"Fatima-GB: Searching Clarity within Marine Fog" by H. J. S. Fernando, C. Dorman et al. 10.1175/BAMS-D-23-0050.1">
 

Fatima-GB: Searching Clarity within Marine Fog

Authors

H. J. S. Fernando, University of Notre Dame
C. Dorman, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego
E. Pardyjak, University of Utah
L. Shen, University of Minnesota
Q. Wang, Naval Postgraduate School
E. Creegan, Army Research Laboratory
S. Gabersek, Naval Research Laboratory
I. Gultepe, University of Notre Dame
S. Hoch, University of Utah
L. Lenain, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego
D. Richter, University of Notre Dame
R. Chang, Dalhousie University
T. C. VandenBoer, York University
S. Bardoel, University of Notre Dame
A. Barve, University of Minnesota
B. Blomquist, University of Colorado, Boulder
T. Bullock, WSP Canada Inc.
Z. Chen, York University
L. Colosi, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego
R. S. Coppersmith, University of Notre Dame
I. Crawford, University of Manchester
L. R. Grilley, York University
R. Dimitrova, University of Notre Dame
A. Dowling, University of Notre Dame
D. Eleuterio, Office of Naval Research
Steven T. Fiorino, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
Mark A. Gallagher, Air Force Institute of TechnologyFollow
N. Gapp, Science Applications International Corporation
G. Giacosa, Dalhousie University
A. Grachev, Army Research Laboratory
L. Grare, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego, San Diego
T. Hintz, University of Notre Dame
C. Hocut, Army Research Laboratory
K. Y. Huang, University of Notre Dame
O. Hyde, University of Notre Dame
Kevin Keefer, Air Force Institute of Technology
D. G. Ortiz-Suslow, Naval Postgraduate School
A. Perelet, University of Utah
W. Perrie, Bedford Institute of Oceanography
J. Ruiz-Plancarte, Naval Postgraduate School
L. Salehpoor, York University
D. Singh, University of Utah
N. Statom, Scripps Institution of Oceanography and University of California, San Diego
P. Taylor, York University
S. Wang, University of Notre Dame
R. Yamaguchi, Naval Postgraduate School

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-1-2025

Abstract

Fog constitutes a thick, opaque blanket of air hugging Earth’s surface, laden with small water droplets or ice crystals. Fog disrupts transportation, poses security threats, disorients human perception, and impacts communications and ecosystems. Collusion of atmospheric, terrestrial, and hydrologic processes produces fog droplets that pullulate over hygroscopic aerosols that act as condensation nuclei. Marine fog is particularly complex, since underlying dynamic, thermodynamic, and (bio)physicochemical processes span fifteen decades of spatial scales, from megameter-sized synoptic weather systems to nanometer-scale bioaerosols. This paper overviews the first international field campaign [Fog and Turbulence Interactions in the Marine Atmosphere-Grand Banks campaign (Fatima-GB)] of the project dubbed Fatima conducted during 1–31 July 2022 in the Grand Banks region of the North Atlantic. Therein, weather systems and commingling cold and warm oceanic waters provide entrée for fog genesis. Measurement platforms included an islet southwest of Nova Scotia (Sable Island), a research vessel ( Atlantic Condor ), an offshore oil platform, and autonomous surface vehicles. The instrument array comprised of extant remote and in situ sensors augmented by novel sensing systems prototyped and deployed in marine fog to penetrate the smallest scales of turbulence, examine aerosols, and quantify radiation budget. The comprehensive dataset so gathered, together with satellite and reanalysis products, mesoscale model, and large-eddy simulations, demonstrated that the long-held hypotheses of marine fog formation by warm air advection over colder water and in areas of enhanced (shelf) turbulence need to be revisited. The study also elicited new phenomena, for example, the fog shadow (clearings of fog downstream of islands).

Comments

© 2025 American Meteorological Society. This published article is licensed under the terms of the default AMS reuse license. For information regarding reuse of this content and general copyright information, consult the AMS Copyright Policy (www.ametsoc.org/PUBSReuseLicenses).

Source Publication

Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society (ISSN 0003-0007 | eISSN 1520-0477)

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