Water ice cloud formation on Mars is more difficult than presumed: Laboratory studies of ice nucleation on surrogate materials

Icarus ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 210 (2) ◽  
pp. 985-991 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura T. Iraci ◽  
Bruce D. Phebus ◽  
Bradley M. Stone ◽  
Anthony Colaprete
Keyword(s):  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Laboratory Studies ◽  
Water Ice ◽  
Ice Cloud

scholarly journals Suspendable macromolecules are responsible for ice nucleation activity of birch and conifer pollen

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2541-2550 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Pummer ◽  
H. Bauer ◽  
J. Bernardi ◽  
S. Bleicher ◽  
H. Grothe
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Nucleation Activity ◽  
Ice Nucleation Activity ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The ice nucleation of bioaerosols (bacteria, pollen, spores, etc.) is a topic of growing interest, since their impact on ice cloud formation and thus on radiative forcing, an important parameter in global climate, is not yet fully understood. Here we show that pollen of different species strongly differ in their ice nucleation behaviour. The average freezing temperatures in laboratory experiments range from 240 to 255 K. As the most efficient nuclei (silver birch, Scots pine and common juniper pollen) have a distribution area up to the Northern timberline, their ice nucleation activity might be a cryoprotective mechanism. Far more intriguingly, it has turned out that water, which has been in contact with pollen and then been separated from the bodies, nucleates as good as the pollen grains themselves. The ice nuclei have to be easily-suspendable macromolecules located on the pollen. Once extracted, they can be distributed further through the atmosphere than the heavy pollen grains and so presumably augment the impact of pollen on ice cloud formation even in the upper troposphere. Our experiments lead to the conclusion that pollen ice nuclei, in contrast to bacterial and fungal ice nucleating proteins, are non-proteinaceous compounds.

scholarly journals Deposition-mode ice nucleation reexamined at temperatures below 200 K

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1621-1632 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. S. Thomson ◽  
X. Kong ◽  
P. Papagiannakopoulos ◽  
J. B. C. Pettersson
Keyword(s):  
Substrate Surface ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Nucleation Theory ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Classical Nucleation Theory ◽  
Careful Examination ◽  
Contradictory Result ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Water Ice ◽  
Atmospheric Nucleation

Abstract. The environmental chamber of a molecular beam apparatus is used to study deposition nucleation of ice on graphite, alcohols and acetic and nitric acids at temperatures between 155 and 200 K. The critical supersaturations necessary to spontaneously nucleate water ice on six different substrate materials are observed to occur at higher supersaturations than are theoretically predicted. This contradictory result motivates more careful examination of the experimental conditions and the underlying basis of the current theories. An analysis based on classical nucleation theory supports the view that at these temperatures nucleation is primarily controlled by the rarification of the vapor and the strength of water's interaction with the substrate surface. The technique enables a careful probing of the underlying processes of ice nucleation and the substrate materials of study. The findings are relevant to atmospheric nucleation processes that are intrinsically linked to cold cloud formation and lifetime.

scholarly journals Ice nucleation properties of volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 17201-17243 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Hoyle ◽  
V. Pinti ◽  
A. Welti ◽  
B. Zobrist ◽  
C. Marcolli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Homogeneous Freezing

Abstract. The ice nucleation ability of volcanic ash particles collected close to the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull during its eruptions in April and May 2010 is investigated experimentally, in the immersion and deposition modes, and applied to atmospheric conditions by comparison with airborne measurements and microphysical model calculations. The number of ash particles which are active as ice nuclei (IN) is strongly temperature dependent, with a very small minority being active in the immersion mode at temperatures of 250–263 K. Average ash particles show only a moderate effect on ice nucleation, by inducing freezing at temperatures between 236 K and 240 K (i.e. approximately 3–4 K higher than temperatures required for homogeneous ice nucleation, measured with the same instrument). By scaling the results to aircraft and lidar measurements of the conditions in the ash plume days down wind of the eruption and by applying a simple microphysical model, it was found that the IN active in the immersion mode in the range 250–263 K generally occurred in atmospheric number densities at the lower end of those required to have an impact on ice cloud formation. However, 3–4 K above the homogeneous freezing point, immersion mode IN number densities a few days down wind of the eruption were sufficiently high to have a moderate influence on ice cloud formation. The efficiency of IN in the deposition mode was found to be poor except at very cold conditions (< 238 K), when they reach an efficiency similar to that of mineral dust with the onset of freezing at 10 % supersaturation with respect to ice, and with the frozen fraction nearing its maximum value at a supersaturation 20 %. In summary, these investigations suggest volcanic ash particles to have only moderate effects on atmospheric ice formation.

