Who are the people in the team?
Prof. Ian Brooks (PI), (University of Leeds, School of Earth and Environment)
Professor of boundary layer processes. Ian is an expert in turbulence measurement and has extensive experience of undertaking observational campaigns at sea and in the Arctic.
Dr Ryan Neely (University of Leeds, National Centre for Atmospheric Science)
Lecturer in observational atmospheric science. Neely is an expert in remote sensing measurements using lidar and radar. He has been using this technology to make observations of clouds and aerosol over the Greenland Ice Sheet for the last 8 years.
Dr Barbara Brooks (National Centre for Atmospheric Science, NCAS Headquarters)
Head of the Atmospheric Measurement Facility at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science. Barbara has extensive experience of a wide range of atmospheric field measurements, including sodar, lidar, and aerosol physics.
International collaborators
Günther Heinemann (University of Trier, Germany)
Matthew Shupe and Ola Persson (University of Colorado, Boulder)
What are the questions asked in the framework of the MOSAiC project?
Our overarching goal is to understand the physical processes controlling the turbulent dynamic structure of the lower atmosphere and its interaction with the surface and low-level cloud.
Specifically we address the questions:
- What physical processes control the turbulent dynamics of the atmospheric boundary layer and how do these vary over a full annual cycle?
- How does the boundary layer structure interact with the surface turbulent fluxes of momentum and heat
iii. What are the processes controlling the coupling/decoupling of the surface-based atmospheric mixed layer to low-level boundary-layer clouds.
We address these questions using a uniquely detailed set of surface-based remote sensing measurements of the lower atmosphere, including Doppler sodar (acoustic backscatter measurements) and Doppler lidar (laser backscatter measurements). In collaboration with Günther Heinemann (University of Trier, Germany) we will coordinate measurements from two identical Doppler lidar systems to make ‘virtual tower’ measurements of the vertical structure of lower atmosphere winds and turbulence.
When will the team be on the ship?
Prof. Ian Brooks will be out for mobilisation (on the support ship) and again for leg 3. Our measurements will run throughout the full duration of the cruise.
What else have you worked on?
Ian Brooks has worked on multiple Arctic field campaigns. He has led the UK contribution on four research cruises in the central Arctic on the Swedish icebreaker Oden (2008, 2014, 2016, 2018) to study processes controlling the surface energy budget over Arctic sea ice. These have included studies of surface turbulent fluxes, boundary layer thermodynamic and dynamic structure, boundary-layer/cloud interactions, and the impact of changing aerosol concentrations on Arctic low-level cloud properties. He was the PI of the NERC Arctic Research Programme consortium project Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic (ACCACIA), which conducted two joint aircraft and ship-based measurement campaigns to study aerosol-cloud interactions over the marginal ice zone. Outside of the Arctic, Ian’s research focuses on air-sea interactions, including the turbulent exchange of aerosols and gases at the sea surface.
Ryan Neely has worked extensively on remote sensing measurements of clouds, notably an extended series of measurements from the research station at Summit Station, Greenland. Neely is also PI of the NCAS mobile X-band radar and other state-of-the-art ground-based polarimetric active remote sensing which he uses to lead research focused on understanding cloud and precipitation processes. He has led or been involved with observational campaigns from 90S to 90N.
Barbara Brooks has conducted research campaigns all over the world, from the central Pacific Ocean, to the central Arctic via West Africa. Her research has encompassed aerosol physics, cloud microphysics, and atmospheric dynamics. She is now head of the NERC Atmospheric Measurement Facility, supporting the UK atmospheric science community with a wide range of specialised instrumentation.
E-mail address of PI