I spent most of my research career at University of Hertfordshire, from which I formally retired in 2019. However, since then I have been continuing my collaboration with a number of institutions in the UK and overseas.

My interest in polar research began in 2016 with the development of a technique for semi-remote sensing of ice precipitation (“diamond dust”) at Summit station, Greenland (Goerke et al. 2017 – see also a time-lapse video). I started working with colleagues in the BAS Atmosphere, Ice and Climate team around 2017, when I provided them with novel cloud sondes developed at Hertfordshire for an ODA-funded measurement campaign in the Himalayas.

Research interests

My areas of interest are light scattering, characterization of aerosols, radiative properties of cirrus clouds, optical techniques for in situ and remote cloud sensing, optical instrument development, particle trapping and micromanipulation techniques. One of the highlights of my career has been the development of realistic ice analogues, which have been used to study the light scattering properties of atmospheric ice crystals, and for the characterization and calibration of various cloud probes.

Publications in the NORA archive (since 2020)

Selected earlier publications (2012 – 2019)

Smith, H. R., Ulanowski, Z., Kaye, P., Hirst, E., Stanley, W., Kaye, R., Stopford, C., Wieser, A., Kezoudi, M., Girdwood, J., Greenaway, R. (2019) The Universal Cloud and Aerosol Sounding System (UCASS): a low-cost miniature optical particle counter for use in dropsonde or balloon-borne sounding systems. Atm. Meas. Tech. 12. 10.5194/amt-12-6579-2019

Dandini, P., Ulanowski, Z. Campbell, D., Kaye, R. (2019) Halo ratio from ground based all-sky imaging. Atm. Meas. Tech. 12. 10.5194/amt-12-1295-2019

Hesse, E. Taylor, L., Collier, C.T., Penttilä, A., Nousiainen, T., Ulanowski, Z. (2018) Discussion of a physical optics method and its application to absorbing smooth and slightly rough hexagonal prisms. J. Quant. Spect. Rad. Transf. 218. 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2018.06.019

Voigtländer, J., Chou, C., Bieligk, H., Clauss, T., Herenz, P., Niedermeier, D., Hartmann, S., Ritter, G., Stratmann, F., Ulanowski, Z. (2018) Surface roughness during depositional growth and sublimation of ice crystals. Atm. Chem. Phys. 18. 10.5194/acp-2018-254

Goerke, M., Ulanowski, Z., Ritter, G., Hesse, E., Neely III, R. R., Taylor, L., Stillwell, R. A., Kaye, P. H. (2017) Characterizing ice particles using two-dimensional reflections of a lidar beam. Appl. Opt. 56. 10.1364/AO.56.00G188

Baumgardner, D., Abel, S.J., Axisa, D., Cotton, R., Crosier, J., Field, P., Gurganus, C., Heymsfield, A., Korolev, A., Krämer, M., Lawson, P., McFarquhar, G., Ulanowski, Z., Um, J. (2017) Cloud ice properties: in situ measurement challenges. Meteorological Monographs, 58. 10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0011.1

Heymsfield, A., Krämer, M. Brown, P., Cziczo, D., Franklin, C., Lawson, P., Lohmann, U., Luebke, A., McFarquhar, G. M., Ulanowski, Z., Van Tricht, K. (2017) Cirrus clouds. Meteorological Monographs, 58. 10.1175/AMSMONOGRAPHS-D-16-0010.1

Collier, C., Hesse E., Ulanowski, Z., Penttilä, A., Nousiainen, T., Taylor, L. (2016) Effects of surface roughness with two scales on light scattering by hexagonal ice crystals large compared to the wavelength: DDA results. J. Quantit. Spectr. Rad. Transf. 182. 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2016.06.007

Schnaiter, M. Järvinen, E., Vochezer, P., Abdelmonem, A., Wagner, R., Jourdan, O., Mioche, G., Shcherbakov, V.N., Schmitt, C.G., Tricoli, U., Ulanowski, Z., Heymsfield, A.J. (2016) Cloud chamber experiments on the origin of ice crystal surface roughness in cirrus clouds. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 16. 10.5194/acp-16-5091-2016

Hesse, E., Collier, C.T., Penttilä, A., Nousiainen, T., Ulanowski, Z., Kaye, P.H. (2015) Modelling light scattering by absorbing smooth and slightly rough facetted particles. J. Quantit. Spectr. Rad. Transf. 157. 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2015.02.004

Ulanowski Z., Kaye, P.H., Hirst, E., Greenaway, R.S. Cotton, R.J., Hesse, E., Collier, C.T. (2014) Incidence of rough and irregular atmospheric ice particles from Small Ice Detector 3 measurements. Atm. Chem. Phys. 14. 10.5194/acp-14-1649-2014

Johnson, A., Lasher-Trapp, S., Bansemer, A., Ulanowski, Z., Heymsfield, A.J. (2014) Difficulties in early ice detection with the Small Ice Detector 2 HIAPER (SID-2H) in maritime cumuli. J. Atm. Oceanic Technol. 31. 10.1175/JTECH-D-13-00079.1

Cotton, R. J., Field, P. R., Ulanowski, Z., Kaye, P. H., Hirst, E., Greenaway, R. S., Crawford, I., Crosier, J., Dorsey, J. (2013) The effective density of small ice particles obtained from in situ aircraft observations of mid-latitude cirrus. Q. J. Royal Met. Soc. 139. 10.1002/qj.2058

Stopford, C., Kaye, P. H., Greenaway, R., Hirst, E., Ulanowski, Z., Stanley, W. (2013) Real-time detection of airborne asbestos by light scattering from magnetically rotated fibers. Opt. Express 21. 10.1364/OE.21.011356

Ulanowski, Z., Hirst, E., Kaye, P.H., Greenaway, R. (2012) Retrieving the size of particles with rough and complex surfaces from two-dimensional scattering patterns. J. Quantit. Spectr. Rad. Transf. 113. 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2012.06.019

Hesse, E., Macke, A., Havemann, S., Baran, A.J., Ulanowski, Z., Kaye, P.H. (2012) Modelling diffraction by facetted particles. J. Quantit. Spectr. Rad. Transf. 113. 10.1016/j.jqsrt.2011.11.017

Johnson, B., Turnbull, K., Brown, P., Burgess, R., Dorsey, J., Baran, A. J., Webster, H., Haywood, J. , Cotton, R., Ulanowski, Z., Hesse, E., Woolley, A., Rosenberg, P. (2012) In-situ observations of volcanic ash clouds from the FAAM aircraft during the eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010. J. Geophys. Res. 117. 10.1029/2011JD016760

Publications from NERC Open Research Archive

Properties and radiative impacts of clouds  in the Antarctic Peninsula region

The project is focused on on high-resolution model comparisons with in situ cloud measurements using disposable cloud sondes and solar radiation measurements at the Escudero base on King George Island.

Influence of local valley dynamics on cloud formation in the Himalayas

ODA-funded project to improve the knowledge of considerable but poorly understood impact of cloud microphysics on surface melting of glaciers in this region, as well as on precipitation. High-resolution simulations using the Met Office Unified Model followed a field campaign in the Langtang valley, Nepalese Himalayas, in 2019, which involved launching several cloud sondes as well as standard meteorological radiosondes.
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Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles for cloud measurement

Following earlier development of an octocopter for atmospheric measurements, the UAV is being adapted specifically for sounding low-level clouds in polar environments.