Exploring the mystery of fog
Fog consists of suspended
water droplets or ice crystals in the lower atmosphere formed by favorable collusion of dynamic, microphysical, physicochemical, thermodynamic and surface processes, and is identified by conditions with near-ground visibility less than 1 km.
A major scientific field study [1] is about to start off the east coast of Canada, in the greater Grand Banks area, in the North Atlantic.
Funded by the U.S. Department of Defence, the research hopes to better predict one of the most unpredictable weather phenomena: fog.
The project is known as FATIMA [1], for Fog and Turbulence Interactions in the Marine Atmosphere.
Fatima [1] seeks leaps of fundamental knowledge and prediction and detection capabilities pertinent to fog in
marine environments, in particular, Marine Sea Fog (MSF) that forms over shallow seas and shelves as well as on coastal Ice Fog (IF).
In 2023, the
research study will move to the Yellow Sea.
The study will make upper ocean and lower atmospheric measurements, measuring
wind turbulence, fog micro-physics and chemistry, cloud height,
water vapours, , and other conditions. It will use
weather balloons,
radar, lidar, and a remotely piloted small vessel and glider.
[1] “FATIMA” ➥
https://efmlab.nd.edu/research/fatima/