scholarly journals Ice nucleation properties of volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 9911-9926 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Hoyle ◽  
V. Pinti ◽  
A. Welti ◽  
B. Zobrist ◽  
C. Marcolli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Ash ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Atmospheric Conditions ◽  
Model Calculations ◽  
Airborne Measurements ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Homogeneous Freezing

Abstract. The ice nucleation ability of volcanic ash particles collected close to the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull during its eruptions in April and May 2010 is investigated experimentally, in the immersion and deposition modes, and applied to atmospheric conditions by comparison with airborne measurements and microphysical model calculations. The number of ash particles which are active as ice nuclei (IN) is strongly temperature dependent, with a very small minority being active in the immersion mode at temperatures of 250–263 K. Average ash particles show only a moderate effect on ice nucleation, by inducing freezing at temperatures between 236 K and 240 K (i.e. approximately 3–4 K higher than temperatures required for homogeneous ice nucleation, measured with the same instrument). By scaling the results to aircraft and lidar measurements of the conditions in the ash plume days down wind of the eruption, and by applying a simple microphysical model, it was found that the IN active in the immersion mode in the range 250–263 K generally occurred in atmospheric number densities at the lower end of those required to have an impact on ice cloud formation. However, 3–4 K above the homogeneous freezing point, immersion mode IN number densities a few days down wind of the eruption were sufficiently high to have a moderate influence on ice cloud formation. The efficiency of IN in the deposition mode was found to be poor except at very cold conditions (<238 K), when they reach an efficiency similar to that of mineral dust with the onset of freezing at 10 % supersaturation with respect to ice, and with the frozen fraction nearing its maximum value at a supersaturation 20 %. In summary, these investigations suggest volcanic ash particles to have only moderate effects on atmospheric ice formation.

scholarly journals Birch and conifer pollen are efficient atmospheric ice nuclei

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 27219-27241 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. G. Pummer ◽  
H. Bauer ◽  
J. Bernardi ◽  
S. Bleicher ◽  
H. Grothe
Keyword(s):  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Pollen Grains ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Distribution Area ◽  
Ice Cloud ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Ice Nucleation Activity ◽  
The Impact

Abstract. The ice nucleation of bioaerosols (bacteria, pollen, spores, etc.) is a topic of growing interest, since their impact on ice cloud formation and thus on radiative forcing, an important parameter in global climate, is not yet fully understood. Here we show that pollen of different species strongly differ in their ice nucleation behaviour. The average freezing temperatures in laboratory experiments range from 240 K to 255 K. As the most efficient nuclei (silver birch, Scots pine and common juniper pollen) have a distribution area up to the Northern timberline, their ice nucleation activity may be a cryoprotective mechanism. Far more intriguingly, it has turned out that water, which has been in contact with pollen and then been separated from the bodies, nucleates as good as the pollen grains themselves. So the ice nuclei have to be easily-suspendable macromolecules located on the pollen surface. Once extracted, they can be distributed further through the atmosphere than the heavy pollen grains and so augment the impact of pollen on ice cloud formation even in the upper Troposphere. Our experiments lead to the conclusion that pollen ice nuclei, in contrast to bacterial and fungal ice nucleating proteins, are non-proteinaceous compounds.

scholarly journals Condensed-phase biogenic–anthropogenic interactions with implications for cold cloud formation

