Description:

This session is calling for abstract submissions based on original studies that focus  on marine fog physical and dynamical conditions or FATIMA field campaign. Abstracts dealing with  observations, new and current technologies (TBS, UAVs), novel methods (e.g., AI applications and ML), high-resolution numerical modeling, NWP model forecasts, remote sensing, and physical parameterizations of fog are welcome from the US and international contributors.

Marine fog forecasting based on numerical modeling and observations are critical for transportation safety, ecosystems health, climate-change impacts, free- scale optical communications and directed energy applications. Researchers in the past have improved our basic understanding of the fog formation, development, and dissipation (i.e., lifecycle) with available limited instruments and numerical capabilities. Issues related to nucleation, chemical properties, microphysical processes and their interaction with dynamical processes such as turbulence, eddies, fluxes, however, have not been studied in detail. Lately, development of novel instruments and platforms have enabled detailed investigations into bio-geo-chemo-physical attributes of fog, and the project FATIMA (Fog and Turbulence in Marine Atmosphere) funded by the Office of Naval Research deployed state-of-the-art remote sensing, profiling and in-situ instrumentation to observe marine fog using multi-type of platforms – an instrumented research vessel, an ocean (oil) platform and a mid-ocean island. The experimental domain was the Grand Banks area in the Northern Atlantic Ocean, off Nova Scotia, Canada that is known for high fog occurrence (40-50%) during the summer.  Ocean currents and atmospheric synoptic weather systems, sea surface temperature gradients, oceanic lateral and vertical mixing, atmospheric turbulence, thermodynamic parameters, numerous aerosol sources are some of the contributors to the lifecycle of marine fog.