ORCID Profile
0000-0002-8198-8131
Current Organisation
University of Leeds
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Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 08-10-2021
DOI: 10.5194/ACP-2021-744
Abstract: Abstract. The formation of ice particles in Earth’s atmosphere strongly influences the dynamics and optical properties of clouds and their impacts on the climate system. Ice formation in clouds is often triggered heterogeneously by ice nucleating particles (INPs) that represent a very low number of particles in the atmosphere. To date, many sources of INPs, such as mineral and soil dust, have been investigated and identified in the lower latitudes. Although less is known about the sources of ice nucleation at higher latitudes, efforts have been made to identify the sources of INPs in the Arctic and boreal environments. In this study, we investigate the INP emission potential from high latitude boreal forests. We introduce the HyICE-2018 measurement c aign conducted in the boreal forest of Hyytiälä, Finland between February and June 2018. The c aign utilized the infrastructure of the SMEAR II research station with additional instrumentation for measuring INPs to quantify the concentrations and sources of INPs in the boreal environment. In this contribution, we describe the measurement infrastructure and operating procedures during HyICE-2018 and we report results from specific time periods where INP instruments were run in parallel for inter-comparison purposes. Our results show that the suite of instruments deployed during HyICE-2018 reports consistent results and therefore lays the foundation for forthcoming results to be considered holistically. In addition, we compare the INP concentration we measured to INP parameterizations, and we show a very good agreement with the Tobo et al. (2013) parameterization developed from measurements conducted in a ponderosa pine forest ecosystem in Colorado, USA.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 09-02-2021
DOI: 10.5194/BG-2020-474
Abstract: Abstract. In order to effectively predict the formation of ice in clouds we need to know which subsets of aerosol particles are effective at nucleating ice, how they are distributed and where they are from. A large proportion of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) in many locations are likely of biological origin, and some INPs are extremely small being just tens of nanometers in size. The identity and sources of such INPs are not well characterized. Here, we show that several different types of virus particles can nucleate ice, with up to about one in twenty million virus particles able to nucleate ice at −20 °C. In terms of the impact on cloud glaciation, the ice-nucleating ability (the fraction which are ice nucleation active as a function of temperature) taken together with typical virus particle concentrations in the atmosphere lead to the conclusion that virus particles make a minor contribution to the atmospheric ice-nucleating particle population in the terrestrial influenced atmosphere. However, they cannot be ruled out as being important in the remote marine atmosphere. It is striking that virus particles have an ice-nucleating activity and further work should be done to explore other types of viruses for both their ice-nucleating potential and to understand the mechanism by which viruses nucleate ice.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 19-04-2022
Abstract: Abstract. The formation of ice particles in Earth's atmosphere strongly influences the dynamics and optical properties of clouds and their impacts on the climate system. Ice formation in clouds is often triggered heterogeneously by ice-nucleating particles (INPs) that represent a very low number of particles in the atmosphere. To date, many sources of INPs, such as mineral and soil dust, have been investigated and identified in the low and mid latitudes. Although less is known about the sources of ice nucleation at high latitudes, efforts have been made to identify the sources of INPs in the Arctic and boreal environments. In this study, we investigate the INP emission potential from high-latitude boreal forests in the mixed-phase cloud regime. We introduce the HyICE-2018 measurement c aign conducted in the boreal forest of Hyytiälä, Finland, between February and June 2018. The c aign utilized the infrastructure of the Station for Measuring Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations (SMEAR) II, with additional INP instruments, including the Portable Ice Nucleation Chamber I and II (PINC and PINCii), the SPectrometer for Ice Nuclei (SPIN), the Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment (PINE), the Ice Nucleation SpEctrometer of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (INSEKT) and the Microlitre Nucleation by Immersed Particle Instrument (µL-NIPI), used to quantify the INP concentrations and sources in the boreal environment. In this contribution, we describe the measurement infrastructure and operating procedures during HyICE-2018, and we report results from specific time periods where INP instruments were run in parallel for inter-comparison purposes. Our results show that the suite of instruments deployed during HyICE-2018 reports consistent results and therefore lays the foundation for forthcoming results to be considered holistically. In addition, we compare measured INP concentrations to INP parameterizations, and we observe good agreement with the Tobo et al. (2013) parameterization developed from measurements conducted in a ponderosa pine forest ecosystem in Colorado, USA.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 28-07-2021
