Ice fog—a curtain of tiny ice crystals suspended above the earth’s surface—reduces visibility and makes air travel treacherous. How ice fog forms and why it persists is not entirely understood, and this has led to inaccurate forecasts, particularly visibility predictions that are critical for safe aviation and navigation.
To tackle this problem, a team of engineers from the University of Notre Dame is leading a multi-institutional research project in Utqiagvik (formerly, Barrow), Alaska. Their mission: to uncover the exact microphysical processes and environmental fluid mechanics behind ice fog’s formation. “Ice fog is one of the least understood forms of fog because it involves all three forms of water—vapor, ice, and liquid droplets—all mixing within complex turbulence,” said Harindra Joseph Fernando, the Wayne and Diana Murdy Endowed Professor of Engineering and Geosciences at the University of Notre Dame and principal investigator of Fatima-IF, the Fog and Turbulence Interactions in Marine Atmosphere Ice Fog project.