- 1University of Ioannina, Physics, Ioannina, Greece (stefanos.ns2000@gmail.com)
- 2Center for the Study of Air Quality and Climate Change, Institute for Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 26504, Patras, Greece,
- 3Institute of Geosciences, Section Meteorology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Fog and low-level clouds, namely stratus, are of major concern mainly due to their
adverse effects on transportation. Visibility is drastically reduced under the
occurrence of fog conditions, thus affecting aviation and road traffic. For example,
fog causes many troubles to scheduled flights, like cancelations or delays, while
creating dangerous driving conditions, thus having significant socioeconomic impacts.
Moreover, apart from affecting transportation, fog and low-level clouds also affect the
radiation budget, specifically at the Earth’s surface. For all these reasons, the
simulation and forecasting of fog is important, especially when no observational tools,
e.g. radars, are available.
Ioannina is a middle-sized city (~120,000 inhabitants) situated in the Epirus
mountainous region in Northwestern Greece. The city is located on a plateau (basin)
with an average altitude of 500 m, surrounded by high mountains with altitudes higher
than 1500m. The airport of Ioannina lies in an area of the plateau which experiences a
high yearly number of fog events. This is mainly due to: (1) the presence of the
nearby Pamvotis lake (area 23 km 2 , average depth 4 m, maximum depth 10 m), which
locally enriches the overlying air masses with water vapour and (2) the specific
geographical and topographical characteristics of the area, which generally favour
calm (low wind speed) conditions speed and high relative humidity levels, as well as
the creation of temperature inversions. Moreover, due to the local topography and
meteorological conditions, the city frequently suffers from wintertime air pollution
episodes (smog) due to extensive biomass burning for domestic heating activities.
Despite the frequent occurrence of fog and the induced air traffic problems, there are
not available tools for forecasting fog locally. The present work aims to fill this gap
by implementing a numerical model, specifically the parameterized fog model
PAFOG along with the spectral cloud microphysics model MIFOG. The two models
will be operated and evaluated as to their ability to simulate fog under different
conditions.
The fog models will be initialized with available data from local meteorological
stations supplemented by vertically resolved reanalysis and satellite data, due to the
lack of radiosondes in the study area. Local information on aerosol particles, acting as
CCN, will be implemented as well, enabling to investigate their role for the formation
of fog. The performance of the two models will be assessed through comparisons to
available METARs from the Ioannina airport. This study is a first step towards
implementing fog models for a routine fog forecasting at the city/airport.
How to cite: Nasikas, S., Hatzianastassiou, N., Korras-Carraca, M.-B., and Bott, A.: Implementation of the parameterized and spectral fog models(PAFOG, MIFOG) for simulating fog at the Ioannina mountainouscity (Greece), EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-17344, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-17344, 2025.