Leonie von Terzi

On the Geometry of Aggregate Snowflakes

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Which ice microphysical processes can explain the typical radar signatures in the dendritic growth layer?

Mon, 15 Sep 2025 08:00:00 +0000

A Microwave Scattering Database of Oriented Ice and Snow Particles: Supporting Habit-Dependent Growth Models and Radar Applications (McRadar 1.0.0)

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

A Microwave Scattering Database of Oriented Ice and Snow Particles: Supporting Habit-Dependent Growth Models and Radar Applications (McRadar 1.0.0)

Tue, 09 Sep 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Investigating KDP signatures inside and below the dendritic growth layer with W-band Doppler Radar and in situ snowfall camera

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Projects

Sun, 19 May 2024 00:00:00 +0000

Exploring collisional fragmentation

Tue, 30 Jan 2024 08:30:00 +0000

Die Formel für weiße Weihnachten

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Every year, the Süddeutsche Zeitung does an Advent Calendar in the weeks before Christmas. Of course, snow is a hopeful companion in the advent time and on christmas, so the SZ wanted to know all about snow for one of their Advent features. During the interview, we discussed the many uncertainties that snow still poses for weather and climate prediction, as well as my research aimed at improving our understanding of snow. And of course the big question: Will it snow on christmas (spoiler alert, it did not…) Ironically, just a few days later, Munich was hit by the largest snowstorm in its recorded history, paralyzing the entire city’s infrastructure for at least one day.

🎉 Easily create your own simple yet highly customizable blog

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Welcome 👋

Table of Contents

Overview

The Hugo Blox website builder for Hugo, along with its starter templates, is designed for professional creators, educators, and teams/organizations - although it can be used to create any kind of site
The template can be modified and customised to suit your needs. It’s a good platform for anyone looking to take control of their data and online identity whilst having the convenience to start off with a no-code solution (write in Markdown and customize with YAML parameters) and having flexibility to later add even deeper personalization with HTML and CSS
You can work with all your favourite tools and apps with hundreds of plugins and integrations to speed up your workflows, interact with your readers, and much more

Get Started

👉 Create a new site
📚 Personalize your site
💬 Chat with the Hugo Blox community or Hugo community
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💡 Request a feature or report a bug for Hugo Blox
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To help us develop this template and software sustainably under the MIT license, we ask all individuals and businesses that use it to help support its ongoing maintenance and development via sponsorship.

As a token of appreciation for sponsoring, you can unlock these awesome rewards and extra features 🦄✨

Ecosystem

Bibtex To Markdown: Automatically import publications from BibTeX

Inspiration

Learn what other creators are building with this template.

Features

Page builder - Create anything with no-code blocks and elements
Edit any type of content - Blog posts, publications, talks, slides, projects, and more!
Create content in Markdown, Jupyter, or RStudio
Plugin System - Fully customizable color and font themes
Display Code and Math - Code syntax highlighting and LaTeX math supported
Integrations - Google Analytics, Disqus commenting, Maps, Contact Forms, and more!
Beautiful Site - Simple and refreshing one-page design
Industry-Leading SEO - Help get your website found on search engines and social media
Media Galleries - Display your images and videos with captions in a customizable gallery
Mobile Friendly - Look amazing on every screen with a mobile friendly version of your site
Multi-language - 35+ language packs including English, 中文, and Português
Multi-user - Each author gets their own profile page
Privacy Pack - Assists with GDPR
Stand Out - Bring your site to life with animation, parallax backgrounds, and scroll effects
One-Click Deployment - No servers. No databases. Only files.

Themes

Hugo Blox and its templates come with automatic day (light) and night (dark) mode built-in. Visitors can choose their preferred mode by clicking the sun/moon icon in the header.

Choose a stunning theme and font for your site. Themes are fully customizable.

License

Released under the MIT license.

Pandas

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Flexible and powerful data analysis / manipulation library for Python, providing labeled data structures.

PyTorch

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

PyTorch is a Python package that provides tensor computation (like NumPy) with strong GPU acceleration.

scikit-learn

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

scikit-learn is a Python module for machine learning built on top of SciPy and is distributed under the 3-Clause BSD license.

🧠 Sharpen your thinking with a second brain

Thu, 26 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Create a personal knowledge base and share your knowledge with your peers.

Hugo Blox web framework empowers you with one of the most flexible note-taking capabilities out there.

Create a powerful knowledge base that works on top of a local folder of plain text Markdown files.

