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Title: Glacially sourced dust as a potentially significant source of ice nucleating particles

Journal Article · · Nature Geoscience
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [8]
  1. National Inst. of Polar Research, Tachikawa, Tokyo (Japan); Graduate Univ. for Advanced Studies, Tachikawa, Tokyo (Japan)
  2. Meteorological Research Inst., Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)
  3. Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  4. Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
  5. National Inst. of Polar Research, Tachikawa, Tokyo (Japan)
  6. Univ. of Tokyo (Japan); Nagoya Univ. (Japan)
  7. National Inst. of Polar Research, Tachikawa, Tokyo (Japan); Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  8. Univ. of Tokyo (Japan)

Aeolian dusts serve as ice nucleating particles in mixed-phase clouds, and thereby alter the cloud properties and lifetime. Glacial outwash plains are thought to be a major dust source in cold, high latitudes. Due to the recent rapid and widespread retreat of glaciers, high-latitude dust emissions are projected to increase, especially in the Arctic region, which is highly sensitive to climate change. However, the potential contribution of high-latitude dusts to ice nucleation in Arctic low-level clouds is not well acknowledged. Here we show that glacial outwash sediments in Svalbard (a proxy for glacially sourced dusts) have a remarkably high ice nucleating ability under conditions relevant for mixed-phase cloud formation, as compared with typical mineral dusts. The high ice nucleating ability of the sediments is probably governed by the presence of small amounts of organic matter (<1 wt% organic carbon) rather than mineral components. In addition, our results from intensive field measurements and model simulations indicate that the concentrations of atmospheric ice nucleating particles over the Svalbard region are expected to be enhanced in the summertime under the influence of dust emissions from Svalbard and its surroundings. In conclusion, we suggest that high-latitude dust sources have the potential to significantly influence glaciation of Arctic low-level clouds.

Research Organization:
Cornell Univ., Ithaca, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (KAKENHI); National Science Foundation (NSF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Advanced Scientific Computing Research (ASCR). Scientific Discovery through Advanced Computing (SciDAC)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0006791; 15K13570; 15K16120; 16H06020; 16J08380; 16K16188; 18H04143; AGS-1358495
OSTI ID:
1594096
Journal Information:
Nature Geoscience, Vol. 12, Issue 4; ISSN 1752-0894
Publisher:
Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 68 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Comparative measurements of ambient atmospheric concentrations of ice nucleating particles using multiple immersion freezing methods and a continuous flow diffusion chamber text January 2017
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Intercomparing different devices for the investigation of ice nucleating particles using Snomax as test substance text January 2015

Cited By (6)

Dust Radiative Effects on Climate by Glaciating Mixed‐Phase Clouds journal June 2019
Bioaerosol field measurements: Challenges and perspectives in outdoor studies journal November 2019
Ice nucleation ability of loess from the northwestern United States journal August 2019
Organic coating on sulfate and soot particles during late summer in the Svalbard Archipelago journal January 2019
Annual variability of ice-nucleating particle concentrations at different Arctic locations journal January 2019
Improved methodologies for Earth system modelling of atmospheric soluble iron and observation comparisons using the Mechanism of Intermediate complexity for Modelling Iron (MIMI v1.0) journal January 2019

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