Today as we began to install our equipment in the Mobile Science Facility, a fog bank rolled in. We watched it approach from the distance, engulf the Big House, and then eventually make it to us. It left its signature on many surfaces including this rope: feather-like ice crystals that result from riming on the upwind side. Fogs have occurred every couple of days since I’ve been here. Riming on the surface, as well as direct vapor deposition (hoar frost) appear to contribute significantly to the total accumulation at the surface. One of the questions we’d like to answer with our project deals with exactly this issue: What is the partitioning of the total surface snow accumulation between 1) riming/deposition, 2) the slow production of ice crystals from supercooled liquid clouds, and 3) the more aggressive snowfall experienced during storms?
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