Use it as your second brain, either publicly sharing your knowledge with your peers via your website, or via a private GitHub repository and password-protected site just for yourself.

Mindmaps

Hugo Blox supports a Markdown extension for mindmaps.

With this open format, can even edit your mindmaps in other popular tools such as Obsidian.

Simply insert a Markdown code block labelled as markmap and optionally set the height of the mindmap as shown in the example below.

Mindmaps can be created by simply writing the items as a Markdown list within the markmap code block, indenting each item to create as many sub-levels as you need:


```markmap {height="200px"}
- Hugo Modules
  - Hugo Blox
  - blox-plugins-netlify
  - blox-plugins-netlify-cms
  - blox-plugins-reveal
```

renders as

- Hugo Modules
  - Hugo Blox
  - blox-plugins-netlify
  - blox-plugins-netlify-cms
  - blox-plugins-reveal

Anh here’s a more advanced mindmap with formatting, code blocks, and math:


```markmap
- Mindmaps
  - Links
    - [Hugo Blox Docs](https://docs.hugoblox.com/)
    - [Discord Community](https://discord.gg/z8wNYzb)
    - [GitHub](https://github.com/HugoBlox/hugo-blox-builder)
  - Features
    - Markdown formatting
    - **inline** ~~text~~ *styles*
    - multiline
      text
    - `inline code`
    -
      ```js
      console.log('hello');
      console.log('code block');
      ```
    - Math: $x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}$
```

renders as

- Mindmaps
  - Links
    - [Hugo Blox Docs](https://docs.hugoblox.com/)
    - [Discord Community](https://discord.gg/z8wNYzb)
    - [GitHub](https://github.com/HugoBlox/hugo-blox-builder)
  - Features
    - Markdown formatting
    - **inline** ~~text~~ *styles*
    - multiline
      text
    - `inline code`
    -
      ```js
      console.log('hello');
      console.log('code block');
      ```
    - Math: $x = {-b \pm \sqrt{b^2-4ac} \over 2a}$

Highlighting

Highlight important text with mark:

<mark>Highlighted text</mark>

Callouts

Use callouts (aka asides, hints, or alerts) to draw attention to notes, tips, and warnings.

By wrapping a paragraph in {{% callout note %}} ... {{% /callout %}}, it will render as an aside.

{{% callout note %}}
A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.
{{% /callout %}}

renders as

A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.

Or use the warning callout type so your readers don’t miss critical details:

A Markdown aside is useful for displaying notices, hints, or definitions to your readers.

📈 Communicate your results effectively with the best data visualizations

Wed, 25 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo Blox is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and Hugo Blox handles the rest.

Use popular tools such as Plotly, Mermaid, and data frames.

Charts

Hugo Blox supports the popular Plotly format for interactive data visualizations. With Plotly, you can design almost any kind of visualization you can imagine!

Save your Plotly JSON in your page folder, for example line-chart.json, and then add the {{< chart data="line-chart" >}} shortcode where you would like the chart to appear.

Demo:

You might also find the Plotly JSON Editor useful.

Diagrams

Hugo Blox supports the Mermaid Markdown extension for diagrams.

An example flowchart:

```mermaid
graph TD
A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round)
B --> C{Decision}
C -->|One| D[Result 1]
C -->|Two| E[Result 2]
```

renders as

graph TD A[Hard] -->|Text| B(Round) B --> C{Decision} C -->|One| D[Result 1] C -->|Two| E[Result 2]

An example sequence diagram:

```mermaid
sequenceDiagram
Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you?
loop Healthcheck
    John->>John: Fight against hypochondria
end
Note right of John: Rational thoughts!
John-->>Alice: Great!
John->>Bob: How about you?
Bob-->>John: Jolly good!
```

renders as

sequenceDiagram Alice->>John: Hello John, how are you? loop Healthcheck John->>John: Fight against hypochondria end Note right of John: Rational thoughts! John-->>Alice: Great! John->>Bob: How about you? Bob-->>John: Jolly good!

