Critical Evaluation of Scalar Roughness Length Parametrizations Over a Melting Valley Glacier

We present a field investigation over a melting valley glacier on the Tibetan Plateau. In the ablation zone, aerodynamic roughness lengths (z _0M ) vary on the order of 10⁻⁴–10⁻² m, whose evolution corresponds to three melt phases with distinct surface cover and moisture exchange: snow (sublimation/evaporation), bare ice (deposition/condensation), and ice hummocks (sublimation/evaporation). Bowen-ratio similarity is validated in the stably stratified katabatic winds, which suggests a useful means for data quality check. A roughness sublayer is regarded as irrelevant to the present ablation season, because selected characteristics of scalar turbulence over smooth snow are quite similar to those over hummocky ice. We evaluate three parametrizations of the scalar roughness lengths (z _0T for temperature and z _0q for humidity), viz. key factors for the accurate estimation of sensible heat and latent heat fluxes using the bulk aerodynamic method. The first approach is based on surface-renewal models and has been widely applied in glaciated areas; the second has never received application over an ice/snow surface, despite its validity in (semi-)arid regions; the third, a derivative of the first, is proposed for use specifically over rough ice defined as z _0M > 10⁻³ m or so. This empirical z _0M threshold value is deemed of general relevance to glaciated areas (e.g. ice sheet/cap and valley/outlet glaciers), above which the first approach gives notably underestimated z _0T,q . The first and the third approaches tend to underestimate and overestimate turbulent heat/moisture exchange, respectively, frequently leading to relative errors higher than 30%. Comparatively, the second approach produces fairly low errors in energy flux estimates both in individual melt phases and over the whole ablation season; it thus emerges as a practically useful choice to parametrize z _0T,q in glaciated areas. Moreover, we find all three candidate parametrizations unable to predict diurnal variations in the excess resistances to humidity transfer, thus encouraging more efforts for improvement.     

The Parameterisation of Scalar Transfer over Rough Ice

We test a surface renewal model that is widely used over snow and ice surfaces to calculate the scalar roughness length (z _s ), one of the key parameters in the bulk aerodynamic method. For the first time, the model is tested against observations that cover a wide range of aerodynamic roughness lengths (z ₀). During the experiments, performed in the ablation areas of the Greenland ice sheet and the Vatnajökull ice cap in Iceland, the surface varied from smooth snow to very rough hummocky ice. Over relatively smooth snow and ice with z ₀ below a threshold value of approximately 10^?3 m, the model performs well and in accord with earlier studies. However, with growing hummock size, z ₀ increases well above the threshold and the bulk aerodynamic flux becomes significantly smaller than the eddy-correlation flux (e.g. for z ₀ = 0.01 m, the bulk aerodynamic flux is about 50% smaller). Apparently, the model severely underpredicts z _s over hummocky ice. We argue that the surface renewal model does not account for the deep inhomogeneous roughness sublayer (RSL) that is generated by the hummocks. As a consequence, the homogeneous substrate ice grain cover becomes more efficiently ‘ventilated’. Calculations with an alternative model that includes the RSL and was adapted for use over hummocky ice, qualitatively confirms our observations. We suggest that, whenever exceedance of the threshold occurs (z ₀  >  10^?3 m, i.e., an ice surface covered with at least 0.3-m high hummocks), the following relation should be used to calculate scalar roughness lengths, ln (z _s /z ₀)  =  1.5  ? 0.2 ln (Re _*)  ? 0.11(ln (Re _*))².     

The Fallacy of Drifting Snow

A common parametrization over snow-covered surfaces that are undergoing saltation is that the aerodynamic roughness length for wind speed (z ₀) scales as au_*²/g{\alpha u_\ast^2/g}, where u _* is the friction velocity, g is the acceleration of gravity, and α is an empirical constant. Data analyses seem to support this scaling: many published plots of z ₀ measured over snow demonstrate proportionality to u_*²{u_\ast^2 }. In fact, I show similar plots here that are based on two large eddy-covariance datasets: one collected over snow-covered Arctic sea ice; another collected over snow-covered Antarctic sea ice. But in these and in most such plots from the literature, the independent variable, u _*, was used to compute z ₀ in the first place; the plots thus suffer from fictitious correlation that causes z ₀ to unavoidably increase with u _* without any intervening physics. For these two datasets, when I plot z ₀ against u _* derived from a bulk flux algorithm—and thus minimize the fictitious correlation—z ₀ is independent of u _* in the drifting snow region, u _* ≥ 0.30 ms⁻¹. I conclude that the relation z₀ = au_*²/g{z_0 = \alpha u_\ast^2/g} when snow is drifting is a fallacy fostered by analyses that suffer from fictitious correlation.     

