African dust aerosols as atmospheric ice nuclei

DeMott, P.J., K. Sassen, M.R. Poellot, D. Baumgardner, D. Rogers, S.D. Brooks, A. Prenni, and S. Kreidenweis (2003), African dust aerosols as atmospheric ice nuclei, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1732, doi:10.1029/2003GL017410.
Abstract

Measurements of the ice nucleating ability of aerosol particles in air masses over Florida having sources from North Africa support the potential importance of dust aerosols for indirectly affecting cloud properties and climate. The concentrations of ice nuclei within dust layers at particle sizes below 1 mm exceeded 1 cm-3; the highest ever reported with our device at temperatures warmer than homogeneous freezing conditions. These measurements add to previous direct and indirect evidence of the ice nucleation efficiency of desert dust aerosols, but also confirm their contribution to ice nuclei populations at great distances from source regions. I NDEX T ERMS : 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801); 0320 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry; 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere—composition and chemistry.

PDF of Publication
Download from publisher's website
Research Program
Radiation Science Program (RSP)
Mission
CRYSTAL FACE

 

Disclaimer: This material is being kept online for historical purposes. Though accurate at the time of publication, it is no longer being updated. The page may contain broken links or outdated information, and parts may not function in current web browsers. Visit https://espo.nasa.gov for information about our current projects.