The Fog Remote Sensing and Modeling Field Project

T he total economic loss associated with the impact of fog on aviation, marine, and land transportation can be comparable to those of winter storms. For example, in the preChristmas period of 20–23 December 2006, the British Airport Authority (BAA) reported that a blanket of fog and freezing fog over the United Kingdom (UK) forced 175,000 passengers to miss flights from its seven British airports, with Heathrow being the worst affected (Milmo 2007). Early estimates suggested that this disruption to air travel cost British Airways at least £25 million (Gadher and Baird 2007). The costs to stranded passengers in terms of money and inconvenience may be impossible to calculate. Previous studies have also shown that human and financial losses due to accidents related to fog episodes are very common. In Canada, approximately 50 people per year die because of motor vehicle accidents (Gultepe et al. 2007a) in which fog was a contributing factor (Transport Canada Report 2001). In describing ground transportation in Illinois, Westcott (2007) stated that approximately 4,000 accidents and 30 deaths occur annually under foggy conditions in Illinois, excluding the city of Chicago. In Europe, a major fog project called Cooperation in Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST-722), with objectives of reducing economic loss and fatalities, was also created to develop advanced methods for very short-range forecasts of fog and low clouds (Jacobs et al. 2007). A field project that includes surface observations, remote sensing, and forecast models provides a better understanding of fog-induced low visibility and improves the parameterization of fog microphysics.