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On the Conditions for Onset and Development of Fog Over New Delhi: An Observational Study from the WiFEX

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Abstract

Dense fog events and their micrometeorological characteristics and structural evolution at Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), New Delhi, during the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) are illustrated in this study. Four dense fog events that occurred in January 2016 for which visibility dropped below 200 m have been selected. Depending on the visibility and micrometeorological structure, the fog processes were classified into (i) an initial formation as a thermally stable optically thin fog and (ii) a subsequent mature, weakly unstable deep fog. Surface radiative cooling supported by a deep saturated layer in the nocturnal surface layer promotes the rapid development and intensification of the initial shallow fog into the extremely dense fog. Optically thin fog appeared to develop when a thin saturated layer of air formed near the ground under low-turbulence kinetic energy (< 0.1 m2/s2). The fog was sustained in the optically thin phase until the air at 20 m remained in a sub-saturated condition in the thermally stable surface layer. Furthermore, when the saturated layer near the surface progressively expanded upward as a result of sustained cooling inside the shallow fog, it rapidly transformed into an extremely dense fog. The threshold for transition from the optically thin phase to extremely dense phase appeared when the air at 20 m neared the saturation point. The dense fog observations for all cases indicate that when the saturated layer was deeper than 20 m, the fog was able to withstand larger turbulence intensity (TKE values between 0.4 m2/s2 and 0.5 m2/s2).

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) team who worked hard on the installation of instruments and collected the data during the intense winter season, and are also thankful to the Director of IITM for providing all necessary facilities required in the campaign and study. Observational data used in this study were gathered as part of the MoES-IITM-IMD collaboration, which jointly conducted the Winter Fog Experiment (WiFEX) campaign funded by MoES. Satellite images from MODIS and INSAT-3D are used for the fog spatial representation. We acknowledge MOSDAC for INSAT-3D data products (http://www.mosdac.gov.in). Google Maps was used for the geographical representation of the observation site inside IGIA, New Delhi. Synoptic maps for the case study period were collected from the India Meteorological Department. Also, we appreciate the ECMWF for making available the reanalysis data of ERA5 to determine the variation in dew point depression over the IGP for the study period. We are thankful for all the logistic support and cooperation inside the airport from Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao (GMR) group and the Airport Authority of India (AAI) to conduct the experiment at IGIA, New Delhi. The authors express their gratitude to for the use of the ERA interim data set, which was used to see moisture advection over the study area.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES), Government of India, Pune, India

    Narendra G. Dhangar, D. M. Lal, Sachin D. Ghude, Avinash N. Parde, Prakash Pithani, Chinmay Jena, Veeresh S. Sajjan & Thara Prabhakaran

  2. Department of Physics, Andhra University, Vishakhapatnam, India

    Narendra G. Dhangar, K. Niranjan & Dasari S. V. V. D. Prasad

  3. Department of Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India

    Avinash N. Parde & A. K. Karipot

  4. India Meteorological Department, New Delhi, India

    R. K. Jenamani

  5. Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar, India

    Surender Singh

  6. Department of Environmental Sciences, Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, India

    Rachana Kulkarni

  7. Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, New Delhi, India

    M. Rajeevan

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  1. Narendra G. Dhangar
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Dhangar, N.G., Lal, D.M., Ghude, S.D. et al. On the Conditions for Onset and Development of Fog Over New Delhi: An Observational Study from the WiFEX. Pure Appl. Geophys. 178, 3727–3746 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00024-021-02800-4

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