Concentrations, properties, and sources of ice nucleating particles in remote Canadian environments ...

• Main Author: Si, Meng
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2019
• Subjects: Arctic
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.14288/1.0376539; https://doi.library.ubc.ca/10.14288/1.0376539

Ice nucleating particles (INPs) are particles that cause heterogeneous ice nucleation in the atmosphere. INPs affect the formation and properties of ice and mixed-phase clouds and therefore influence the radiative forcing of the Earth-atmosphere system. However, the climatic effect of INPs is poorly understood, in part, because the concentrations, properties, and sources of INPs are not well understood, especially at remote locations. In the following dissertation, the concentrations, properties, and sources of INPs in remote Canadian environments are investigated. The environments studied included three coastal marine sites (two at mid-latitude and one in the Arctic), one ground site in the Arctic boundary layer, and the Arctic free troposphere. The concentrations of INPs at -25 oC were found to range from 0.01 to 3 L-1, and the INP concentrations measured in the Arctic were lower than that at mid-latitude. At the three coastal marine sites, the ice nucleating ability of aerosol particles was found to be ...