2017 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 165-194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph C. Charnawskas ◽  
Peter A. Alpert ◽  
Andrew T. Lambe ◽  
Thomas Berkemeier ◽  
Rachel E. O’Brien ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Freezing Temperature ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Fossil Fuel Combustion ◽  
Soot Particles ◽  
Ice Nuclei ◽  
Deliquescence Relative Humidity ◽  
Homogeneous Freezing

Anthropogenic and biogenic gas emissions contribute to the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). When present, soot particles from fossil fuel combustion can acquire a coating of SOA. We investigate SOA–soot biogenic–anthropogenic interactions and their impact on ice nucleation in relation to the particles’ organic phase state. SOA particles were generated from the OH oxidation of naphthalene, α-pinene, longifolene, or isoprene, with or without the presence of sulfate or soot particles. Corresponding particle glass transition (Tg) and full deliquescence relative humidity (FDRH) were estimated using a numerical diffusion model. Longifolene SOA particles are solid-like and all biogenic SOA sulfate mixtures exhibit a core–shell configuration (i.e.a sulfate-rich core coated with SOA). Biogenic SOA with or without sulfate formed ice at conditions expected for homogeneous ice nucleation, in agreement with respectiveTgand FDRH. α-pinene SOA coated soot particles nucleated ice above the homogeneous freezing temperature with soot acting as ice nuclei (IN). At lower temperatures the α-pinene SOA coating can be semisolid, inducing ice nucleation. Naphthalene SOA coated soot particles acted as ice nuclei above and below the homogeneous freezing limit, which can be explained by the presence of a highly viscous SOA phase. Our results suggest that biogenic SOA does not play a significant role in mixed-phase cloud formation and the presence of sulfate renders this even less likely. However, anthropogenic SOA may have an enhancing effect on cloud glaciation under mixed-phase and cirrus cloud conditions compared to biogenic SOA that dominate during pre-industrial times or in pristine areas.

scholarly journals Ice nucleating particles over the Eastern Mediterranean measured by unmanned aircraft systems

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (7) ◽  
pp. 4817-4835 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jann Schrod ◽  
Daniel Weber ◽  
Jaqueline Drücke ◽  
Christos Keleshis ◽  
Michael Pikridas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transport Model ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Lower Troposphere ◽  
Ground Level ◽  
Ice Nucleation ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft ◽  
Unmanned Aircraft Systems ◽  
Saharan Dust ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Aircraft Systems

Abstract. During an intensive field campaign on aerosol, clouds, and ice nucleation in the Eastern Mediterranean in April 2016, we measured the abundance of ice nucleating particles (INPs) in the lower troposphere from unmanned aircraft systems (UASs). Aerosol samples were collected by miniaturized electrostatic precipitators onboard the UASs at altitudes up to 2.5 km. The number of INPs in these samples, which are active in the deposition and condensation modes at temperatures from −20 to −30 °C, were analyzed immediately after collection on site using the ice nucleus counter FRIDGE (FRankfurt Ice nucleation Deposition freezinG Experiment). During the 1-month campaign, we encountered a series of Saharan dust plumes that traveled at several kilometers' altitude. Here we present INP data from 42 individual flights, together with aerosol number concentrations, observations of lidar backscattering, dust concentrations derived by the dust transport model DREAM (Dust Regional Atmospheric Model), and results from scanning electron microscopy. The effect of the dust plumes is reflected by the coincidence of INPs with the particulate matter (PM), the lidar signal, and the predicted dust mass of the model. This suggests that mineral dust or a constituent related to dust was a major contributor to the ice nucleating properties of the aerosol. Peak concentrations of above 100 INPs std L−1 were measured at −30 °C. The INP concentration in elevated plumes was on average a factor of 10 higher than at ground level. Since desert dust is transported for long distances over wide areas of the globe predominantly at several kilometers' altitude, we conclude that INP measurements at ground level may be of limited significance for the situation at the level of cloud formation.

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