An example class diagram:

```mermaid
classDiagram
Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool
Class03 *-- Class04
Class05 o-- Class06
Class07 .. Class08
Class09 --> C2 : Where am i?
Class09 --* C3
Class09 --|> Class07
Class07 : equals()
Class07 : Object[] elementData
Class01 : size()
Class01 : int chimp
Class01 : int gorilla
Class08 <--> C2: Cool label
```

renders as

classDiagram Class01 <|-- AveryLongClass : Cool Class03 *-- Class04 Class05 o-- Class06 Class07 .. Class08 Class09 --> C2 : Where am i? Class09 --* C3 Class09 --|> Class07 Class07 : equals() Class07 : Object[] elementData Class01 : size() Class01 : int chimp Class01 : int gorilla Class08 <--> C2: Cool label

An example state diagram:

```mermaid
stateDiagram
[*] --> Still
Still --> [*]
Still --> Moving
Moving --> Still
Moving --> Crash
Crash --> [*]
```

renders as

stateDiagram [*] --> Still Still --> [*] Still --> Moving Moving --> Still Moving --> Crash Crash --> [*]

Data Frames

Save your spreadsheet as a CSV file in your page’s folder and then render it by adding the Table shortcode to your page:

{{< table path="results.csv" header="true" caption="Table 1: My results" >}}

renders as

Table 1: My results
customer_id	score
1	0
2	0.5
3	1

👩🏼‍🏫 Teach academic courses

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo Blox Builder is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and the Hugo Blox Builder which this template is built upon handles the rest.

Embed videos, podcasts, code, LaTeX math, and even test students!

On this page, you’ll find some examples of the types of technical content that can be rendered with Hugo Blox.

Video

Teach your course by sharing videos with your students. Choose from one of the following approaches:

Youtube:

{{< youtube D2vj0WcvH5c >}}

Bilibili:

{{< bilibili BV1WV4y1r7DF >}}

Video file

Videos may be added to a page by either placing them in your assets/media/ media library or in your page’s folder, and then embedding them with the video shortcode:

{{< video src="my_video.mp4" controls="yes" >}}

Podcast

You can add a podcast or music to a page by placing the MP3 file in the page’s folder or the media library folder and then embedding the audio on your page with the audio shortcode:

{{< audio src="ambient-piano.mp3" >}}

Try it out:

Test students

Provide a simple yet fun self-assessment by revealing the solutions to challenges with the spoiler shortcode:

{{< spoiler text="👉 Click to view the solution" >}}
You found me!
{{< /spoiler >}}

renders as

👉 Click to view the solution

You found me 🎉

Math

Hugo Blox Builder supports a Markdown extension for $\LaTeX$ math. Enable math by setting the math: true option in your page’s front matter, or enable math for your entire site by toggling math in your config/_default/params.yaml file:

features:
  math:
    enable: true

To render inline or block math, wrap your LaTeX math with $...$ or $$...$$, respectively.

Example math block:

$$
\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}
$$

renders as

$$\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}$$

Example inline math $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$ renders as $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$.

Example multi-line math using the math linebreak (\\):

$$f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\
1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases}$$

renders as

$$ f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\ 1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases} $$

Code

Hugo Blox Builder utilises Hugo’s Markdown extension for highlighting code syntax. The code theme can be selected in the config/_default/params.yaml file.

```python
import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()
```

renders as

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()

Inline Images

{{< icon name="python" >}} Python

renders as

Python

Experience

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Learn JavaScript

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo Blox Builder is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and the Hugo Blox Builder which this template is built upon handles the rest.

Embed videos, podcasts, code, LaTeX math, and even test students!

On this page, you’ll find some examples of the types of technical content that can be rendered with Hugo Blox.

Video

Teach your course by sharing videos with your students. Choose from one of the following approaches:

Youtube:

{{< youtube w7Ft2ymGmfc >}}

Bilibili:

{{< bilibili id="BV1WV4y1r7DF" >}}

Video file

Videos may be added to a page by either placing them in your assets/media/ media library or in your page’s folder, and then embedding them with the video shortcode:

{{< video src="my_video.mp4" controls="yes" >}}

Podcast

You can add a podcast or music to a page by placing the MP3 file in the page’s folder or the media library folder and then embedding the audio on your page with the audio shortcode:

{{< audio src="ambient-piano.mp3" >}}

Try it out:

Test students

Provide a simple yet fun self-assessment by revealing the solutions to challenges with the spoiler shortcode:

{{< spoiler text="👉 Click to view the solution" >}}
You found me!
{{< /spoiler >}}

renders as

👉 Click to view the solution

You found me 🎉

Math

Hugo Blox Builder supports a Markdown extension for $\LaTeX$ math. You can enable this feature by toggling the math option in your config/_default/params.yaml file.

To render inline or block math, wrap your LaTeX math with {{< math >}}$...${{< /math >}} or {{< math >}}$$...$${{< /math >}}, respectively.

