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On the role of ice‐nucleating aerosol in the formation of ice particles in tropical mesoscale convective systems
Author(s) -
Ladino Luis A.,
Korolev Alexei,
Heckman Ivan,
Wolde Mengistu,
Fridlind Ann M.,
Ackerman Andrew S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2016gl072455
Subject(s) - ice nucleus , mesoscale meteorology , aerosol , ice crystals , atmospheric sciences , convection , particle (ecology) , nucleation , climatology , environmental science , meteorology , geology , physics , thermodynamics , oceanography
Over the decades, the cloud physics community has debated the nature and role of aerosol particles in ice initiation. The present study shows that the measured concentration of ice crystals in tropical mesoscale convective systems exceeds the concentration of ice nucleating particles (INPs) by several orders of magnitude. The concentration of INPs was assessed from the measured aerosol particle concentration in the size range of 0.5 to 1 µm. The observations from this study suggest that primary ice crystals formed on INPs make only a minor contribution to the total concentration of ice crystals in tropical mesoscale convective systems. This is found by comparing the predicted INP number concentrations with in situ ice particle number concentrations. The obtained measurements suggest that ice multiplication is the likely explanation for the observed high concentrations of ice crystals in this type of convective system.