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Zuberi et al. 2002
Zuberi, B., Bertram, A.K., Cassa, C.A., Molina, L.T. and Molina, M.J. (2002). Heterogeneous nucleation of ice in (NH4)2SO4-H2O particles with mineral dust immersions. Geophysical Research Letters 29: doi: 10.1029/2001GL014289. issn: 0094-8276.

Using optical microscopy, we investigated the heterogeneous nucleation of ice in aqueous (NH4)2SO4-H2O particles containing two types of mineral dusts, kaolinite and montmorillonite. The efficacy of montmorillonite and kaolinite to nucleate ice in (NH4)2SO4-H2O particles is similar. The difference in freezing temperatures, compared to the homogeneous freezing temperatures, is found to vary from 8--20 K and it is larger for particles with concentrations greater than 27 wt %. Our freezing data shows that for temperatures ranging from 239 K to 198 K, ice super-saturations between 1.35 and 1.51 are required for ice to heterogeneously nucleate in NH4SO4-H2O particles containing mineral dust immersions. Based on our results, we conclude mineral dust is an efficient nuclei for ice in NH4SO4-H2O aerosols and as a result, it can initiate the formation of upper tropospheric ice clouds at warmer temperatures and lower super-saturations in comparison to homogeneous freezing.

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801), Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Cloud physics and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere--composition and chemistry
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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