Hypothesis:

Moisture intrusions and related air mass transformations along the path into the Arctic lead to significant impacts on precipitation and surface energy budget, which imply sea-ice feedbacks.

Specifically we want to answer the following questions:

• How do air mass transformation processes during moisture intrusions affect the precipitation and its phase?
• Which processes determine the impact of moisture intrusions on the surface energy budget?
• What are potential changes in moisture intrusion characteristics and impact in the future?

The project will contribute to all three overarching Strategic Questions (SQ) within (AC )3 by investigating the contribution of moisture intrusions for Arctic amplification (SQ1), analyzing the impact of transformation processes during moisture intrusions as an effect of Arctic–midlatitude connections (SQ2) and studying how moisture intrusions will change in the future (SQ3). The emphasis is on impacts by precipitation and surface energy budget. The project coordinates CCA4 ”Air mass transport and transformation” and integrates its own research with the knowledge gathered in various projects aiming to achieve a comprehensive picture of the role of moisture intrusions in the Arctic climate system.

Achievements phase I

E04 investigated Arctic snowfall from measurements, reanalysis and modelling. For this purpose a consistent data set of CloudSat radar reflectivity and microwave brightness temperature, and synthetic satellite data from Regional Climate Model (RCM) simulations was built. We have developed and tested algorithms to describe the spatio-temporal features of snowfall using CloudSat data, including first regime identification. Furthermore, an improved knowledge about the differences in precipitation magnitude and phase, and their variability and trends among the commonly used global reanalyses and most recent high resolution Arctic System Reanalysis (ASRv2) has been achieved. The derivation of trend patterns of cyclone characteristics derived from an ensemble of reanalyses and an ensemble of RCMs has been done, allowing a quantification of uncertainty of recent changes and their representation in models (Akperov et al., 2018; Zahn et al., 2018).

Role within (AC)³

Project Posters

Phase III Evaluation poster 2023	Phase II Evaluation poster 2019	Phase I Evaluation poster 2015

Project Members

Publications

2026

2025

Zhang, X., Vihma, T., Rinke, A., Moore, G. W. K., Tang, H., Äijälä, C., DuVivier, A., Huang, J., Landrum, L., Li, C., Zhang, J., Boisvert, L., Cheng, B., Cohen, J., Handorf, D., Hanna, E., Hartmuth, K., Jonassen, M. O., Luo, Y., Murto, S., Overland, J. E., Parker, C., Perrie, W., Schulz, K., Schweiger, A., Spengler, T., Steele, M., Tung, W., Tyrrell, N., Valkonen, E., Wang, H., Wang, Z., Weijer, W., Wickström, S., Wu, Y., and Zhang, M. , October 2025: Weather and climate extremes in a changing Arctic. Nature Reviews Earth & Environment, doi:10.1038/s43017-025-00724-4

Lauer, M., Rinke, A., and Crewell, S. , September 2025: What are the most important contributors to arctic precipitation-when, where, and how? Atmospheric Sci. Lett., doi:10.1002/asl.1317

Ebell, K., Buhren, C., Gierens, R., Chellini, G., Lauer, M., Walbröl, A., Dahlke, S., Krobot, P., and Mech, M. , July 2025: Impact of weather systems on observed precipitation at Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 25(13):7315–7342, doi:10.5194/acp-25-7315-2025

Dahlke, S., Rinke, A., Shupe, M. D., and Cox, C. J. , April 2025: The two arctic wintertime boundary layer states: Disentangling the role of cloud and wind regimes in reanalysis and observations during MOSAiC. Atmospheric Sci. Lett., doi:10.1002/asl.1298

Tiedeck, S. and Rinke, A. , 2025: Extending the surface energy budget view on arctic atmospheric rivers: Climatological classifications and dependence on the flavor. Geophys. Res. Lett., 52(23):e2025GL118799, doi:10.1029/2025GL118799