We wrap the LaTeX math in the Hugo Blox math shortcode to prevent Hugo rendering our math as Markdown.

Example math block:

{{< math >}}
$$
\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}
$$
{{< /math >}}

renders as

Example inline math {{< math >}}$\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})${{< /math >}} renders as $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$ .

Example multi-line math using the math linebreak (\\):

{{< math >}}
$$f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\
1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases}$$
{{< /math >}}

renders as

$$ f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\ 1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases} $$

Code

Hugo Blox Builder utilises Hugo’s Markdown extension for highlighting code syntax. The code theme can be selected in the config/_default/params.yaml file.

```python
import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()
```

renders as

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()

Inline Images

{{< icon name="python" >}} Python

renders as

Python

Learn Python

Tue, 24 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Hugo Blox Builder is designed to give technical content creators a seamless experience. You can focus on the content and the Hugo Blox Builder which this template is built upon handles the rest.

Embed videos, podcasts, code, LaTeX math, and even test students!

On this page, you’ll find some examples of the types of technical content that can be rendered with Hugo Blox.

Video

Teach your course by sharing videos with your students. Choose from one of the following approaches:

Youtube:

{{< youtube w7Ft2ymGmfc >}}

Bilibili:

{{< bilibili id="BV1WV4y1r7DF" >}}

Video file

Videos may be added to a page by either placing them in your assets/media/ media library or in your page’s folder, and then embedding them with the video shortcode:

{{< video src="my_video.mp4" controls="yes" >}}

Podcast

You can add a podcast or music to a page by placing the MP3 file in the page’s folder or the media library folder and then embedding the audio on your page with the audio shortcode:

{{< audio src="ambient-piano.mp3" >}}

Try it out:

Test students

Provide a simple yet fun self-assessment by revealing the solutions to challenges with the spoiler shortcode:

{{< spoiler text="👉 Click to view the solution" >}}
You found me!
{{< /spoiler >}}

renders as

👉 Click to view the solution

You found me 🎉

Math

Hugo Blox Builder supports a Markdown extension for $\LaTeX$ math. You can enable this feature by toggling the math option in your config/_default/params.yaml file.

To render inline or block math, wrap your LaTeX math with {{< math >}}$...${{< /math >}} or {{< math >}}$$...$${{< /math >}}, respectively.

We wrap the LaTeX math in the Hugo Blox math shortcode to prevent Hugo rendering our math as Markdown.

Example math block:

{{< math >}}
$$
\gamma_{n} = \frac{ \left | \left (\mathbf x_{n} - \mathbf x_{n-1} \right )^T \left [\nabla F (\mathbf x_{n}) - \nabla F (\mathbf x_{n-1}) \right ] \right |}{\left \|\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n}) - \nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n-1}) \right \|^2}
$$
{{< /math >}}

renders as

Example inline math {{< math >}}$\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})${{< /math >}} renders as $\nabla F(\mathbf{x}_{n})$ .

Example multi-line math using the math linebreak (\\):

{{< math >}}
$$f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\
1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases}$$
{{< /math >}}

renders as

$$ f(k;p_{0}^{*}) = \begin{cases}p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=1, \\ 1-p_{0}^{*} & \text{if }k=0.\end{cases} $$

Code

Hugo Blox Builder utilises Hugo’s Markdown extension for highlighting code syntax. The code theme can be selected in the config/_default/params.yaml file.

```python
import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()
```

renders as

import pandas as pd
data = pd.read_csv("data.csv")
data.head()

Inline Images

{{< icon name="python" >}} Python

renders as

Python

✅ Manage your projects

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Easily manage your projects - create ideation mind maps, Gantt charts, todo lists, and more!

Ideation

Hugo Blox supports a Markdown extension for mindmaps.

Simply insert a Markdown code block labelled as markmap and optionally set the height of the mindmap as shown in the example below.

Mindmaps can be created by simply writing the items as a Markdown list within the markmap code block, indenting each item to create as many sub-levels as you need:


```markmap {height="200px"}
- Hugo Modules
  - Hugo Blox
  - blox-plugins-netlify
  - blox-plugins-netlify-cms
  - blox-plugins-reveal
```

renders as

- Hugo Modules
  - Hugo Blox
  - blox-plugins-netlify
  - blox-plugins-netlify-cms
  - blox-plugins-reveal

Diagrams

Hugo Blox supports the Mermaid Markdown extension for diagrams.

