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Title: Background Free‐Tropospheric Ice Nucleating Particle Concentrations at Mixed‐Phase Cloud Conditions

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JD028338· OSTI ID:1471435
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [2];  [3]; ORCiD logo [4];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [9]
  1. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science ETHZ Zurich Switzerland, Now at Atmospheric Aerosol Research Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, KIT Karlsruhe Germany
  2. Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA
  3. Department of Atmospheric Science Colorado State University Fort Collins CO USA, Now at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland WA USA
  4. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science ETHZ Zurich Switzerland, Now at Institute for Atmospheric Physics German Aerospace Center Oberpfaffenhofen‐Wessling Germany
  5. Institute for Earth Science Hebrew University Jerusalem Israel, Now at Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences Weizmann Institute of Science Rehovot Israel
  6. Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry Paul Scherrer Institute Villigen Switzerland
  7. Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology Duebendorf Switzerland
  8. Department of Chemistry University of Toronto Toronto Ontario Canada
  9. Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science ETHZ Zurich Switzerland

Abstract Clouds containing ice are vital for precipitation formation and are important in determining the Earth's radiative budget. However, primary formation of ice in clouds is not fully understood. In the presence of ice nucleating particles (INPs), the phase change to ice is promoted, but identification and quantification of INPs in a natural environment remains challenging because of their low numbers. In this paper, we quantify INP number concentrations in the free troposphere (FT) as measured at the High Altitude Research Station Jungfraujoch (JFJ), during the winter, spring, and summer of the years 2014–2017. INPs were measured at conditions relevant for mixed‐phase cloud formation at T  = 241/242 K. To date, this is the longest timeline of semiregular measurements akin to online INP monitoring at this site and sampling conditions. We find that INP concentrations in the background FT are on average capped at 10/stdL (liter of air at standard conditions [ T  = 273 K and p  = 1013 hPa]) with an interquartile range of 0.4–9.6/stdL, as compared to measurements during times when other air mass origins (e.g., Sahara or marine boundary layer) prevailed. Elevated concentrations were measured in the field campaigns of 2016, which might be due to enhanced influence from Saharan dust and marine boundary layer air arriving at the JFJ. The upper limit of INP concentrations in the background FT is supported by measurements performed at similar conditions, but at different locations in the FT, where we find INP concentrations to be below 13/stdL most of the time.

Research Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
DE‐SC0014354; 240627; AC05-76RL01830; 654109; 603445; H2020-INFRAIA-2014-2015; FP7/2007-2013; SC0014354; AGS1358495; 15.0159-1; MeteoSwiss GAW-CH+ 2014-2017
OSTI ID:
1471435
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1472159; OSTI ID: 1475199
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Vol. 123 Journal Issue: 18; ISSN 2169-897X
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 22 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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