Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds
The Arctic is one of the most rapidly warming regions of the globe. Low-level clouds and fog modify the energy transfer from and to space and play a key role in the observed strong Arctic surface warming, a phenomenon commonly termed “Arctic amplification”. The response of low-level clouds to changi...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:acp110294 2024-09-15T18:27:18+00:00 Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds Motos, Ghislain Freitas, Gabriel Georgakaki, Paraskevi Wieder, Jörg Li, Guangyu Aas, Wenche Lunder, Chris Krejci, Radovan Pasquier, Julie Thérèse Henneberger, Jan David, Robert Oscar Ritter, Christoph Mohr, Claudia Zieger, Paul Nenes, Athanasios 2023-11-08 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/13941/2023/ eng eng doi:10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/13941/2023/ eISSN: 1680-7324 Text 2023 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 2024-08-28T05:24:15Z The Arctic is one of the most rapidly warming regions of the globe. Low-level clouds and fog modify the energy transfer from and to space and play a key role in the observed strong Arctic surface warming, a phenomenon commonly termed “Arctic amplification”. The response of low-level clouds to changing aerosol characteristics throughout the year is therefore an important driver of Arctic change that currently lacks sufficient constraints. As such, during the NASCENT campaign (Ny-Ålesund AeroSol Cloud ExperimeNT) extending over a full year from October 2019 to October 2020, microphysical properties of aerosols and clouds were studied at the Zeppelin station (475 m a.s.l.), Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. Particle number size distributions obtained from differential mobility particle sizers as well as chemical composition derived from filter samples and an aerosol chemical speciation monitor were analyzed together with meteorological data, in particular vertical wind velocity. The results were used as input to a state-of-the-art cloud droplet formation parameterization to investigate the particle sizes that can activate to cloud droplets, the levels of supersaturation that can develop, the droplet susceptibility to aerosol and the role of vertical velocity. We evaluate the parameterization and the droplet numbers calculated through a droplet closure with in-cloud in situ measurements taken during nine flights over 4 d. A remarkable finding is that, for the clouds sampled in situ, closure is successful in mixed-phase cloud conditions regardless of the cloud glaciation fraction. This suggests that ice production through ice–ice collisions or droplet shattering may have explained the high ice fraction, as opposed to rime splintering that would have significantly reduced the cloud droplet number below levels predicted by warm-cloud activation theory. We also show that pristine-like conditions during fall led to clouds that formed over an aerosol-limited regime, with high levels of supersaturation (generally around 1 %, ... Text Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard Copernicus Publications: E-Journals Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 23 21 13941 13956 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The Arctic is one of the most rapidly warming regions of the globe. Low-level clouds and fog modify the energy transfer from and to space and play a key role in the observed strong Arctic surface warming, a phenomenon commonly termed “Arctic amplification”. The response of low-level clouds to changing aerosol characteristics throughout the year is therefore an important driver of Arctic change that currently lacks sufficient constraints. As such, during the NASCENT campaign (Ny-Ålesund AeroSol Cloud ExperimeNT) extending over a full year from October 2019 to October 2020, microphysical properties of aerosols and clouds were studied at the Zeppelin station (475 m a.s.l.), Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. Particle number size distributions obtained from differential mobility particle sizers as well as chemical composition derived from filter samples and an aerosol chemical speciation monitor were analyzed together with meteorological data, in particular vertical wind velocity. The results were used as input to a state-of-the-art cloud droplet formation parameterization to investigate the particle sizes that can activate to cloud droplets, the levels of supersaturation that can develop, the droplet susceptibility to aerosol and the role of vertical velocity. We evaluate the parameterization and the droplet numbers calculated through a droplet closure with in-cloud in situ measurements taken during nine flights over 4 d. A remarkable finding is that, for the clouds sampled in situ, closure is successful in mixed-phase cloud conditions regardless of the cloud glaciation fraction. This suggests that ice production through ice–ice collisions or droplet shattering may have explained the high ice fraction, as opposed to rime splintering that would have significantly reduced the cloud droplet number below levels predicted by warm-cloud activation theory. We also show that pristine-like conditions during fall led to clouds that formed over an aerosol-limited regime, with high levels of supersaturation (generally around 1 %, ... |
format |
Text |
author |
Motos, Ghislain Freitas, Gabriel Georgakaki, Paraskevi Wieder, Jörg Li, Guangyu Aas, Wenche Lunder, Chris Krejci, Radovan Pasquier, Julie Thérèse Henneberger, Jan David, Robert Oscar Ritter, Christoph Mohr, Claudia Zieger, Paul Nenes, Athanasios |
spellingShingle |
Motos, Ghislain Freitas, Gabriel Georgakaki, Paraskevi Wieder, Jörg Li, Guangyu Aas, Wenche Lunder, Chris Krejci, Radovan Pasquier, Julie Thérèse Henneberger, Jan David, Robert Oscar Ritter, Christoph Mohr, Claudia Zieger, Paul Nenes, Athanasios Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
author_facet |
Motos, Ghislain Freitas, Gabriel Georgakaki, Paraskevi Wieder, Jörg Li, Guangyu Aas, Wenche Lunder, Chris Krejci, Radovan Pasquier, Julie Thérèse Henneberger, Jan David, Robert Oscar Ritter, Christoph Mohr, Claudia Zieger, Paul Nenes, Athanasios |
author_sort |
Motos, Ghislain |
title |
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
title_short |
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
title_full |
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
title_fullStr |
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds |
title_sort |
aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in arctic low-level clouds |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/13941/2023/ |
genre |
Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
op_source |
eISSN: 1680-7324 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/23/13941/2023/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
13941 |
op_container_end_page |
13956 |
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1810468519449460736 |