Abstract: Abstract. In order to effectively predict the formation of ice in clouds we need to know which subsets of aerosol particles are effective at nucleating ice, how they are distributed and where they are from. A large proportion of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) in many locations are likely of biological origin, and some INPs are extremely small, being just tens of nanometres in size. The identity and sources of such INPs are not well characterized. Here, we show that several different types of virus particles can nucleate ice, with up to about 1 in 20 million virus particles able to nucleate ice at −20 ∘C. In terms of the impact on cloud glaciation, the ice-nucleating ability (the fraction which are ice nucleation active as a function of temperature) taken together with typical virus particle concentrations in the atmosphere leads to the conclusion that virus particles make a minor contribution to the atmospheric ice-nucleating particle population in the terrestrial-influenced atmosphere. However, they cannot be ruled out as being important in the remote marine atmosphere. It is striking that virus particles have an ice-nucleating activity, and further work should be done to explore other types of viruses for both their ice-nucleating potential and to understand the mechanism by which viruses nucleate ice.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 31-07-2020
DOI: 10.5194/ACP-2020-683
Abstract: Abstract. Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) trigger the formation of cloud ice crystals in the atmosphere. Therefore, they strongly influence cloud microphysical and optical properties, as well as precipitation and the life cycle of clouds. Improving weather forecasting and climate projection requires an appropriate formulation of atmospheric INP concentrations. This remains challenging, as the global INP distribution and variability depend on a variety of aerosol types and sources, and neither their short-term variability nor their long-term seasonal cycles are well covered by continuous measurements. Here, we provide the first year-long set of observations with a pronounced INP seasonal cycle in a boreal forest environment. Besides the observed seasonal cycle in INP concentrations with a minimum in wintertime and maxima in early and late summer, we also provide indications for a seasonal variation in the prevalent INP type. We show that the seasonal dependency of INP concentrations and prevalent INP types is most likely driven by the abundance of biogenic aerosol. As current parameterizations do not reproduce this variability, we suggest a new parameterization approach, which considers the seasonal variation of INP concentrations. For this, we use the ambient air temperature as a proxy for the season which affects the source strength of biogenic emissions and by that the INP abundance over the boreal forest areas. Furthermore, we provide new INP parameterizations based on the Ice Nucleation Active Surface Site (INAS) approach, which specifically describes the ice nucleation activity of boreal aerosols particles prevalent in different seasons. Our results characterize the boreal forest as an important but variable INP source and provide new perspectives to describe these new findings in atmospheric models.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 12-06-2013
DOI: 10.1038/NATURE12278
Abstract: The amount of ice present in mixed-phase clouds, which contain both supercooled liquid water droplets and ice particles, affects cloud extent, lifetime, particle size and radiative properties. The freezing of cloud droplets can be catalysed by the presence of aerosol particles known as ice nuclei. One of the most important ice nuclei is thought to be mineral dust aerosol from arid regions. It is generally assumed that clay minerals, which contribute approximately two-thirds of the dust mass, dominate ice nucleation by mineral dust, and many experimental studies have therefore focused on these materials. Here we use an established droplet-freezing technique to show that feldspar minerals dominate ice nucleation by mineral dusts under mixed-phase cloud conditions, despite feldspar being a minor component of dust emitted from arid regions. We also find that clay minerals are relatively unimportant ice nuclei. Our results from a global aerosol model study suggest that feldspar ice nuclei are globally distributed and that feldspar particles may account for a large proportion of the ice nuclei in Earth's atmosphere that contribute to freezing at temperatures below about -15 °C.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 09-02-2021
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 16-03-2021
Abstract: Abstract. Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) trigger the formation of cloud ice crystals in the atmosphere. Therefore, they strongly influence cloud microphysical and optical properties and precipitation and the life cycle of clouds. Improving weather forecasting and climate projection requires an appropriate formulation of atmospheric INP concentrations. This remains challenging as the global INP distribution and variability depend on a variety of aerosol types and sources, and neither their short-term variability nor their long-term seasonal cycles are well covered by continuous measurements. Here, we provide the first year-long set of observations with a pronounced INP seasonal cycle in a boreal forest environment. Besides the observed seasonal cycle in INP concentrations with a minimum in wintertime and maxima in early and late summer, we also provide indications for a seasonal variation in the prevalent INP type. We show that the seasonal dependency of INP concentrations and prevalent INP types is most likely driven by the abundance of biogenic aerosol. As current parameterizations do not reproduce this variability, we suggest a new mechanistic description for boreal forest environments which considers the seasonal variation in INP concentrations. For this, we use the ambient air temperature measured close to the ground at 4.2 m height as a proxy for the season, which appears to affect the source strength of biogenic emissions and, thus, the INP abundance over the boreal forest. Furthermore, we provide new INP parameterizations based on the Ice Nucleation Active Surface Site (INAS) approach, which specifically describes the ice nucleation activity of boreal aerosols particles prevalent in different seasons. Our results characterize the boreal forest as an important but variable INP source and provide new perspectives to describe these new findings in atmospheric models.
