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Annual cycle observations of aerosols capable of ice formation in central Arctic clouds

Journal Article · · Nature Communications
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [3];  [3];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [2]
  1. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam (HZP), (Germany). Alfred-Wegener-Institut
  4. Universität Trier (Germany)
  5. Ecole Polytechnique Federale Lausanne (Switzerland)
  6. Univ. of California, San Diego, CA (United States). Scripps Inst. of Oceanography
  7. Univ. of Victoria, BC (Canada)

The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, prompting glacial melt, permafrost thaw, and sea ice decline. These severe consequences induce feedbacks that contribute to amplified warming, affecting weather and climate globally. Aerosols and clouds play a critical role in regulating radiation reaching the Arctic surface. However, the magnitude of their effects is not adequately quantified, especially in the central Arctic where they impact the energy balance over the sea ice. Specifically, aerosols called ice nucleating particles (INPs) remain understudied yet are necessary for cloud ice production and subsequent changes in cloud lifetime, radiative effects, and precipitation. Here, we report observations of INPs in the central Arctic over a full year, spanning the entire sea ice growth and decline cycle. Further, these observations are size-resolved, affording valuable information on INP sources. Our results reveal a strong seasonality of INPs, with lower concentrations in the winter and spring controlled by transport from lower latitudes, to enhanced concentrations of INPs during the summer melt, likely from marine biological production in local open waters. This comprehensive characterization of INPs will ultimately help inform cloud parameterizations in models of all scales.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Contributing Organization:
Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0019745
OSTI ID:
1872987
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2586499
Journal Information:
Nature Communications, Journal Name: Nature Communications Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 13; ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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