[LMD organizes] First national meeting on Polar clouds

On February 9, the first national scientific exchange day on polar clouds was held. This mini-symposium, co-organized by LMD and LATMOS, brought together (at Jussieu) researchers from all over France: Toulouse (CNRM), Clermont-Ferrand (LAMP), Grenoble (IGE), Lille (LOA) and Paris (LMD, LATMOS and LSCE).
Clouds play a key role in the rapid warming of high latitudes, particularly as they steer the surface energy balance, thus strongly influencing the melting of sea ice and ice caps. The structure and properties of clouds at high latitudes depend on complex interactions between turbulence, microphysics, aerosols and radiation, and atmospheric dynamics. The physical processes themselves are not yet all well documented nor understood, and their complexities make it difficult to represent polar clouds in atmospheric models. These crucial issues surrounding polar clouds have recently given rise to a number of new projects – both Arctic and Antarctic – in various French laboratories. This mini-symposium provided an opportunity to discuss the current state-of-the-art: from in-situ and satellite observations to modeling, from aerosol-cloud interactions to cloud feedback on extratropical lows, the community’s research themes were presented. The day provided an opportunity to build and consolidate collaborations between the various projects and groups.