Momentum and scalar transfer coefficients over aerodynamically smooth antarctic surfaces

Vertical profiles of wind speed, temperature and humidity were used to estimate the roughness lengths for momentum (z ₀), heat (z _H ) and moisture (z _Q) over smooth ice and snow surfaces. The profile-measurements were performed in the vicinity of a blue ice field in Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica. The values ofz ₀ over ice (3·10^–6 m) seem to be the smallest ever obtained over permanent, natural surfaces. The settling of snow on the ice and the loss of momentum at saltating snow particles serve as momentum dissipating processes during snow-drift events, expressed as a strong dependence ofz ₀ on u_#.The scalar roughness lengths and surface temperature can be evaluated from the temperature and humidity profile measurements if the ratioz _H /z _Q is specified. This new method circumvents the difficult measurement of surface temperature. The scalar roughness lengths seem to be approximately equal toz0 for a large range of low roughness Reynolds numbers, despite the frequent occurrence of drifting snow. Possible reasons for this agreement with theory of non-saltating flow are discussed.     

Influence of the boundary layer height on the global air–sea surface fluxes

Results from large-eddy simulations and field measurements have previously shown that the velocity field is influenced by the boundary layer height, z _i , during close to neutral, slightly unstable, atmospheric stratification. During such conditions the non-dimensional wind profile, φ _m , has been found to be a function of both z/L and z _i /L. At constant z/L, φ _m decreases with decreasing boundary layer height. Since φ _m is directly related to the parameterizations of the air–sea surface fluxes, these results will have an influence when calculating the surface fluxes in weather and climate models. The global impact of this was estimated using re-analysis data from 1979 to 2001 and bulk parameterizations. The results show that the sum of the global latent and sensible mean heat fluxes increase by 0.77 W m⁻² or about 1% and the mean surface stress increase by 1.4 mN m⁻² or 1.8% when including the effects of the boundary layer height in the parameterizations. However, some regions show a larger response. The greatest impact is found over the tropical oceans between 30°S and 30°N. In this region the boundary layer height influences the non-dimensional wind profile during extended periods of time. In the mid Indian Ocean this results in an increase of the mean annual heat fluxes by 2.0 W m⁻² and an increase of the mean annual surface stress by 2.6 mN m⁻².     

Parameterizing turbulent exchange over sea ice: the ice station weddell results

A 4-month deployment on Ice Station Weddell (ISW) in the western Weddell Sea yielded over 2000 h of nearly continuous surface-level meteorological data, including eddy-covariance measurements of the turbulent surface fluxes of momentum, and sensible and latent heat. Those data lead to a new parameterization for the roughness length for wind speed, z₀, for snow-covered sea ice that combines three regimes: an aerodynamically smooth regime, a high-wind saltation regime, and an intermediate regime between these two extremes where the macroscale or `permanent' roughness of the snow and ice determines z₀. Roughness lengths for temperature, z_T, computed from this data set corroborate the theoretical model that Andreas published in 1987. Roughness lengths for humidity,z_Q, do not support this model as conclusively but are all, on average, within an order of magnitude of its predictions. Only rarely arez_Tand z_Q equal to z₀. These parameterizations have implications for models that treat the atmosphere-ice-ocean system.     

