The Sandia-managed Atmospheric Radiation Measurement North Slope of Alaska (NSA) atmospheric observatory hosted a field campaign in late 2025 to collect data on ice fog microphysics and the impact of turbulence. Researchers plan to use these measurements to improve our understanding and forecasting of Arctic Ocean ice fog, reducing potential risks to the nation’s energy and security infrastructure.
“Ice fog is one of least-studied fog types. You have supercooled liquid droplets and ice crystals forming at the same time, which makes ice fog both unique and difficult to navigate,” said Andy Glen, manager of Sandia’s atmospheric sciences group.
In November, a team from the atmospheric sciences group traveled from New Mexico to the NSA site to join onsite personnel and researchers from the Fog And Turbulence Interactions in the Marine Atmosphere (FATIMA) project. Funded by the Office of Naval Research Marine Meteorology and Space Weather Program, the multidisciplinary FATIMA project seeks to improve fog prediction and detection capabilities in marine environments.
The NSA ice fog study was the third and final FATIMA campaign, following studies in the Grand Banks region of northeastern Canada in 2022 and the Yellow Sea off South Korea’s coast. All data from the NSA campaign is anticipated to be made available around June 2026 in the ARM Data Center.
February 2, 2026