The THINICE Field Campaign: Interactions between Arctic Cyclones, Tropopause Polar Vortices, Clouds, and Sea Ice in Summer

Abstract The THINICE field campaign, based in Svalbard in August 2022, provided unique observations of summertime Arctic cyclones, their coupling with cloud cover, and their interactions with tropopause polar vortices and sea ice conditions. THINICE was motivated by the need to advance our understanding of these processes and to improve coupled models used to forecast weather and sea ice, as well as long-term projections of climate change in the Arctic. Two research aircraft were deployed with complementary instrumentation. The Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement (Safire) Aerei da Trasporto Regionale 42 (ATR42) aircraft, equipped with the radar–lidar (RALI) remote sensing instrumentation and in situ cloud microphysics probes, flew in the midtroposphere to observe the wind and multiphase cloud structure of Arctic cyclones. The British Antarctic Survey Meteorological Airborne Science Instrumentation (MASIN) aircraft flew at low levels measuring sea ice properties, including surface brightness temperature, albedo and roughness, and the turbulent fluxes that mediate exchange of heat and momentum between the atmosphere and the surface. Long-duration instrumented balloons, operated by WindBorne Systems, sampled meteorological conditions within both cyclones and tropospheric polar vortices across the Arctic. Several novel findings are highlighted. Intense, shallow low-level jets along warm fronts were observed within three Arctic cyclones using the Doppler radar and turbulence probes. A detailed depiction of the interweaving layers of ice crystals and supercooled liquid water in mixed-phase clouds is revealed through the synergistic combination of the Doppler radar, the lidar, and in situ microphysical probes. Measurements of near-surface turbulent fluxes combined with remote sensing measurements of sea ice properties are being used to characterize atmosphere–sea ice interactions in the marginal ice zone. Significance Statement Arctic cyclones can span several thousand kilometers and last several weeks, bringing strong winds, clouds, and precipitation across the remote Arctic and affecting the sea ice through wind stress, surface energy budget, and snow cover. Therefore, they play a key role in Arctic weather and climate. Motivated by the need to improve the coupled environmental prediction, the representation of cyclones, and their influence on the rapidly changing Arctic climate, the THINICE field campaign intensively observed several Arctic cyclones in August 2022 by operating two aircraft and launching steerable balloons. Key measurements of fine-scale features within Arctic cyclones are highlighted including low-level jets along fronts, mixed-phase clouds containing multiple layers of supercooled water, boundary layer turbulent fluxes, and sea ice properties beneath the cyclones. The ability of state-of-the-art numerical models, with and without coupling to dynamic sea ice models, in representing these cases and coupled processes is the focus of the ongoing work with an aim to improve prediction capabilities.

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Publication Details

Journal
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Published
2024-10-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1175/bams-d-23-0143.1
Citations
4
Primary Topic
Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.51

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article

The THINICE Field Campaign: Interactions between Arctic Cyclones, Tropopause Polar Vortices, Clouds, and Sea Ice in Summer

Oscar Martínez‐Alvarado, Tomer Burg, Étienne Vignon, Todd Hutchinson et al.
4 citations
Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
1.51
article

The THINICE Field Campaign: Interactions between Arctic Cyclones, Tropopause Polar Vortices, Clouds, and Sea Ice in Summer

Oscar Martínez‐Alvarado, Tomer Burg, Étienne Vignon, Todd Hutchinson, Jérémie Trules, Éric Bazile, Edward Blanchard‐Wrigglesworth, Suzanne L. Gray, Jean‐Christophe Raut, Alexandra Weiss, Kai Marshland, Ben Harvey, O. P. G. Persson, Guillaume Mioche, Peyton K. Capute, Ambrogio Volonté, John Methven, Vincent Douet, Andrew D. Elvidge, Meryl Wimmer, Yann Seity, Laure Cossalter, Capucine Cozzolino, Gwendal Rivière, Matthew G. Fearon, Christophe Caudoux, Clémantyne Aubry, Lea Raillard, Steven M. Cavallo, Ryan D. Torn, Tom Lachlan‐Cope, David B. Parsons, Julien Delanoe͏̈, Cecilia M. Bitz, Florian Pantillon, Christophe Gourbeyre, K. Biernat, Steven Businger, Kevin Huet, Sophie Bounissou, Miriam Bennett, Christopher Barrell, Peter M. Finocchio, Hannah L. Croad, Aaron Johnson, James D. Doyle, Matthew T. Bray, Ian A. Renfrew, Xuguang Wang, Antoine Baudoux, Daniel Beeden, Joseph Burzdak, Cameron Paquette, Russ Ladkin, Olivier Jourdan
article en
4 citations

