Predicting atmospheric background number concentration of ice-nucleating particles in the Arctic ...

• Main Authors: Li, Guangyu, Wieder, Jörg, Pasquier, Julie T., Henneberger, Jan, Kanji, Zamin A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2022
• Subjects: Ny Ålesund; Ny-Ålesund; Svalbard
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000581874; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/581874

Mixed-phase clouds (MPCs) can have a net warming or cooling radiative effect on Earth's climate influenced by the phase and concentration of cloud particles. They have received considerable attention due to high spatial coverage and occurrence frequency in the Arctic. To initiate ice formation in MPCs at temperatures above −38 °C, ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are required, which therefore have important implications on the radiative properties of MPCs by altering the ice-to-liquid ratio of hydrometeors. As a result, constraining ambient INP concentrations could promote accurate representation of cloud microphysical processes and reduce the uncertainties in estimating the cloud-phase-related climate feedback in climate models. Currently, INP parameterizations are lacking for remote Arctic environments. Here we present INP number concentrations and their variability measured in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard) at temperatures between 0 and −30 °C. No distinguishable seasonal difference was observed from 12 weeks of ... : Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 22 (21) ...