2024

Wendisch, M., Crewell, S., Ehrlich, A., Herber, A., Kirbus, B., Lüpkes, C., Mech, M., Abel, S. J., Akansu, E. F., Ament, F., Aubry, C., Becker, S., Borrmann, S., Bozem, H., Brückner, M., Clemen, H., Dahlke, S., Dekoutsidis, G., Delanoë, J., De La Torre Castro, E., Dorff, H., Dupuy, R., Eppers, O., Ewald, F., George, G., Gorodetskaya, I. V., Grawe, S., Groß, S., Hartmann, J., Henning, S., Hirsch, L., Jäkel, E., Joppe, P., Jourdan, O., Jurányi, Z., Karalis, M., Kellermann, M., Klingebiel, M., Lonardi, M., Lucke, J., Luebke, A. E., Maahn, M., Maherndl, N., Maturilli, M., Mayer, B., Mayer, J., Mertes, S., Michaelis, J., Michalkov, M., Mioche, G., Moser, M., Müller, H., Neggers, R., Ori, D., Paul, D., Paulus, F. M., Pilz, C., Pithan, F., Pöhlker, M., Pörtge, V., Ringel, M., Risse, N., Roberts, G. C., Rosenburg, S., Röttenbacher, J., Rückert, J., Schäfer, M., Schaefer, J., Schemann, V., Schirmacher, I., Schmidt, J., Schmidt, S., Schneider, J., Schnitt, S., Schwarz, A., Siebert, H., Sodemann, H., Sperzel, T., Spreen, G., Stevens, B., Stratmann, F., Svensson, G., Tatzelt, C., Tuch, T., Vihma, T., Voigt, C., Volkmer, L., Walbröl, A., Weber, A., Wehner, B., Wetzel, B., Wirth, M., and Zinner, T. , August 2024: Overview: Quasi-Lagrangian Observations of Arctic Air Mass Transformations – Introduction and Initial Results of the HALO–(A C)\textsuperscript3 Aircraft Campaign. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 24(15):8865–8892, doi:10.5194/acp-24-8865-2024

Brunello, C., Gebhardt, F., Rinke, A., Dütsch, M., Bucci, S., Meyer, H., Mellat, M., and Werner, M. , 2024: Moisture transformation in warm air intrusions into the arctic: Process attribution with stable water isotopes. Geophys. Res. Lett., 51(21):e2024GL111013, doi:10.1029/2024GL111013

2023

Lauer, M., Rinke, A., Gorodetskaya, I., Sprenger, M., Mech, M., and Crewell, S. , August 2023: Influence of Atmospheric Rivers and Associated Weather Systems on Precipitation in the Arctic. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 23(15):8705–8726, doi:10.5194/acp-23-8705-2023

Ahmed, S., Thomas, J. L., Angot, H., Dommergue, A., Archer, S. D., Bariteau, L., Beck, I., Benavent, N., Blechschmidt, A., Blomquist, B., Boyer, M., Christensen, J. H., Dahlke, S., Dastoor, A., Helmig, D., Howard, D., Jacobi, H., Jokinen, T., Lapere, R., Laurila, T., Quéléver, L. L. J., Richter, A., Ryjkov, A., Mahajan, A. S., Marelle, L., Pfaffhuber, K. A., Posman, K., Rinke, A., Saiz-Lopez, A., Schmale, J., Skov, H., Steffen, A., Stupple, G., Stutz, J., Travnikov, O., and Zilker, B. , May 2023: Modelling the Coupled Mercury-Halogen-Ozone Cycle in the Central Arctic during Spring. Elem Sci Anth, 11(1):00129, doi:10.1525/elementa.2022.00129

Kirbus, B., Tiedeck, S., Camplani, A., Chylik, J., Crewell, S., Dahlke, S., Ebell, K., Gorodetskaya, I., Griesche, H., Handorf, D., Höschel, I., Lauer, M., Neggers, R., Rückert, J., Shupe, M. D., Spreen, G., Walbröl, A., Wendisch, M., and Rinke, A. , April 2023: Surface Impacts and Associated Mechanisms of a Moisture Intrusion into the Arctic Observed in Mid-April 2020 during MOSAiC. Front. Earth Sci., 11:1147848, doi:10.3389/feart.2023.1147848

2022

Von Lerber, A., Mech, M., Rinke, A., Zhang, D., Lauer, M., Radovan, A., Gorodetskaya, I., and Crewell, S. , June 2022: Evaluating Seasonal and Regional Distribution of Snowfall in Regional Climate Model Simulations in the Arctic. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 22(11):7287–7317, doi:10.5194/acp-22-7287-2022

