ACCACIA is a project led by Dr Ian Brooks from the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science in the School of Earth and Enviroment in Leeds, it aims to improve our understanding of the properties of Arctic boundary layer clouds and the processes that control them, in particular the primary sources of aerosol upon which cloud droplets and ice crystals form. Arctic clouds often differ from their counterparts at lower latitudes, in part because of differences in aerosol processes. Weather forecast and climate models typically do a poor job of representing Arctic clouds. Errors in cloud properties in the model result in errors in the surface energy balance and thus in the predicted surface temperature and melting or growth of sea ice.
Alongside the main ACCACIA project, Dr Kelly Baustian and myself are in Kiruna flying onboard the FAAM 146 aircraft. We are involved in a parallel project which is led by Dr Ben Murray called ICE-ACCACIA collecting aerosol samples to allow us to investigate their properties as Ice Nuclei (IN).
You can follow the ACCACIA project via the blog and there is also a twitter feed for the ACCACIA project
ACCACIA is abit of deja vu for me, having been based here in August 2008 as part of the AMISA project gallery, although the town is a somewhat different place with a thick covering of snow.
Other images
| Kiruna Airport - Our homebase for the three weeks of the ACCACIA detachment. |
| The Ice Lab - Kelly and I have set up a lab in the hangar for "growing ice". |
| Stephane B - A few assorted photos from Stephane Bauguitte, the FAAM chemistry supremo |
| Kiruna Town - Out and about around the town of Kiruna. |
| Return to Camp Ripan - Managed to catch a couple of hours reminding myself how different crosscountry is from downhill skiing. |
| Northern Lights round a campfire - An evening in the local park skating followed by a northern light show. |
| The famous Ice Hotel - Just a few miles further up the highway from the airport is the famous Ice Hotel. |
| Trip to Abisko - Kelly, Joss, Jamie & Robby visited the Abisko national park a few miles up the road from Kiruna. |