Aerosol Composition, Mixing State, and Phase State of Free Tropospheric Particles and Their Role in Ice Cloud Formation

The prediction of ice cloud formation in the atmosphere remains challenging. Free tropospheric aerosols can act as ice nucleating particles (INPs), affecting cloud properties and precipitation. The physicochemical properties of free tropospheric particles are modified upon long-range transport by di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
Main Authors: Lata, Nurun Nahar, Zhang, Bo, Schum, Simeon, Mazzoleni, Lynn, Brimberry, Rhenton, Marcus, Matthew A., Cantrell, Will H., Fialho, Paulo, Mazzoleni, Claudio, China, Swarup
Language:unknown
Published: 2022
Subjects:
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
North Atlantic
Online Access:http://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1836240
https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1836240
https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.1c00315
Description
Summary:The prediction of ice cloud formation in the atmosphere remains challenging. Free tropospheric aerosols can act as ice nucleating particles (INPs), affecting cloud properties and precipitation. The physicochemical properties of free tropospheric particles are modified upon long-range transport by different atmospheric processes. These modifications affect the ice formation potential of individual particles. We investigated free tropospheric particles collected at the remote Pico Mountain Observatory at 2225m a.s.l. in the North Atlantic Ocean using multimodal microspectroscopy and chemical imaging techniques. We probed their ice nucleation activity using an ice nucleation stage interfaced with an environmental scanning electron microscope. Retroplume analysis, chemical imaging, and micro-spectroscopy analysis indicated that the size-resolved chemical composition, mixing state, and phase state of the articles with similar aging times but different transport patterns were substantially different. Relative humidity-dependent glass transition temperatures estimated from meteorological conditions were consistent with the observed organic component of the particles' phase. More viscous (solid and semi-solid-like) particles are more ice active in deposition mode at temperature ranging from 205-220 K than those less viscous particles. Finally, this study provides a better understanding of the phase and mixing state of long range transported free tropospheric aerosols and their role in ice cloud formation.

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