DICHOTOMI is a component of the North Atlantic Waveguide, Dry Intrusion, and Downstream Impact Campaign (NAWDIC), an international field campaign planned in January-February 2026 with the general objective to provide fine-scale observations of mid-latitude atmospheric disturbances. The main goal is to advance our understanding of the synoptic- to micro-scale dynamical and physical processes associated with the triggering of severe wind gusts, heavy precipitation, and cold air outbreaks in the North Atlantic-European region.
On the DICHOTOMI side, two instrumented research aircraft will be deployed: one is the ATR42 operated by SAFIRE, the French facility for airborne research, and the other is the German research aircraft Cessna F406 from the Technische Universität Braunschweig (TUBS). Ground-based remote sensing instruments will be also deployed in Brittany: it includes the mobile atmospheric observation system KITcube and a Doppler Cloud radar network BASTA.
The design of the various measurement systems will enable us to carry out micro-scale measurements of the vertical boundary layer structure in relation to wind and humidity and at the same time to record cloud microphysical properties and the wind structure in the free troposphere.