An example Gantt diagram:

```mermaid
gantt
section Section
Completed :done,    des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08
Active        :active,  des2, 2014-01-07, 3d
Parallel 1   :         des3, after des1, 1d
Parallel 2   :         des4, after des1, 1d
Parallel 3   :         des5, after des3, 1d
Parallel 4   :         des6, after des4, 1d
```

renders as

gantt section Section Completed :done, des1, 2014-01-06,2014-01-08 Active :active, des2, 2014-01-07, 3d Parallel 1 : des3, after des1, 1d Parallel 2 : des4, after des1, 1d Parallel 3 : des5, after des3, 1d Parallel 4 : des6, after des4, 1d

Todo lists

You can even write your todo lists in Markdown too:

- [x] Write math example
  - [x] Write diagram example
- [ ] Do something else

renders as

Write math example
- Write diagram example
Do something else

Sonderprogram/Aktionstag Wolken, Wind und Wetter im Deutschen Museum, München

Sat, 06 May 2023 00:00:00 +0000

The Institute of Meteorology hosted a hands-on event at the Deutsches Museum in Munich, dedicated to exploring the fascinating world of weather, wind, and clouds. The aim was to present key meteorological concepts, and showcase our own research, in a fun and engaging way.

A variety of interactive stations invited children and families to experience weather science up close: they could create miniature rainbows, build their own thermometers, and even control the radar system located on the roof of the Meteorological Institute.

The setting was ideal: inside the satellite exhibit’s control module, we had the opportunity to speak with and inspire numerous visitors. Using a PlayStation controller, they could steer the radar in any direction, guided by a live webcam feed mounted on the system. At the same time, we displayed and explained real-time radar measurements of the clouds above.

It was a fantastic day, filled with curiosity, insightful questions, and lively conversations. The enthusiasm of our visitors made the event a great success

Investigating ice microphysical processes by combining multi-frequency and polarimetric Doppler radar observations with Lagrangian Monte-Carlo particle modeling

Mon, 19 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Ice micro-physical processes in the dendritic growth layer: A statistical analysis combining multi- frequency and polarimetric Doppler cloud radar observations

Tue, 13 Sep 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Melting Behavior of Rimed and Unrimed Snowflakes Investigated With Statistics of Triple-Frequency Doppler Radar Observations

Sat, 23 Apr 2022 00:00:00 +0000

PROM-FRAGILE (2022-ongoing)

Sat, 01 Jan 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Description

Building on the findings of the PROM-IMPRINT project, the causes behind the observed increase in ice particle concentration within the dendritic growth layer are being further investigated. In a new study, the McSnow model was employed to explore which microphysical processes might contribute to this increase. Incorporating recent laboratory results from Grzegorczyk et al. 2023, a new collisional fragmentation scheme was implemented in McSnow.

To enable direct comparison between the McSnow simulations and radar observations, a comprehensive scattering database was created using the discrete dipole approximation (DDA). This database includes the scattering properties of 3,100 ice particles and serves as the foundation for a newly developed radar forward operator.

The simulations revealed that the observed increase in differential reflectivity (ZDR) within the dendritic growth layer can only be reproduced if ice crystals are nucleated locally around -15°C. This finding challenges earlier hypotheses suggesting that sedimenting ice particles entering this temperature region are responsible for the radar signatures. Moreover, the simulations demonstrated that a secondary ice production process is required to locally enhance the ice particle number concentration and to explain the observed increase in specific differential phase (KDP). Ice–ice collisional fragmentation emerges as a likely candidate for this secondary process.

These findings will be presented in two upcoming publications.

Multi-year cloud and precipitation statistics observed with remote sensors at the high-altitude Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus in the German Alps

Fri, 10 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Overview: Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modeling towards an improved understanding of cloud and precipitation processes

Wed, 01 Dec 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Linking rain into ice microphysics across the melting layer in stratiform rain: a closure study

Mon, 25 Jan 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Evaluation of ice particle growth in ICON using statistics of multi-frequency Doppler cloud radar observations"

Sat, 18 Jul 2020 00:00:00 +0000

The importance of particle size distribution and internal structure for triple-frequency radar retrievals of the morphology of snow"

Tue, 17 Sep 2019 00:00:00 +0000

PROM-IMPRINT (2019-2022)

Tue, 01 Jan 2019 00:00:00 +0000

Description

Many aspects of precipitation formation remain poorly understood, leading to significant uncertainties in the prediction of clouds and precipitation. In particular, microphysical processes, describing the nucleation of cloud particles and their subsequent growth into precipitation, are still not fully understood. Since approximately 63% of global precipitation originates from the ice phase, improving our understanding of ice microphysics is essential for enhancing precipitation forecasts.