Characteristic Study of the Boundary Layer Parameters over the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal Using the QuikSCAT Dataset

The marine atmospheric boundary layer （MABL） plays a vital role in the transport of momentum and heat from the surface of the ocean into the atmosphere. A detailed study on the MABL characteristics was carried out using high-resolution surface-wind data as measured by the QuikSCAT （Quick scatterometer） satellite. Spatial variations in the surface wind, frictional velocity, roughness parameter and drag coefficient for the different seasons were studied. The surface wind was strong during the southwest monsoon season due to the modulation induced by the Low Level Jetstream. The drag coefficient was larger during this season, due to the strong winds and was lower during the winter months. The spatial variations in the frictional velocity over the seas was small during the post-monsoon season （-0.2 m s^-1）. The maximum spatial variation in the frictional velocity was found over the south Arabian Sea （0.3 to 0.5 m s^-1） during the southwest monsoon period, followed by the pre-monsoon over the Bay of Bengal （0.1 to 0.25 m s^-1）. The mean wind-stress curl during the winter was positive over the equatorial region, with a maximum value of 1.5×10^-7 N m^-3, but on either side of the equatorial belt, a negative wind-stress curl dominated. The area average of the frictional velocity and drag coefficient over the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal were also studied. The values of frictional velocity shows a variability that is similar to the intraseasonal oscillation （ISO） and this was confirmed via wavelet analysis. In the case of the drag coefficient, the prominent oscillations were ISO and quasi-biweekly mode （QBM）. The interrelationship between the drag coefficient and the frictional velocity with wind speed in both the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal was also studied.     

Flux Footprints in the Convective Boundary Layer: Large-Eddy Simulation and Lagrangian Stochastic Modelling

We investigated the flux footprints of receptors at different heights in the convective boundary layer (CBL). The footprints were derived using a forward Lagrangian stochastic (LS) method coupled with the turbulent fields from a large-eddy simulation model. Crosswind-integrated flux footprints shown as a function of upstream distances and sensor heights in the CBL were derived and compared using two LS particle simulation methods: an instantaneous area release and a crosswind linear continuous release. We found that for almost all sensor heights in the CBL, a major positive flux footprint zone was located close to the sensor upstream, while a weak negative footprint zone was located further upstream, with the transition band in non-dimensional upwind distances −X between approximately 1.5 and 2.0. Two-dimensional (2D) flux footprints for a point sensor were also simulated. For a sensor height of 0.158 z _i, where z _i is the CBL depth, we found that a major positive flux footprint zone followed a weak negative zone in the upstream direction. Two even weaker positive zones were also present on either side of the footprint axis, where the latter was rotated slightly from the geostrophic wind direction. Using CBL scaling, the 2D footprint result was normalized to show the source areas and was applied to real parameters obtained using aircraft-based measurements. With a mean wind speed in the CBL of U = 5.1 m s⁻¹, convective velocity of w _* = 1.37 m s⁻¹, CBL depth of z _i = 1,000 m, and flight track height of 159 m above the surface, the total flux footprint contribution zone was estimated to range from about 0.1 to 4.5 km upstream, in the case where the wind was perpendicular to the flight track. When the wind was parallel to the flight track, the total footprint contribution zone covered approximately 0.5 km on one side and 0.8 km on the other side of the flight track.     

A K-Theory of Dispersion,Settling and Deposition in the Atmospheric Surface Layer

Dispersion estimates with a Gaussian plume model are often incorrect because of particle settling (β), deposition (γ) or the vertical gradient in diffusivity (K _v (z) = K ₀ + μz). These “non-Gaussian” effects, and the interaction between them, can be evaluated with a new Hankel/Fourier method. Due to the deepening of the plume downwind and reduced vertical concentration gradients, these effects become more important at greater distance from the source. They dominate when distance from the source exceeds L _β = K ₀ U/β ², L _γ  = K ₀ U/γ ² and L _μ = K ₀ U/μ ² respectively. In this case, the ratio β/μ plays a central role and when β/μ = 1/2 the effects of settling and K gradient exactly cancel. A general computational method and several specific closed form solutions are given, including a new dispersion relation for the case when all three non-Gaussian effects are strong. A more general result is that surface concentration scales as C(x) ~ γ ⁻² whenever deposition is strong. Categorization of dispersion problems using β/μ, L _γ and L _μ is proposed.     

