Highlights will be written for high-level accomplishments and published journal articles of ASR research. Each ASR principal investigator (PI) is expected to submit at least one highlight per fiscal year.
Research Highlights
Recent Highlights
Comparing antarctic and arctic stratiform mixed-phase clouds
17 October 2019
Zhang, Damao; Vogelmann, Andrew M.
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
Stratiform mixed-phase clouds—composed of a mixture of ice particles and liquid droplets—are prevalent at high latitudes and greatly impact the regional energy balance. However, climate models have difficulty simulating these clouds and need new observations for improvement. A new analysis compares polar mixed-phase cloud properties from an arctic and an [...]
Highly supercooled drizzle may be a common feature over Antarctica and the Southern Ocean
4 October 2019
Silber, Israel; Fridlind, Ann M.
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud-Aerosol-Precipitation Interactions
Drizzle redistributes water in the atmospheric column, and thereby influences cloud life cycle, optical depth, and surface radiative forcing. The rarity of reports of brief and spatially limited drizzle at temperatures below -20°C suggests that riming and temperature-dependent cloud microphysical processes such as heterogeneous ice nucleation and depositional growth conspire [...]
Investigating seasonal deposition of dust along arctic rivers
12 September 2019
de Boer, Gijs
Supported by:
Research area: Radiation Processes
This study investigates the seasonal appearance of dark material along river beds in northern Alaska, which reduces the surface reflectivity in these areas, enhancing absorption of solar radiation. This deposition is demonstrated to be associated with high-wind events and is shown to accelerate seasonal snow melt over and around the river [...]
Observational and modeling study of ice hydrometeor radar dual-wavelength ratios
6 September 2019
Matrosov, Sergey; de Boer, Gijs
Supported by:
Research area: Cloud Processes
This study demonstrates that in ice clouds and precipitation the difference between reflectivities at two cloud radar frequencies (i.e., the dual-wavelength ratio, or DWR) and absolute reflectivity, Z, at lower frequency are well correlated. A rate of the DWR increase with increasing Z can be used to infer information on [...]
New data set supports international Year of Polar Prediction
5 September 2019
de Boer, Gijs
Supported by:
Research area: Atmospheric Thermodynamics and Vertical Structures
As part of the Year of Polar Prediction, unmanned aircraft, tethered balloons, and additional radiosondes were deployed at Oliktok Point, Alaska under the Profiling at Oliktok Point to Enhance YOPP Experiments (POPEYE) field campaign. These systems together provided greatly enhanced profiling of the lower atmosphere, including frequent measurements of thermodynamic [...]