A key region in this context is the dendritic growth layer (DGL), located at temperatures between −20 and −10°C, which plays a crucial role in ice particle growth and precipitation formation. Previous studies have identified increases in both particle size and number concentration within the DGL, associated with depositional growth, aggregation, and secondary ice production processes. This project focused on investigating these ice microphysical processes by combining polarimetric and multi-frequency Doppler cloud radar observations with Monte Carlo Lagrangian particle modeling.

In von Terzi et al. 2023, we presented a statistical analysis of a three-month dataset from polarimetric and multi-frequency Doppler radar observations. This unique combination allows for a detailed examination of ice particle evolution: polarimetric measurements serve as indicators of depositional growth and possible secondary ice processes, while the multi-frequency radar data provide insights into particle size changes due to aggregation and riming. The analysis revealed a notable increase in aggregate size near −15°C, with the mean size of aggregates correlating with an updraft peaking at approximately 0.1 m/s at −14°C. The data also suggest the growth of plate-like ice crystals at this temperature.

Interestingly, the analysis showed that aggregation increases in the DGL concurrently with an increase in ice particle number concentration. Since aggregation typically reduces the number of particles, this points to the presence of a secondary source of ice particles. Several mechanisms could explain this observation:

Secondary ice production, such as ice–ice collisional fragmentation;
Sedimentation of small ice particles from above, colder layers into the DGL;
Local activation of ice nucleating particles (INPs), possibly enhanced by the observed updraft, which could increase supersaturation with respect to ice around −15°C and lead to the nucleation and growth of new plate-like crystals.

Radar observations do not observe microphysical processes, such as nucleation directly, making it difficult to pinpoint the origin of the observed polarimetric signatures and potential increase in ice particle concentration.

To further investigate these processes, we used the Monte Carlo Lagrangian particle model McSnow (Welss et al. 2024,Brdar and Seifert 2017), constrained by our observational dataset. Simulations showed that the ice particles responsible for the observed polarimetric features and increase in number concentration must be nucleated locally near −15°C, suggesting that sedimentation alone cannot account for the observed signatures.

Furthermore, McSnow simulations indicated that neither collisional fragmentation nor INP activation alone can fully reproduce the observed radar signals. However, a combination of both processes could potentially explain the findings. This highlights the value of integrating radar observations with detailed modeling to advance our understanding of cloud microphysics.

Nevertheless, further laboratory studies are necessary to better constrain and validate the processes occurring in the DGL. The findings of this project are documented in my doctoral dissertation and in von Terzi et al. 2023.

Leonie von Terzi

On the Geometry of Aggregate Snowflakes

Which ice microphysical processes can explain the typical radar signatures in the dendritic growth layer?

A Microwave Scattering Database of Oriented Ice and Snow Particles: Supporting Habit-Dependent Growth Models and Radar Applications (McRadar 1.0.0)

A Microwave Scattering Database of Oriented Ice and Snow Particles: Supporting Habit-Dependent Growth Models and Radar Applications (McRadar 1.0.0)

Investigating KDP signatures inside and below the dendritic growth layer with W-band Doppler Radar and in situ snowfall camera

Projects

Exploring collisional fragmentation

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Sonderprogram/Aktionstag Wolken, Wind und Wetter im Deutschen Museum, München

Investigating ice microphysical processes by combining multi-frequency and polarimetric Doppler radar observations with Lagrangian Monte-Carlo particle modeling

Ice micro-physical processes in the dendritic growth layer: A statistical analysis combining multi- frequency and polarimetric Doppler cloud radar observations

Melting Behavior of Rimed and Unrimed Snowflakes Investigated With Statistics of Triple-Frequency Doppler Radar Observations

PROM-FRAGILE (2022-ongoing)

Description

Multi-year cloud and precipitation statistics observed with remote sensors at the high-altitude Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus in the German Alps

Overview: Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modeling towards an improved understanding of cloud and precipitation processes

Linking rain into ice microphysics across the melting layer in stratiform rain: a closure study

Evaluation of ice particle growth in ICON using statistics of multi-frequency Doppler cloud radar observations"

The importance of particle size distribution and internal structure for triple-frequency radar retrievals of the morphology of snow"

PROM-IMPRINT (2019-2022)

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