Can Water Vapour Raman Lidar Resolve Profiles of Turbulent Variables in the Convective Boundary Layer?

High-resolution water vapour measurements made by the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Raman lidar operated at the Southern Great Plains Climate Research Facility site near Lamont, Oklahoma, U.S.A. are presented. Using a 2-h measurement period for the convective boundary layer (CBL) on 13 September 2005, with temporal and spatial resolutions of 10 s and 75 m, respectively, spectral and autocovariance analyses of water vapour mixing ratio time series are performed. It is demonstrated that the major part of the inertial subrange was detected and that the integral scale was significantly larger than the time resolution. Consequently, the major part of the turbulent fluctuations was resolved. Different methods to retrieve noise error profiles yield consistent results and compare well with noise profiles estimated using Poisson statistics of the Raman lidar signals. Integral scale, mixing-ratio variance, skewness, and kurtosis profiles were determined including error bars with respect to statistical and sampling errors. The integral scale ranges between 70 and 130 s at the top of the CBL. Within the CBL, up to the third order, noise errors are significantly smaller than sampling errors and the absolute values of turbulent variables, respectively. The mixing-ratio variance profile rises monotonically from ≈0.07 to ≈3.7 g² kg⁻² in the entrainment zone. The skewness is nearly zero up to 0.6 z/z _i , becomes −1 around 0.7–0.8 z/z _i , crosses zero at about 0.95 z/z _i , and reaches about 1.7 at 1.1 z/z _i (here, z is the height and z _i is the CBL depth). The noise errors are too large to derive fourth-order moments with sufficient accuracy. Consequently, to the best of our knowledge, the ARM Raman lidar is the first water vapour Raman lidar with demonstrated capability to retrieve profiles of turbulent variables up to the third order during daytime throughout the atmospheric CBL.     

Geometric and aerodynamic roughness of sea ice

The aerodynamic drag of Arctic sea ice is calculated using surface data, measured by an airborne laser altimeter and a digital camera in the marginal ice zone of Fram Strait. The influence of the surface morphology on the momentum transfer under neutral thermal stratification in the atmospheric boundary layer is derived with the aid of model concepts, based on the partitioning of the surface drag into a form drag and a skin drag. The drag partitioning concept pays attention to the probability density functions of the geometric surface parameters. We found for the marginal ice zone that the form drag, caused by floe edges, can amount to 140% of the skin drag, while the effect of pressure ridges never exceeded 40%. Due to the narrow spacing of obstacles, the skin drag is significantly reduced by shadowing effects on the leeward side of floe edges. For practical purposes, the fractional sea-ice coverage can be used to parameterize the drag coefficientC _dn, related to the 10 m-wind. C _dnincreases from 1.2 · 10^-3 over open water to 2.8 · 10^-3 for 55% ice coverage and decreases to 1.5 · 10^-3 for 100% ice coverage.Aircraft turbulence measurements are used to compare the model values of C _dnwith measureents. The correlation between measured and modelled drag coefficients results in r ² = 0.91, where r is the correlation coefficient.     

A theory for the scalar roughness and the scalar transfer coefficients over snow and sea ice

Although the bulk aerodynamic transfer coefficients for sensible (C _H ) and latent (C _E ) heat over snow and sea ice surfaces are necessary for accurately modeling the surface energy budget, they have been measured rarely. This paper, therefore, presents a theoretical model that predicts neutral-stability values of C _H and C _E as functions of the wind speed and a surface roughness parameter. The crux of the model is establishing the interfacial sublayer profiles of the scalars, temperature and water vapor, over aerodynamically smooth and rough surfaces on the basis of a surface-renewal model in which turbulent eddies continually scour the surface, transferring scalar contaminants across the interface by molecular diffusion. Matching these interfacial sublayer profiles with the semi-logarithmic inertial sublayer profiles yields the roughness lengths for temperature and water vapor. When coupled with a model for the drag coefficient over snow and sea ice based on actual measurements, these roughness lengths lead to the transfer coefficients. C _E is always a few percent larger than CH. Both decrease monotonically with increasing wind speed for speeds above 1 m s^–1, and both increase at all wind speeds as the surface gets rougher. Both, nevertheless, are almost always between 1.0 × 10^–3 and 1.5 × 10^–3.     

