Tethered balloon-borne observations of thermal-infrared irradiance and cooling rate profiles in the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer

Lonardi, Michael; Akansu, Elisa F.; Ehrlich, André; Mazzola, Mauro; Pilz, Christian; Shupe, Matthew D.; Siebert, Holger; Wendisch, Manfred

doi:10.5194/acp-24-1961-2024

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 73 publications

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“…An overview of the instrumentation and all data collected during the campaign period is given by Ehrlich et al (2024). Furthermore, intensive ground-based measurements were carried out at the AWIPEV research base in Ny-Ålesund, including additional observations with a tethered balloon (Lonardi et al, 2024).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Wendisch,

Crewell,

Ehrlich

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Abstract. The global warming is amplified in the Arctic. To collect data that help to constrain weather and climate models, which often do not realistically represent the enhanced Arctic warming, the HALO-(AC)³ aircraft campaign was conducted in March and April 2022 over the Norwegian and Greenland Seas, the Fram Strait, and the central Arctic Ocean. Observations were made over areas of open ocean, the marginal sea ice zone, and the central Arctic sea ice. Two low-flying and one long-range, high-altitude research aircraft have been employed. Whenever possible, the three aircraft were flown in collocated formation. The campaign focused on one specific challenge posed by the models: The reasonable representation of transformations of air masses during their meridional transport into (northward by moist and warm air intrusions, WAIs) and out of (southward via marine cold air outbreaks, CAOs) the Arctic. To observe the air mass transformations, a quasi-Lagrangian flight strategy using trajectory calculations was realized enabling to sample the moving air mass parcels twice along their trajectories. Eight distinct WAI and 12 CAO cases were probed extensively. From the quasi-Lagrangian measurements, we have derived the diabatic heating and moistening of the moving air masses during CAOs and WAIs, the development of cloud macrophysical and microphysical properties along the southward pathways of the air masses during CAOs, and the moisture budget of WAIs. As an example result, we have obtained typical values of the surface-driven diabatic heating between 1–3 K h-1 and of the near-surface moistening between 0.05–0.3 g kg-1 h-1 within the lowest about 0.5 km. From the observations of WAIs, a weak diabatic cooling of up to 0.4 K h-1 and a moisture loss of up to 0.1 g kg-1 h-1 from the ground to about 5 km altitude were derived. In addition, we discuss the frequency of occurrence of the different thermodynamic phases of Arctic low-level clouds, the interaction of Arctic cirrus with sea ice, water vapor, and aerosol particles, and the characteristic microphysical and chemical properties of Arctic aerosol particles. Finally, we provide proof of a concept to measure mesoscale divergence and subsidence in the Arctic using data from dropsondes released during circular flight patterns.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Wendisch,

Crewell,

Ehrlich

et al. 2024

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Overview: quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – introduction and initial results of the HALO–(𝒜 𝒞)³ aircraft campaign

Wendisch,

Crewell,

Ehrlich

et al. 2024

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. Global warming is amplified in the Arctic. However, numerical models struggle to represent key processes that determine Arctic weather and climate. To collect data that help to constrain the models, the HALO–(𝒜𝒞)3 aircraft campaign was conducted over the Norwegian and Greenland seas, the Fram Strait, and the central Arctic Ocean in March and April 2022. The campaign focused on one specific challenge posed by the models, namely the reasonable representation of transformations of air masses during their meridional transport into and out of the Arctic via northward moist- and warm-air intrusions (WAIs) and southward marine cold-air outbreaks (CAOs). Observations were made over areas of open ocean, the marginal sea ice zone, and the central Arctic sea ice. Two low-flying and one long-range, high-altitude research aircraft were flown in colocated formation whenever possible. To follow the air mass transformations, a quasi-Lagrangian flight strategy using trajectory calculations was realized, enabling us to sample the same moving-air parcels twice along their trajectories. Seven distinct WAI and 12 CAO cases were probed. From the quasi-Lagrangian measurements, we have quantified the diabatic heating/cooling and moistening/drying of the transported air masses. During CAOs, maximum values of 3 K h−1 warming and 0.3 g kg−1 h−1 moistening were obtained below 1 km altitude. From the observations of WAIs, diabatic cooling rates of up to 0.4 K h−1 and a moisture loss of up to 0.1 g kg−1 h−1 from the ground to about 5.5 km altitude were derived. Furthermore, the development of cloud macrophysical (cloud-top height and horizontal cloud cover) and microphysical (liquid water path, precipitation, and ice index) properties along the southward pathways of the air masses were documented during CAOs, and the moisture budget during a specific WAI event was estimated. In addition, we discuss the statistical frequency of occurrence of the different thermodynamic phases of Arctic low-level clouds, the interaction of Arctic cirrus clouds with sea ice and water vapor, and the characteristics of microphysical and chemical properties of Arctic aerosol particles. Finally, we provide a proof of concept to measure mesoscale divergence and subsidence in the Arctic using data from dropsondes released during the flights.

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Tethered balloon-borne observations of thermal-infrared irradiance and cooling rate profiles in the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer

Cited by 2 publications

References 73 publications

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Overview: quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – introduction and initial results of the HALO–(𝒜 𝒞)³ aircraft campaign

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Tethered balloon-borne observations of thermal-infrared irradiance and cooling rate profiles in the Arctic atmospheric boundary layer

Cited by 2 publications

References 73 publications

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)3 aircraft campaign

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)3 aircraft campaign

Overview: quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – introduction and initial results of the HALO–(𝒜 𝒞)3 aircraft campaign

Contact Info

Product

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About

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – Introduction and initial results of the HALO–(AC)³ aircraft campaign

Overview: quasi-Lagrangian observations of Arctic air mass transformations – introduction and initial results of the HALO–(𝒜 𝒞)³ aircraft campaign