Abstract
This contribution provides a basic introduction to the formation of ice in clouds. Various pathways to ice nucleation and factors controlling ice formation processes are addressed. Challenges in characterizing the atmospheric ice phase and novel approaches to better understanding the fundamental mechanisms involved in ice nucleation are outlined.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Water is a highly ordered liquid with water molecules conjoined by hydrogen atoms. The exact number of hydrogen bonds formed by a molecule of liquid water (up to four because the oxygen atom of one water molecule has two lone pairs of electrons) depends on the temperature. In crystalline ice, hydrogen bonding creates a lattice structure exhibiting long range order. Amorphous water lacks this long range order yet it is still more ‘solid-like’ than liquid water.
- 2.
These are known as ‘type-2’ PSCs, in contrast to type-1 PSCs that form at slightly warmer temperatures and contain nitric acid, either dissolved in the liquid phase or present as solid nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) crystals.
References
Becker, R., Döring, W.: Kinetische Behandlung der Keimbildung in übersättigten Dämpfen. Ann. Phys. 24, 719–752 (1935)
Becker, R.: Theorie der Wärme. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberger Taschenbücher (1978)
Boucher, O.: Seeing through contrails. Nature. Clim. Change 1, 24–25 (2011)
Burkhardt, U., Kärcher, B.: Global radiative forcing from contrail cirrus. Nature Clim. Change 1, 54–58 (2011)
Cantrell, W., Heymsfield, A.: Production of ice in tropospheric clouds—A review. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 86, 795–807 (2005)
Carslaw, K.S., Wirth, M., Tsias, A., Luo, B.P., Dörnbrack, A., Leutbecher, M., Volkert, H., Renger, W., Bacmeister, J.T., Reimer, E., et al.: Increased stratospheric ozone depletion due to mountain-induced atmospheric waves. Nature 391, 675–678 (1998)
Cziczo, D.J., DeMott, P.J., Brooks, S.D., Prenni, A.J., Thomson, D.S., Baumgardner, D., Wilson, J.C., Kreidenweis, S.M., Murphy, D.M.: Observations of organic species and atmospheric ice formation. Geophys. Res. Lett. 31, L12116 (2004). doi:10.1029/2004GL019822
DeMott, P.J., Cziczo, D.J., Prenni, A.J., Murphy, D.M., Kreidenweis, S.M., Thomson, D.S., Borys, R., Rogers, D.C.: Measurements of the concentration and composition of nuclei for cirrus formation. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100, 14655–14660 (2003)
DeMott, P.J., Möhler, O., Stetzer, O., Vali, G., Levin, Z., Petters, M.D., Murakami, M., Leisner, T., Bundke, U., Klein, H., et al.: Resurgence in ice nuclei measurement research. Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc. 92, 1623–1635 (2011)
Haag, W., Kärcher, B., Ström, J., Minikin, A., Lohmann, U., Ovarlez, J., Stohl, A.: Freezing thresholds and cirrus cloud formation mechanisms inferred from in situ measurements of relative humidity. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 3, 1791–1806 (2003)
Hegg, D.A., Baker, M.B.: Nucleation in the atmosphere. Rep. Prog. Phys. 72, 1–21 (2009)
Heintzenberg, J.,Charlson, R.J. (eds.): Clouds in the perturbed climate system: their relationship to energy balance, Atmospheric Dynamics, and Precipitation. vol. 2, Strüngmann Forum Report, The MIT Press, pp. 597 (2009)
Hendricks, J., Kärcher, B., Lohmann, U.: Effects of ice nuclei on cirrus clouds in a global climate model. J. Geophys. Res. 116, D18206, 1–24, (2011) doi:10.1029/2010JD015302
Hobbs, P. V.: Ice Physics. Clarendon Press (1974)
Houze Jr., R. A.: Cloud Dynamics. Academic Press, London (1993)
Hoyle, C.R., Luo, B.P., Peter, T.: The origin of high ice crystal number densities in cirrus clouds. J. Atmos. Sci. 62, 2568–2579 (2005)
Hu, X.L., Michaelides, A.: Ice formation on kaolinite: lattice match or amphoterism? Surface Sci. 601, 5378–5381 (2007)
Jensen, E.J., Thomas, G.E.: Numerical simulations of the effects of gravity waves on noctilucent clouds. J. Geophys. Res. 99, D2, (1994). doi:10.1029/93JD01736
Jensen, E.J., Pfister, L., Bui, T.-P., Lawson, P., Baumgardner, D.: Ice nucleation and cloud microphysical properties in tropical tropopause cirrus. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10, 1369–1384 (2010)