A Large-Eddy Simulation Study of the Influence of Subsidence on the Stably Stratified Atmospheric Boundary Layer

The influence of the large-scale subsidence rate, S, on the stably stratified atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) over the Arctic Ocean snow/ice pack during clear-sky, winter conditions is investigated using a large-eddy simulation model. Simulations of two 24-h periods are conducted while varying S between 0, 0.001 and 0.002 ms⁻¹, and the resulting quasi-equilibrium ABL structures and evolutions are examined. Simulations conducted with S = 0 yield a boundary layer that is deeper, more strongly mixed and cools more rapidly than the observations. Simulations conducted with S > 0 yield improved agreement with the observations in the ABL height, potential temperature gradients and bulk heating rates. We also demonstrate that S > 0 limits the continuous growth of the ABL observed during quasi-steady conditions, leading to the formation of a nearly steady ABL of approximately uniform depth and temperature. Subsidence reduces the magnitudes of the stresses, as well as the implied eddy-diffusivity coefficients for momentum and heat, while increasing the vertical heat fluxes considerably. Subsidence is also observed to increases the Richardson number to values in excess of unity well below the ABL top.     

Analysis of Carbon Dioxide Variations in the Atmosphere of Srednja Bijambarska Cave,Bosnia and Herzegovina

The results of one year’s monitoring in Srednja Bijambarska Cave (Bosnia and Herzegovina) are presented and discussed. Temporal variations of the carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration are controlled by the switching between two ventilation regimes driven by outside temperature changes. A regression model with a simple perfectly mixed volume applied to a cave sector (“Music hall”) resulted in an estimate of ventilation rates between 0.02 h⁻¹ and 0.54 h⁻¹. Carbon dioxide input per plan surface unit is estimated by the model at around 50 × 10⁻⁶ mh⁻¹ during the winter season and up to more than 1000 × 10⁻⁶ mh⁻¹ during the first temperature falls at the end of summer (0.62 μmoles m⁻² s⁻¹ and 12.40 μmoles m⁻² s⁻¹ for normal conditions respectively). These values have been found to be related to the cave ventilation rate and dependent on the availability of CO₂ in the surrounding environment. For airflow close to zero the values of CO₂ input per plan surface have a range in the order of magnitude of a few units × 10⁻⁶ mh⁻¹. Based on two experiments, the anthropogenic contribution from cave visitors has been calculated, at between 0.35 l_CO2 min⁻¹ person⁻¹ and 0.45 l_CO2min⁻¹person⁻¹.     

The effect of snow on Antarctic sea ice simulations in a coupled atmosphere-sea ice model

 The effect of a snow cover on sea ice accretion and ablation is estimated based on the ‘zero-layer’ version sea ice model of Semtner, and is examined using a coupled atmosphere-sea ice model including feedbacks and ice dynamics effects. When snow is disregarded in the coupled model the averaged Antarctic sea ice becomes thicker. When only half of the snowfall predicted by the atmospheric model is allowed to land on the ice surface sea ice gets thicker in most of the Weddell and Ross Seas but thinner in East Antarctic in winter, with the average slightly thicker. When twice as much snowfall as predicted by the atmospheric model is assumed to land on the ice surface sea ice also gets much thicker due to the large increase of snow-ice formation. These results indicate the importance of the correct simulation of the snow cover over sea ice and snow-ice formation in the Antarctic. Our results also illustrate the complex feedback effects of the snow cover in global climate models. In this study we have also tested the use of a mean value of 0.16 Wm^-1 K^-1 instead of 0.31 for the thermal conductivity of snow in the coupled model, based on the most recent observations in the eastern Antarctic and Bellingshausen and Amundsen Seas, and have found that the sea ice distribution changes greatly, with the ice becoming much thinner by about 0.2 m in the Antarctic and about 0.4 m in the Arctic on average. This implies that the magnitude of the thermal conductivity of snow is of considerable importance for the simulation of the sea ice distribution. An appropriate value of the thermal conductivity of snow is as crucial as the depth of the snow layer and the snowfall rate in a sea ice model. The coupled climate models require accurate values of the effective thermal conductivity of snow from observations for validating the simulated sea ice distribution under the present climate conditions. Received: 20 November 1997/Accepted: 27 July 1998     

