Investigations of Mesoscopic Complexity of Small Ice Crystals in Midlatitude Cirrus

What is it about?

Micrometer-scale features in atmospheric ice particles can significantly change the way these particles interact with sunlight. However, due to the small size of such features, they are difficult to be detected using traditional methods. Using light diffraction, it is possible to detect features in the order of wavelength. Here an instrument measuring diffraction patterns of individual atmospheric ice crystals was used to measure mesoscopic features in midlatitude cirrus clouds and to categorize the measured ice particles as complex or pristine. It was found that the measured ice clouds—independent of their formation mechanism—were mainly composed of complex ice crystals. The presented results support previous remote sensing observations.

Featured Image