Regionally sourced bioaerosols drive high-temperature ice nucleating particles in the Arctic

Abstract Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) play an important role in the climate system, facilitating the formation of ice within clouds, consequently PBAP may be important in understanding the rapidly changing Arctic. Within this work, we use single-particle fluorescence spectroscopy to i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature Communications
Main Authors: Gabriel Pereira Freitas, Kouji Adachi, Franz Conen, Dominic Heslin-Rees, Radovan Krejci, Yutaka Tobo, Karl Espen Yttri, Paul Zieger
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2023
Subjects:
Science
Q
albedo
Arctic
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-41696-7
https://doaj.org/article/d784ebad85da4b35aa49877ef3f60139
Description
Summary:Abstract Primary biological aerosol particles (PBAP) play an important role in the climate system, facilitating the formation of ice within clouds, consequently PBAP may be important in understanding the rapidly changing Arctic. Within this work, we use single-particle fluorescence spectroscopy to identify and quantify PBAP at an Arctic mountain site, with transmission electronic microscopy analysis supporting the presence of PBAP. We find that PBAP concentrations range between 10−3–10−1 L−1 and peak in summer. Evidences suggest that the terrestrial Arctic biosphere is an important regional source of PBAP, given the high correlation to air temperature, surface albedo, surface vegetation and PBAP tracers. PBAP clearly correlate with high-temperature ice nucleating particles (INP) (>-15 °C), of which a high a fraction (>90%) are proteinaceous in summer, implying biological origin. These findings will contribute to an improved understanding of sources and characteristics of Arctic PBAP and their links to INP.

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