Scaling Properties of Temperature Spectra and Heat-Flux Cospectra in the Surface Friction Layer Beneath an Unstable Outer Layer

Temperature variance and temperature power spectra in the unstable surface layer have always presented a problem to the standard Monin-Obukhov similarity model. Recently that problem has intensified with the demonstration by Smedman et al. (2007, Q J Roy Meteorol Soc 133: 37–51) that temperature spectra and heat-flux cospectra can have two distinct peaks in slightly unstable conditions, and by McNaughton et al. (2007, Nonlinear Process Geophys 14: 257–271) who showed that the wavenumber of the peak of temperature spectra in a convective boundary layer (CBL), closely above the surface friction layer (SFL), can be sensitive to the CBL depth, z _i. Neither the two-peak form at slight instability nor the dependence of peak position on z _i at large instability is compatible with the Monin-Obukhov model. Here we examine the properties of temperature spectra and heat-flux cospectra from between these extremes, i.e. from within the unstable SFL, in two experiments. The analysis is based on McNaughton’s model of the turbulence structure in the SFL. According to this model, heat is transported through most of the SFL by sheet plumes, created by the action of impinging outer eddies. The smallest and most effective of these outer eddies have sizes that scale on SFL depth, z _s. The z _s-scale eddies and plumes are organised within the overall convection pattern in the CBL, and in turn they organise the motion of smaller eddies within the SFL, whose sizes scale on height, z. The main experimental results are: (1) the peak amplitudes of the temperature spectra in the SFL are collapsed with a scaling factor (z_sz)^1/3e_o^2/3{(z_{\rm s}z)^{1/3}\varepsilon_{\rm o}^{2/3}} divided by the square of the surface temperature flux, where e_o{\varepsilon_{\rm o}} is the dissipation rate of turbulent energy in the outer CBL (above the SFL); (2) the peak wavenumbers of the temperature spectra are collapsed with the mixed length scale (z _i z _s)^1/2; (3) the peak wavenumbers of the heat-flux cospectra are collapsed with the doubly-mixed length scale (z _i z _s)^1/4 z ^1/2; (4) for z/z _s < 0.03, the peak in the cospectrum is replaced by another peak at a wavenumber about a magnitude larger. This peak’s position scales on z; (5) all these findings are consistent with the observations of Smedman et al.     

Laboratory studies about the interaction of ammonia with ice crystals at temperatures between 0 and −20°C

In laboratory experiments the interactions of ammonia with ice crystals were studied within the temperature range between 0 and −20°C. In a first series of experiments dendritic ice crystals were grown from water vapor in presence of ammonia gas in various concentrations between 4 and 400 ppbv. In a second series of experiments pure ice crystals were exposed to a humidified ammonia–air mixture inside a horizontal flow tube. The influence of temperature, ammonia gas concentration (0.6, 1.5, and 10 ppmv), exposure time, and the presence of impurities such as sulfate on the ammonia uptake by the ice surface was investigated by determining the ammonium content in the melt water of the ice crystals by ion chromatography. During the growth of ice crystals significant amounts of ammonia (around 200 μg/l) were taken up even at small gas concentrations. In contrast, even at high gas concentrations the uptake of ammonia by non-growing ice crystals was lower by approximately one order of magnitude. The presence of sulfate on the ice surface affected an enhanced uptake of ammonia by a factor of 5–10. A model is presented which describes the uptake of ammonia by ice considering the chemical processes occurring in the ice surface layer and simultaneous diffusion of ammonia into bulk ice. Even the increased uptake of ammonia by growing ice is rather small compared to the uptake by water droplets; thus, the major process for scavenging of ammonia from the atmosphere via the ice phase might not be the direct uptake by ice crystals but the riming involving super-cooled droplets containing ammonia.     