Zhang, X., Fu, Y., Han, Z., Overland, J. E., Rinke, A., Tang, H., Vihma, T., and Wang, M. , April 2022: Extreme Cold Events from East Asia to North America in Winter 2020/21: Comparisons, Causes, and Future Implications. Adv. Atmospheric Sci., 39(4):553–565, doi:10.1007/s00376-021-1229-1

Shupe, M. D., Rex, M., Blomquist, B., Persson, P. O. G., Schmale, J., Uttal, T., Althausen, D., Angot, H., Archer, S., Bariteau, L., Beck, I., Bilberry, J., Bucci, S., Buck, C., Boyer, M., Brasseur, Z., Brooks, I. M., Calmer, R., Cassano, J., Castro, V., Chu, D., Costa, D., Cox, C. J., Creamean, J., Crewell, S., Dahlke, S., Damm, E., De Boer, G., Deckelmann, H., Dethloff, K., Dütsch, M., Ebell, K., Ehrlich, A., Ellis, J., Engelmann, R., Fong, A. A., Frey, M. M., Gallagher, M. R., Ganzeveld, L., Gradinger, R., Graeser, J., Greenamyer, V., Griesche, H., Griffiths, S., Hamilton, J., Heinemann, G., Helmig, D., Herber, A., Heuzé, C., Hofer, J., Houchens, T., Howard, D., Inoue, J., Jacobi, H., Jaiser, R., Jokinen, T., Jourdan, O., Jozef, G., King, W., Kirchgaessner, A., Klingebiel, M., Krassovski, M., Krumpen, T., Lampert, A., Landing, W., Laurila, T., Lawrence, D., Lonardi, M., Loose, B., Lüpkes, C., Maahn, M., Macke, A., Maslowski, W., Marsay, C., Maturilli, M., Mech, M., Morris, S., Moser, M., Nicolaus, M., Ortega, P., Osborn, J., Pätzold, F., Perovich, D. K., Petäjä, T., Pilz, C., Pirazzini, R., Posman, K., Powers, H., Pratt, K. A., Preußer, A., Quéléver, L., Radenz, M., Rabe, B., Rinke, A., Sachs, T., Schulz, A., Siebert, H., Silva, T., Solomon, A., Sommerfeld, A., Spreen, G., Stephens, M., Stohl, A., Svensson, G., Uin, J., Viegas, J., Voigt, C., Von Der Gathen, P., Wehner, B., Welker, J. M., Wendisch, M., Werner, M., Xie, Z., and Yue, F. , February 2022: Overview of the MOSAiC Expedition: Atmosphere. Elem Sci Anth, 10(1):00060, doi:10.1525/elementa.2021.00060

Viceto, C., Gorodetskaya, I. V., Rinke, A., Maturilli, M., Rocha, A., and Crewell, S. , January 2022: Atmospheric Rivers and Associated Precipitation Patterns during the ACLOUD and PASCAL Campaigns near Svalbard (May–June 2017): Case Studies Using Observations, Reanalyses, and a Regional Climate Model. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 22(1):441–463, doi:10.5194/acp-22-441-2022

Bresson, H., Rinke, A., Mech, M., Reinert, D., Schemann, V., Ebell, K., Maturilli, M., Viceto, C., Gorodetskaya, I., and Crewell, S. , January 2022: Case Study of a Moisture Intrusion over the Arctic with the ICOsahedral Non-hydrostatic (ICON) Model: Resolution Dependence of Its Representation. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 22(1):173–196, doi:10.5194/acp-22-173-2022

2021

Rinke, A., Cassano, J. J., Cassano, E. N., Jaiser, R., and Handorf, D. , July 2021: Meteorological Conditions during the MOSAiC Expedition. Elem. Sci. Anthr., 9(1):00023, doi:10.1525/elementa.2021.00023

Crewell, S., Ebell, K., Konjari, P., Mech, M., Nomokonova, T., Radovan, A., Strack, D., Triana-Gómez, A. M., Noël, S., Scarlat, R., Spreen, G., Maturilli, M., Rinke, A., Gorodetskaya, I., Viceto, C., August, T., and Schröder, M. , July 2021: A Systematic Assessment of Water Vapor Products in the Arctic: From Instantaneous Measurements to Monthly Means. Atmospheric Meas. Tech., 14(7):4829–4856, doi:10.5194/amt-14-4829-2021