Publisher: Copernicus GmbH
Date: 06-03-2015
Abstract: Abstract. Immersion freezing is the most relevant heterogeneous ice nucleation mechanism through which ice crystals are formed in mixed-phase clouds. In recent years, an increasing number of laboratory experiments utilizing a variety of instruments have examined immersion freezing activity of atmospherically relevant ice-nucleating particles. However, an intercomparison of these laboratory results is a difficult task because investigators have used different ice nucleation (IN) measurement methods to produce these results. A remaining challenge is to explore the sensitivity and accuracy of these techniques and to understand how the IN results are potentially influenced or biased by experimental parameters associated with these techniques. Within the framework of INUIT (Ice Nuclei Research Unit), we distributed an illite-rich s le (illite NX) as a representative surrogate for atmospheric mineral dust particles to investigators to perform immersion freezing experiments using different IN measurement methods and to obtain IN data as a function of particle concentration, temperature (T), cooling rate and nucleation time. A total of 17 measurement methods were involved in the data intercomparison. Experiments with seven instruments started with the test s le pre-suspended in water before cooling, while 10 other instruments employed water vapor condensation onto dry-dispersed particles followed by immersion freezing. The resulting comprehensive immersion freezing data set was evaluated using the ice nucleation active surface-site density, ns, to develop a representative ns(T) spectrum that spans a wide temperature range (−37 °C T −11 °C) and covers 9 orders of magnitude in ns. In general, the 17 immersion freezing measurement techniques deviate, within a range of about 8 °C in terms of temperature, by 3 orders of magnitude with respect to ns. In addition, we show evidence that the immersion freezing efficiency expressed in ns of illite NX particles is relatively independent of droplet size, particle mass in suspension, particle size and cooling rate during freezing. A strong temperature dependence and weak time and size dependence of the immersion freezing efficiency of illite-rich clay mineral particles enabled the ns parameterization solely as a function of temperature. We also characterized the ns(T) spectra and identified a section with a steep slope between −20 and −27 °C, where a large fraction of active sites of our test dust may trigger immersion freezing. This slope was followed by a region with a gentler slope at temperatures below −27 °C. While the agreement between different instruments was reasonable below ~ −27 °C, there seemed to be a different trend in the temperature-dependent ice nucleation activity from the suspension and dry-dispersed particle measurements for this mineral dust, in particular at higher temperatures. For instance, the ice nucleation activity expressed in ns was smaller for the average of the wet suspended s les and higher for the average of the dry-dispersed aerosol s les between about −27 and −18 °C. Only instruments making measurements with wet suspended s les were able to measure ice nucleation above −18 °C. A possible explanation for the deviation between −27 and −18 °C is discussed. Multiple exponential distribution fits in both linear and log space for both specific surface area-based ns(T) and geometric surface area-based ns(T) are provided. These new fits, constrained by using identical reference s les, will help to compare IN measurement methods that are not included in the present study and IN data from future IN instruments.
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Benjamin Murray.