Kärcher, B.: Aviation-produced aerosols and contrails. Surv. Geophys. 20, 113–167 (1999)
Kärcher, B., Solomon, S.: On the composition and optical extinction of particles in the tropopause region. J. Geophys. Res. 104, 27441–27459 (1999)
Kärcher, B., Lohmann, U.: A parameterization of cirrus cloud formation: Homogeneous freezing including effects of aerosol size. J. Geophys. Res. 107, 4698 (2002). doi:10.1029/2001JD001429
Kärcher, B., Ström, J.: The roles of dynamical variability and aerosols in cirrus cloud formation. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 3, 823–838 (2003)
Kärcher, B., Koop, T.: The role of organic aerosols in homogeneous ice formation. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 5, 703–714 (2005)
Kärcher, B., Burkhardt, U.: A cirrus cloud scheme for general circulation models. Quart. J. Roy. Meteorol. Soc. 134, 1439–1461 (2008)
Kärcher, B.: Supersaturation fluctuations in cirrus clouds driven by colored noise. J. Atmos. Sci. 69, 435–443 (2012)
Koop, T.: Homogeneous ice nucleation in water and aqueous solutions. Z. Phys. Chem. 218, 1231–1258 (2004)
Koop, T., Bookhold, J., Manabu, S., Pöschl, U.: Glass transition and phase state of organic compounds: dependency on molecular properties and implications for secondary organic aerosols in the atmosphere. Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13, 19238–19255 (2011)
Murphy, D.M.: Dehydration in cold clouds is enhanced by a transition from cubic to hexagonal ice. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, 2230 (2003). doi:10.1029/2003GL018566
Murray, B.J.: Inhibition of ice crystallisation in highly viscous aqueous organic acid droplets. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 8, 5423–5433 (2008)
Murray, B.J., Jensen, E.J.: Homogeneous nucleation of amorphous solid water particles in the upper mesosphere. J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys. 72, 51–61 (2010)
Murphy, D.M., Koop, T.: Review of the vapour pressures of ice and supercooled water for atmospheric applications. Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc. 131, 1539–1565 (2005)
Murray, B.J., Wilson, T.W., Dobbie, S., Cui, Z., Al-Jumur, S.M.R.K., Möhler, O., Schnaiter, M., Wagner, R., Benz, S., Niemand, M., et al.: Heterogeneous nucleation of ice particles on glassy aerosols under cirrus conditions. Nature Geosci. 3, 233–237 (2010)
Peter, T.: Microphysics and heterogeneous chemistry of polar stratospheric clouds. Ann. Rev. Phys. Chem. 48, 785–822 (1997)
Pruppacher, H. R., Klett, J.D.: Microphysics of clouds and precipitation. Kluwer Academic Publishers (1978)
Rapp, M., Thomas, G.E.: Modeling the microphysics of mesospheric ice particles: assessment of current capabilities and basic sensitivities. J. Atmos. Sol. Terr. Phys. 68, 715–744 (2006)
Sassen, K., DeMott, P.J., Prospero, J.M., Poellot, M.R.: Saharan dust storms and indirect aerosol effects on clouds: CRYSTAL-FACE results. Geophys. Res. Lett. 30, (2003). doi:10.1029/2003GL017371
Sazaki, G., Zepeda, S., Nakatsubo, S., Yokoyama, E., Furukawa, Y.: Elementary steps at the surface of ice crystals visualized by advanced optical microscopy. Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 107, 19702–19707 (2010)
Solomon, S.: Stratospheric ozone depletion: a review of concepts and history. Rev. Geophys. 37(3), 275–316 (1999)
Vali, G.: Nucleation terminology. J. Aerosol Sci. 16, 575–576 (1985)
Wiaczek, A., Peter, T., Lohmann, U.: The potential influence of Asian and African mineral dust on ice, mixed-phase and liquid water clouds. Atmos. Chem. Phys. 10, 8649–8667 (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kärcher, B. (2012). Atmospheric Ice Formation Processes. In: Schumann, U. (eds) Atmospheric Physics. Research Topics in Aerospace. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30183-4_10
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30183-4_10
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30182-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30183-4
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)