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Warshawsky et al. 1999
Warshawsky, M.S., Zondlo, M.A. and Tolbert, M.A. (1999). Impact of nitric acid on ice evaporation rates. Geophysical Research Letters 26: doi: 10.1029/1999GL900120. issn: 0094-8276.

Recent studies have suggested that nitric acid uptake by ice clouds may decrease ice evaporation rates and thereby prolong the cloud lifetimes. To test this suggestion, ice desorption rates were studied as a function of HNO3 partial pressure (10-6-10-5 Torr), relative humidity (28-92%), and temperature (192-204 K) using optical interference of a helium neon laser. Ice evaporation rates in the presence of 1¿10-6 Torr HNO3 were indistinguishable from those of pure ice. In contrast, ice evaporation in the presence of 8¿10-6 Torr HNO3 resulted in lower evaporation rates by 33% relative to pure ice. Higher partial pressures of HNO3 result in a supercooled H2O/HNO3 liquid layer over ice, which may freeze to form a sealed NAT coaling. This causes a lowering of the ice evaporation rate and prolongs the lifetime of ice. Ice exposed to lower partial pressures of HNO3 will not form a liquid layer and will thus evaporate at the same rate as pure ice. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Cloud physics and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Chemical kinetic and photochemical properties, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Troposphere—constituent transport and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801)
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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