Abstract

Abstract The THINICE field campaign, based in Svalbard in August 2022, provided unique observations of summertime Arctic cyclones, their coupling with cloud cover, and their interactions with tropopause polar vortices and sea ice conditions. THINICE was motivated by the need to advance our understanding of these processes and to improve coupled models used to forecast weather and sea ice, as well as long-term projections of climate change in the Arctic. Two research aircraft were deployed with complementary instrumentation. The Service des Avions Français Instrumentés pour la Recherche en Environnement (Safire) Aerei da Trasporto Regionale 42 (ATR42) aircraft, equipped with the radar–lidar (RALI) remote sensing instrumentation and in situ cloud microphysics probes, flew in the midtroposphere to observe the wind and multiphase cloud structure of Arctic cyclones. The British Antarctic Survey Meteorological Airborne Science Instrumentation (MASIN) aircraft flew at low levels measuring sea ice properties, including surface brightness temperature, albedo and roughness, and the turbulent fluxes that mediate exchange of heat and momentum between the atmosphere and the surface. Long-duration instrumented balloons, operated by WindBorne Systems, sampled meteorological conditions within both cyclones and tropospheric polar vortices across the Arctic. Several novel findings are highlighted. Intense, shallow low-level jets along warm fronts were observed within three Arctic cyclones using the Doppler radar and turbulence probes. A detailed depiction of the interweaving layers of ice crystals and supercooled liquid water in mixed-phase clouds is revealed through the synergistic combination of the Doppler radar, the lidar, and in situ microphysical probes. Measurements of near-surface turbulent fluxes combined with remote sensing measurements of sea ice properties are being used to characterize atmosphere–sea ice interactions in the marginal ice zone. Significance Statement Arctic cyclones can span several thousand kilometers and last several weeks, bringing strong winds, clouds, and precipitation across the remote Arctic and affecting the sea ice through wind stress, surface energy budget, and snow cover. Therefore, they play a key role in Arctic weather and climate. Motivated by the need to improve the coupled environmental prediction, the representation of cyclones, and their influence on the rapidly changing Arctic climate, the THINICE field campaign intensively observed several Arctic cyclones in August 2022 by operating two aircraft and launching steerable balloons. Key measurements of fine-scale features within Arctic cyclones are highlighted including low-level jets along fronts, mixed-phase clouds containing multiple layers of supercooled water, boundary layer turbulent fluxes, and sea ice properties beneath the cyclones. The ability of state-of-the-art numerical models, with and without coupling to dynamic sea ice models, in representing these cases and coupled processes is the focus of the ongoing work with an aim to improve prediction capabilities.

Bulletin of the American Meteorological SocietyVol. 105(12)
University of East Anglia (GB), Albany State University (US), University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa (US), United States Naval Research Laboratory (US), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), British Antarctic Survey (GB), École Polytechnique (FR), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (US), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), University of Colorado Boulder (US), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (FR), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (US), Université Clermont Auvergne (FR), University of Washington (US), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (FR), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), École Normale Supérieure - PSL (FR), University at Albany, State University of New York (US), Sorbonne Université (FR), Laboratoire d'Aérologie (FR), National Centre for Atmospheric Science (GB), Météo-France (FR), Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace (FR), Monterey Institute for Technology and Education (US), Laboratoire atmosphères, milieux, observations spatiales (FR), Earth and Space Research (US), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (FR), University of Reading (GB), University of Oklahoma (US)
Sight Research UK, Natural Environment Research Council
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 19%
Arctic and Antarctic ice dynamics
1.51
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