Abstract:
Climate change signals are especially strong in the Arctic, where warming from 1979 to 2021 proceeded at nearly four times the global average rate. The magnitude of this warming varies across the region, and the Svalbard archipelago, located in the warmest part of the Arctic, has experienced particularly intense temperature increases. The role of water vapor, clouds, and precipitation in the rapidly evolving Arctic climate system, as well as the processes governing their behavior, remains a key research challenge. This is due to complex interactions across different spatial and temporal scales, as well as to the limited number of Arctic sites with continuous, detailed measurements of atmospheric column properties. One such site is the German-French Arctic Research Base AWIPEV at the Ny-Ålesund Research Station on Svalbard. Since 2016, a 94 GHz cloud radar has been operating at this location as part of the Transregional Collaborative Research Centre TR172 on Arctic Amplification (AC)³ (http://www.ac3-tr.de). In combination with complementary remote-sensing instruments, this observational setup enables continuous monitoring of water vapor, clouds, and precipitation with high temporal and vertical resolution. This presentation highlights key results from a decade of enhanced atmospheric observations, ranging from the role of water vapor and cloud variability to extreme precipitation events.
What is the Joint Oslo Seminar (JOS):
- Atmospheric and climate sciences have a stronghold in Oslo among the four institutions University of Oslo, the Meteorological Institute, CICERO and NILU.
- This joint seminar invites renowned international experts to contribute to an informal series of lectures, meant to create interaction with the Oslo atmospheric and climate science community on recent highlights and analysis in the field.
- Normally seminars will be held on Thursdays (12:15 pm -1pm).