Contribution of the 2DVD to the investigation of cloud microphysics during the MOSAiC and Cloudlab/PolarCAP campaigns

Gaudek, Tom; Jimenez, Cristofer; Ohneiser, Kevin; Fuchs, Christopher; Henneberger, Jan; Bühl, Johannes; Klamt, Andi; Ansmann, Albert; Engelmann, Ronny; Seifert, Patric

doi:10.5194/amt-19-2245-2026

Articles | Volume 19, issue 6

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2245-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue:

Fusion of radar polarimetry and numerical atmospheric modelling...

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-2245-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 6

Research article

|

01 Apr 2026

Research article |

| 01 Apr 2026

Contribution of the 2DVD to the investigation of cloud microphysics during the MOSAiC and Cloudlab/PolarCAP campaigns

Tom Gaudek, Cristofer Jimenez, Kevin Ohneiser, Christopher Fuchs, Jan Henneberger, Johannes Bühl, Andi Klamt, Albert Ansmann, Ronny Engelmann, and Patric Seifert

Data sets

2DVD and radar data for the AMT publication "Contribution of the 2DVD to the investigation of cloud microphysics during the MOSAiC and Cloudlab/PolarCAP campaigns" T. Gaudek, P. Seifert, and K. Ohneiser https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16676550

PollyNET lidar data base Polly http://polly.tropos.de/

Initial radiosonde data from 2019-10 to 2020-09 during project MOSAiC M. Maturilli, D. J. Holdridge, and S. Dahlke https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.928656

Model code and software

Two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD): Calculating the maximum Feret diameter for each detected hydrometeor T. Gaudek, A. Klamt, and P. Seifert https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16894362

Python software: Plotting two-dimensional images of particles measured by a 2DVD T. Gaudek and A. Klamt https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17869321

Short summary

This study introduces the maximum diameter (D_max) of precipitation particles measured by a two-dimensional video disdrometer (2DVD) as a novel parameter. D_max is applied in a cloud seeding study during the Cloudlab campaign and, for the first time, in a MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate) case to evaluate the LIRAS (LIdar RAdar Synergy )-ice remote-sensing retrieval of in-cloud ice crystal size and number. Both quantities agreed well with the 2DVD measurements under ideal conditions, highlighting the potential of D_max for precipitation studies.