A climatology of Arctic fog along the coast of East Greenland

Abstract

AbstractThis study presents a comprehensive climatology of coastal fog from four synoptic weather stations operated by the Danish Meteorological Institute along the entire East Greenland coast between 1958 and 2016. Elements investigated include fog frequency, daily timing, temperature, wind, visibility and radiosonde profiles during fog. The spatiotemporal patterns in fog from the low‐ to high‐Arctic locations were related to varying regional seasonal temperatures, surface and upper‐air wind and sea ice conditions, and to correlations with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Greenland Blocking Index (GBI). Results indicate that ˜70–80% of East Greenland fog occurs in summer (MJJA), and yearly fog onset is near‐coincident with the start of sea ice break‐up. This warm‐season fog has the typical characteristics of advection fog, as shown in the radiosonde profiles and the association with a gentle sea breeze. More than 95% of warm‐season fog is warmer than −10°C, and peaks close to 0°C and, therefore, consists of liquid or supercooled water droplets. In the cold season, mixed‐phase fog prevails in the high‐Arctic locations, accounting for ˜70% of observations. Ice fog (T < −30°C) occurs in only 2% of observations and is limited to Northeast Greenland during the cold season. The cold‐season composite radiosonde fog profiles in the high‐Arctic locations are characterized by deep (˜1000 m) and strong (˜6°C) surface‐based temperature inversions. Visibility during most fog conditions is lowest during the warm season (<500 m) and highest during the cold season (<800 m). In Northeast Greenland, visibility during warm‐season fog has decreased by ˜50 m·dec−1 between 1981 and 2016. In Southeast Greenland, fog visibility is high during low GBI and a positive phase of NAO, but no other correlations with climate indices were found.