Identification

Title

Ice fog observed at cirrus temperatures at Dome C, Antarctic Plateau

Abstract

As the near-surface atmosphere over the Antarctic Plateau is cold and pristine, its physico-chemical conditions resemble to a certain extent those of the high troposphere where cirrus clouds form. In this paper, we carry out an observational analysis of two shallow fog clouds forming in situ at cirrus temperatures - that is, temperatures lower than 235 K - at Dome C, inner Antarctic Plateau. The combination of lidar profiles with temperature and humidity measurements from advanced thermo-hygrometers along a 45 m mast makes it possible to characterise the formation and development of the fog. High supersaturations with respect to ice are observed before the initiation of fog, and the values attained suggest that the nucleation process at play is the homogeneous freezing of solution aerosol droplets. This is the first time that in situ observations show that this nucleation pathway can be at the origin of an ice fog. Once nucleation occurs, the relative humidity gradually decreases down to subsaturated values with respect to ice in a few hours, owing to vapour deposition onto ice crystals and turbulent mixing. The development of fog is tightly coupled with the dynamics of the boundary layer which, in the first study case, experiences a weak diurnal cycle, while in the second case, it transits from a very stable to a weakly stable dynamical regime. Overall, this paper highlights the potential of the site of Dome C for carrying out observational studies of very cold cloud microphysical processes in natural conditions and using in situ ground-based instruments.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7qn6bmp

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2022-10-06T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

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Conformity

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version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact