Almost a century ago it was found that cloud and fog droplets form by condensation of water vapor from the atmosphere on small particles, so-called condensation nuclei. They were more systematically studied by Aitken toward the end of the nineteenth century. Condensation nuclei form part of the atmospheric aerosol content. These particles, aside from acting as condensation nuclei, also have an effect on the optical properties of the atmosphere and play an important role in atmospheric electricity. The light-scattering properties of these particles provided much information about their concentration and size distribution, especially in the early periods of investigation.
Nucleation process
In 1897 it was found that when a reasonably dust-free air sample, which was saturated with water vapor, was rapidly expanded so that adiabatic cooling occurred, droplet cloud formation would occur only if the expansion ratio was high enough to produce several hundred percent supersaturation. In the...
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Cross-references
Aerosols
Albedo and Reflectivity
Cloud Climatology
Fog and Mist
Precipitation
Radiation Laws
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Fenn, R.W. (2005). Atmospheric Nuclei and Dust. In: Oliver, J.E. (eds) Encyclopedia of World Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht . https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3266-8_25
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