Observations of marine cold-air outbreaks: A comprehensive data set of airborne and dropsonde measurements from the Springtime Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (STABLE)

Abstract

Abstract. In March 2013, the Springtime Atmospheric Boundary Layer Experiment (STABLE) was carried out in the region of Fram Strait and over Svalbard to investigate atmospheric convection and boundary layer modifications due to interactions between sea ice, atmosphere, and open water. A major goal was the observation of marine cold-air outbreaks (MCAOs), which are typically characterised by a transport of very cold air masses from the ice-covered ocean over a relatively warm water surface, and which often affect local and regional weather conditions. During STABLE, such MCAOs were observed on four days within a period of a strongly northward shifted sea ice edge north of Svalbard and thus with an unusually large Whaler's Bay Polynya. The observations mainly consisted of in situ measurements from airborne instruments and of measurements by dropsondes. Here, we present the corresponding data set from, in total, 15 aircraft vertical profiles and 22 dropsonde releases. Besides an overview on flight patterns and instrumentation, we provide a detailed presentation of the individual quality-processing mechanisms, which ensure that the data can be used, for example, for model validation. A few remarks are also given on data quality and on some characteristics of the MCAOs based on the quality-processed data. All 37 data series are published in the World Data Center PANGAEA (Lüpkes et al., 2021a, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.936635).

Fram Strait Marine Cold Air Outbreaks in CARRA and ERA5: Effects on Surface Turbulent Heat Fluxes and the Vertical Structure of the Troposphere

“…Airborne campaigns have allowed observations of the lower troposphere during specific MCAO cases (e.g. Knudsen et al (2018), Michaelis et al (2022), Hartmann et al (1997). In addition, Meyer et al…”