On the parameterization of drag over small-scale topography in neutrally-stratified boundary-layer flow

Predictions of the surface drag in turbulent boundary-layer flow over two-dimensional sinusoidal topography from various numerical models are compared. For simple 2D terrain, the model results show that the drag increases associated with topography are essentially proportional to (slope)² up to the steepness at which the flow separates. For the purposes of boundary-layer parameterisation within larger-scale models, we propose a representation of the effects of simple 2D topography via an effective roughness length, z ₀ ^eff. The form of the varation of z ₀ ^eff with terrain slope and topographic wavelength is established for small slopes from the model results and a semi-empirical formula is proposed.     

Oxygen and Hydrogen Isotopic Signatures of Large Atmospheric Ice Conglomerations

Specific studies about the stable isotope composition (¹⁸O/¹⁶O and D/H) of atmospheric icy conglomerations are still scarce. The present work offers, for the first time, a very detailed analysis of oxygen and hydrogen isotopic signatures of unusually large ice conglomerations, or “megacryometeors”, that fell to the ground in Spain during January 2000. The hydrochemical analysis is based on the bulk isotopic composition and systematic selective sampling (deuterium isotopic mapping) of eleven selected specimens. δ¹⁸O and δD (V-SMOW) of all samples fall into the Meteoric Water Line matching well with typical tropospheric values. The distribution of the samples on Craig's line suggests either a variation in condensation temperature and/or different residual fractions of water vapour (Rayleigh processes). Three of the largest megacryometeors exhibited unequivocally distinctive negative values (δ¹⁸O = −17.2%₀ and δD = −127 %₀ V-SMOW), (δ¹⁸O = −15.6%₀ and δD = −112%₀ V-SMOW) and (δ¹⁸O = −14.4%₀ and δD = −100%₀ V-SMOW), suggesting an atmospheric origin typical of the upper troposphere. Theoretical calculations indicate that the vertical trajectory of growth was lower than 3.2 km. During the period in which the fall of megacryometeors occurred, anomalous atmospheric conditions were observed to exist: a substantial lowering of the tropopause with a deep layer of saturated air below, ozone depression and strong wind shear. Moreover, these large ice conglomerations occurred during non-thunderstorm conditions, suggesting an alternative process of ice growth was responsible for their formation.     

Atmospheric inorganic nitrogen in marine aerosol and precipitation and its deposition to the North and South Pacific Oceans

Aerosol and rain samples were collected between 48°N and 55°S during the KH-08-2 and MR08-06 cruises conducted over the North and South Pacific Ocean in 2008 and 2009, to estimate dry and wet deposition fluxes of atmospheric inorganic nitrogen (N). Inorganic N in aerosols was composed of ~68% NH₄⁺ and ~32% NO₃^– (median values for all data), with ~81% and ~45% of each species being present on fine mode aerosol, respectively. Concentrations of NH₄⁺ and NO₃⁻ in rainwater ranged from 1.7–55 μmol L⁻¹ and 0.16–18 μmol L⁻¹, respectively, accounting for ~87% by NH₄⁺ and ~13% by NO₃⁻ of total inorganic N (median values for all data). A significant correlation (r = 0.74, p < 0.05, n = 10) between NH₄⁺ and methanesulfonic acid (MSA) was found in rainwater samples collected over the South Pacific, whereas no significant correlations were found between NH₄⁺ and MSA in rainwater collected over the subarctic (r = 0.42, p > 0.1, n = 6) and subtropical (r = 0.33, p > 0.5, n = 6) western North Pacific, suggesting that emissions of ammonia (NH₃) by marine biological activity from the ocean could become a significant source of NH₄⁺ over the South Pacific. While NO₃⁻ was the dominant inorganic N species in dry deposition, inorganic N supplied to surface waters by wet deposition was predominantly by NH₄⁺ (42–99% of the wet deposition fluxes for total inorganic N). We estimated mean total (dry + wet) deposition fluxes of atmospheric total inorganic N in the Pacific Ocean to be 32–64 μmol m⁻² d⁻¹, with 66–99% of this by wet deposition, indicating that wet deposition plays a more important role in the supply of atmospheric inorganic N than dry deposition.