NaFoLiCA: Synoptic-scale controls of fog and low cloud variability in the Namib Desert
- 1Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany (hendrik.andersen@kit.edu)
- 2Institute of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany
- 3LISA/IPSL, CNRS, Université Paris Est Créteil, Université Paris, Créteil, France
- 4LATMOS/IPSL, CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris-Saclay, Paris, France
- 5Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- 6Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
This contribution presents new findings on synoptic-scale mechanisms that control the day-to-day variability of fog and low clouds (FLCs) in the Namib region.
FLCs are a defining element of the Namib-region climate and a crucial source of water for many species and ecosystems. Still, little is known on the processes driving Namib-region FLCs, in large part due to the very sparse observational records. Specifically, there is an ongoing debate in the scientific literature concerning the relevance of different mechanisms responsible for fog formation in the region. In this contribution, a new long-term satellite-based data set of FLC occurrence is used in conjunction with reanalysis data and backtrajectories to systematically analyze dynamical and thermodynamical differences between days with and without FLCs in the central Namib during two different seasons. The main findings are:
The findings lead to a better understanding of Namib-region FLCs and help broaden the understanding of low clouds along the southwestern African coastline and the southeast Atlantic.
How to cite: Andersen, H., Cermak, J., Fuchs, J., Knippertz, P., Gaetani, M., Quinting, J., Sippel, S., and Vogt, R.: NaFoLiCA: Synoptic-scale controls of fog and low cloud variability in the Namib Desert, EGU General Assembly 2020, Online, 4–8 May 2020, EGU2020-7938, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-7938, 2020.