Wang, D., Guo, J., Xu, H., Li, J., Lv, Y., Solanki, R., Guo, X., Han, Y., Chen, T., Ding, M., Chen, A., Bian, L., and Rinke, A. , June 2021: Vertical Structures of Temperature Inversions and Clouds Derived from High-Resolution Radiosonde Measurements at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. Atmospheric Res., 254:105530, doi:10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105530

Akperov, M., Zhang, W., Miller, P. A., Mokhov, I. I., Semenov, V. A., Matthes, H., Smith, B., and Rinke, A. , June 2021: Responses of Arctic Cyclones to Biogeophysical Feedbacks under Future Warming Scenarios in a Regional Earth System Model. Environ. Res. Lett., 16(6):064076, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ac0566

Inoue, J., Sato, K., Rinke, A., Cassano, J. J., Fettweis, X., Heinemann, G., Matthes, H., Orr, A., Phillips, T., Seefeldt, M., Solomon, A., and Webster, S. , January 2021: Clouds and Radiation Processes in Regional Climate Models Evaluated Using Observations Over the Ice-free Arctic Ocean. J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 126(1):e2020JD033904, doi:10.1029/2020JD033904

2020

Karrer, M., Seifert, A., Siewert, C., Ori, D., Von Lerber, A., and Kneifel, S. , August 2020: Ice Particle Properties Inferred From Aggregation Modelling. J. Adv. Model. Earth Syst., 12(8):e2020MS002066, doi:10.1029/2020MS002066

Sedlar, J., Tjernström, M., Rinke, A., Orr, A., Cassano, J., Fettweis, X., Heinemann, G., Seefeldt, M., Solomon, A., Matthes, H., Phillips, T., and Webster, S. , March 2020: Confronting Arctic Troposphere, Clouds, and Surface Energy Budget Representations in Regional Climate Models With Observations. J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 125(6):e2019JD031783, doi:10.1029/2019JD031783

2019

Akperov, M., Rinke, A., Mokhov, I. I., Semenov, V. A., Parfenova, M. R., Matthes, H., Adakudlu, M., Boberg, F., Christensen, J. H., Dembitskaya, M. A., Dethloff, K., Fettweis, X., Gutjahr, O., Heinemann, G., Koenigk, T., Koldunov, N. V., Laprise, R., Mottram, R., Nikiéma, O., Sein, D., Sobolowski, S., Winger, K., and Zhang, W. , November 2019: Future Projections of Cyclone Activity in the Arctic for the 21st Century from Regional Climate Models (Arctic-CORDEX). Glob. Planet. Change, 182:103005, doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2019.103005

Rinke, A., Segger, B., Crewell, S., Maturilli, M., Naakka, T., Nygård, T., Vihma, T., Alshawaf, F., Dick, G., Wickert, J., and Keller, J. , September 2019: Trends of Vertically Integrated Water Vapor over the Arctic during 1979–2016: Consistent Moistening All Over? J. Clim., 32(18):6097–6116, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-19-0092.1

Graham, R. M., Cohen, L., Ritzhaupt, N., Segger, B., Graversen, R. G., Rinke, A., Walden, V. P., Granskog, M. A., and Hudson, S. R. , July 2019: Evaluation of Six Atmospheric Reanalyses over Arctic Sea Ice from Winter to Early Summer. J. Clim., 32(14):4121–4143, doi:10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0643.1

Wendisch, M., Macke, A., Ehrlich, A., Lüpkes, C., Mech, M., Chechin, D., Dethloff, K., Velasco, C. B., Bozem, H., Brückner, M., Clemen, H., Crewell, S., Donth, T., Dupuy, R., Ebell, K., Egerer, U., Engelmann, R., Engler, C., Eppers, O., Gehrmann, M., Gong, X., Gottschalk, M., Gourbeyre, C., Griesche, H., Hartmann, J., Hartmann, M., Heinold, B., Herber, A., Herrmann, H., Heygster, G., Hoor, P., Jafariserajehlou, S., Jäkel, E., Järvinen, E., Jourdan, O., Kästner, U., Kecorius, S., Knudsen, E. M., Köllner, F., Kretzschmar, J., Lelli, L., Leroy, D., Maturilli, M., Mei, L., Mertes, S., Mioche, G., Neuber, R., Nicolaus, M., Nomokonova, T., Notholt, J., Palm, M., Van Pinxteren, M., Quaas, J., Richter, P., Ruiz-Donoso, E., Schäfer, M., Schmieder, K., Schnaiter, M., Schneider, J., Schwarzenböck, A., Seifert, P., Shupe, M. D., Siebert, H., Spreen, G., Stapf, J., Stratmann, F., Vogl, T., Welti, A., Wex, H., Wiedensohler, A., Zanatta, M., and Zeppenfeld, S. , May 2019: The Arctic Cloud Puzzle: Using ACLOUD/PASCAL Multiplatform Observations to Unravel the Role of Clouds and Aerosol Particles in Arctic Amplification. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 100(5):841–871, doi:10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0072.1

