Spatially distributed measurements of aerosols and stable isotopes in water vapour and precipitation in coastal Northern Norway during the ISLAS2021 campaign

Abstract. Precipitation from mixed-phase clouds at high-latitudes is difficult to represent correctly in numerical weather prediction models. Paired water vapour and precipitation isotope measurements provide a constraint on the integrated effect of evaporation and condensation processes, but have rarely been collected in a way that allows to use these for model validation and improvement. Here we present a collection of spatially distributed measurements of water isotopes in the different phases at high time resolution during the ISLAS2021 field campaign over the period 15 to 30 March 2021. The main observational site of this campaign was Andenes, Norway (69.3144° N, 16.1194° E). Isotopic measurements were conducted simultaneously at sea level and a mountain observatory, as well as additional coastal sites at distances of 120 km (Tromsø, Norway) and 1100 km (Bergen, Norway), enabling the assessment of spatial representativeness of vapour isotope measurements. Precipitation samples for water isotope analysis were collected on site at sub-event time resolution, and along a transect across the Vesterålen archipelago. These measurements were complemented by a suite of aerosol measurements, including ice-nucleating particles, and additional in situ and remote sensing observations of meteorological variables. During the two weeks of the ISLAS2021 field campaign, frequent alternations between mid-latitude and arctic weather systems were encountered, providing a range of different cases for more detailed process studies. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.984616 (Sodemann et al., 2025), and can serve as a test bed for assessing the spatial representativeness and sampling strategies for water isotope measurements on meteorological time scales. Furthermore, we anticipate our data to be useful in various aspects related to cloud microphysics, for example the quantification of riming processes in convective clouds, the role of ice nucleating particles in marine cold-air outbreaks, and on the condensation efficiency of mid-latitude storms.

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Journal
Earth system science data
Published
2026-04-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2573-2026
Primary Topic
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
Type
article
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article

Spatially distributed measurements of aerosols and stable isotopes in water vapour and precipitation in coastal Northern Norway during the ISLAS2021 campaign

Alexandra Touzeau, Daniele Zannoni, Iris Thurnherr, Tim Carlsen et al.
Earth system science data
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
article

Spatially distributed measurements of aerosols and stable isotopes in water vapour and precipitation in coastal Northern Norway during the ISLAS2021 campaign

Alexandra Touzeau, Daniele Zannoni, Iris Thurnherr, Tim Carlsen, Aina Johannessen, Harald Sodemann, Andrew Seidl, Franziska Hellmuth, Alena Dekhtyareva, Britta Schäfer, Astrid B. Gjelsvik, Robert O. David, Marvin Kähnert, David Chandler
article en

Abstract

Abstract. Precipitation from mixed-phase clouds at high-latitudes is difficult to represent correctly in numerical weather prediction models. Paired water vapour and precipitation isotope measurements provide a constraint on the integrated effect of evaporation and condensation processes, but have rarely been collected in a way that allows to use these for model validation and improvement. Here we present a collection of spatially distributed measurements of water isotopes in the different phases at high time resolution during the ISLAS2021 field campaign over the period 15 to 30 March 2021. The main observational site of this campaign was Andenes, Norway (69.3144° N, 16.1194° E). Isotopic measurements were conducted simultaneously at sea level and a mountain observatory, as well as additional coastal sites at distances of 120 km (Tromsø, Norway) and 1100 km (Bergen, Norway), enabling the assessment of spatial representativeness of vapour isotope measurements. Precipitation samples for water isotope analysis were collected on site at sub-event time resolution, and along a transect across the Vesterålen archipelago. These measurements were complemented by a suite of aerosol measurements, including ice-nucleating particles, and additional in situ and remote sensing observations of meteorological variables. During the two weeks of the ISLAS2021 field campaign, frequent alternations between mid-latitude and arctic weather systems were encountered, providing a range of different cases for more detailed process studies. The dataset is available at https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.984616 (Sodemann et al., 2025), and can serve as a test bed for assessing the spatial representativeness and sampling strategies for water isotope measurements on meteorological time scales. Furthermore, we anticipate our data to be useful in various aspects related to cloud microphysics, for example the quantification of riming processes in convective clouds, the role of ice nucleating particles in marine cold-air outbreaks, and on the condensation efficiency of mid-latitude storms.

Earth system science dataVol. 18(4)
Ca' Foscari University of Venice (IT), University of Oslo (NO), Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (NO), NORCE Research AS (NO), University of Bergen (NO)
Norges Forskningsråd, HORIZON EUROPE Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area, H2020 European Research Council
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
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