovazzi, Tuukka Petäjä, Claudia Mohr, and Ilona Riipinen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5117–5147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5117-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5117-2024, 2024
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The organic vapor condensation with water vapor (co-condensation) in rising air below clouds is modeled in this work over the boreal forest because the forest air is rich in organic vapors. We show that the number of cloud droplets can increase by 20 % if considering co-condensation. The enhancements are even larger if the air contains many small, naturally produced aerosol particles. Such conditions are most frequently met in spring in the boreal forest.
Kevin Wolf, Nicolas Bellouin, and Olivier Boucher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5009–5024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5009-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5009-2024, 2024
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The contrail formation potential and its tempo-spatial distribution are estimated for the North Atlantic flight corridor. Meteorological conditions of temperature and relative humidity are taken from the ERA5 re-analysis and IAGOS. Based on IAGOS flight tracks, crossing length, size, orientation, frequency of occurrence, and overlap of persistent contrail formation areas are determined. The presented conclusions might provide a guide for statistical flight track optimization to reduce contrails.
Franziska Hellmuth, Tim Carlsen, Anne Sophie Daloz, Robert Oscar David, and Trude Storelvmo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-754, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-754, 2024
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This article compares the occurrence of supercooled liquid-containing clouds (sLCCs) and their link to surface snowfall in CloudSat-CALIPSO, ERA5, and CMIP6 models. Significant discrepancies were found, with ERA5 and CMIP6 consistently overestimating sLCC and snowfall frequency. This bias is likely due to cloud microphysics parameterization. This conclusion has implications for accurately representing cloud phase and snowfall in future climate projections.
Lucas J. Sterzinger and Adele L. Igel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3529–3540, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3529-2024, 2024
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Using idealized large eddy simulations, we find that clouds forming in the Arctic in environments with low concentrations of aerosol particles may be sustained by mixing in new particles through the cloud top. Observations show that higher concentrations of these particles regularly exist above cloud top in concentrations that are sufficient to promote this sustenance.
Andreas Bier, Simon Unterstrasser, Josef Zink, Dennis Hillenbrand, Tina Jurkat-Witschas, and Annemarie Lottermoser
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2319–2344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2319-2024, 2024
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Using hydrogen as aviation fuel affects contrails' climate impact. We study contrail formation behind aircraft with H2 combustion. Due to the absence of soot emissions, contrail ice crystals are assumed to form only on ambient particles mixed into the plume. The ice crystal number, which strongly varies with temperature and aerosol number density, is decreased by more than 80 %–90 % compared to kerosene contrails. However H2 contrails can form at lower altitudes due to higher H2O emissions.
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Short summary
We present a new method to analyse the influence of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and fronts on the precipitation in the Arctic, based on two campaigns: ACLOUD (early summer 2017) and AFLUX (early spring 2019). There are differences between both campaign periods: in early summer, the precipitation is mostly related to ARs and fronts, especially when they are co-located, while in early spring, cyclones isolated from ARs and fronts contributed most to the precipitation.
We present a new method to analyse the influence of atmospheric rivers (ARs), cyclones, and...
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