Knudsen, E. M. and De Bolsée, O. J. , May 2019: Communicating Climate Change in a “Post-Factual” Society: Lessons Learned from the Pole to Paris Campaign. Geosci. Commun., 2(1):83–93, doi:10.5194/gc-2-83-2019

Radovan, A., Crewell, S., Knudsen, E. M., and Rinke, A. , January 2019: Environmental Conditions for Polar Low Formation and Development over the Nordic Seas: Study of January Cases Based on the Arctic System Reanalysis. Tellus Dyn. Meteorol. Oceanogr., 71(1):1618131, doi:10.1080/16000870.2019.1618131

2018

Knudsen, E. M., Heinold, B., Dahlke, S., Bozem, H., Crewell, S., Gorodetskaya, I. V., Heygster, G., Kunkel, D., Maturilli, M., Mech, M., Viceto, C., Rinke, A., Schmithüsen, H., Ehrlich, A., Macke, A., Lüpkes, C., and Wendisch, M. , December 2018: Meteorological Conditions during the ACLOUD/PASCAL Field Campaign near Svalbard in Early Summer 2017. Atmospheric Chem. Phys., 18(24):17995–18022, doi:10.5194/acp-18-17995-2018

He, S., Knudsen, E. M., Thompson, D. W. J., and Furevik, T. , September 2018: Evidence for Predictive Skill of High-Latitude Climate Due to Midsummer Sea Ice Extent Anomalies. Geophys. Res. Lett., 45(17):9114–9122, doi:10.1029/2018GL078281

Zahn, M., Akperov, M., Rinke, A., Feser, F., and Mokhov, I. I. , March 2018: Trends of Cyclone Characteristics in the Arctic and Their Patterns From Different Reanalysis Data. J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 123(5):2737–2751, doi:10.1002/2017JD027439

Akperov, M., Rinke, A., Mokhov, I. I., Matthes, H., Semenov, V. A., Adakudlu, M., Cassano, J., Christensen, J. H., Dembitskaya, M. A., Dethloff, K., Fettweis, X., Glisan, J., Gutjahr, O., Heinemann, G., Koenigk, T., Koldunov, N. V., Laprise, R., Mottram, R., Nikiéma, O., Scinocca, J. F., Sein, D., Sobolowski, S., Winger, K., and Zhang, W. , March 2018: Cyclone Activity in the Arctic From an Ensemble of Regional Climate Models (Arctic CORDEX). J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, 123(5):2537–2554, doi:10.1002/2017JD027703

2017

Kayser, M., Maturilli, M., Graham, R. M., Hudson, S. R., Rinke, A., Cohen, L., Kim, J., Park, S., Moon, W., and Granskog, M. A. , October 2017: Vertical Thermodynamic Structure of the Troposphere during the Norwegian Young Sea ICE Expedition (N-ICE2015). J. Geophys. Res. Atmospheres, doi:10.1002/2016JD026089

Rinke, A., Maturilli, M., Graham, R. M., Matthes, H., Handorf, D., Cohen, L., Hudson, S. R., and Moore, J. C. , September 2017: Extreme Cyclone Events in the Arctic: Wintertime Variability and Trends. Environ. Res. Lett., 12(9):094006, doi:10.1088/1748-9326/aa7def

Wendisch, M., Brückner, M., Burrows, J., Crewell, S., Dethloff, K., Ebell, K., Lüpkes, C., Macke, A., Notholt, J., Quaas, J., Rinke, A., and Tegen, I. , January 2017: Understanding Causes and Effects of Rapid Warming in the Arctic. Eos, doi:10.1029/2017EO064803

2016