Wilson, TW, Ladino, LA, Alpert, PA et al. (26 more authors) (2015) A marine biogenic source of atmospheric ice nucleating particles. Nature, 525 (7568). pp. 234-238. ISSN 0028-0836
Abstract
The amount of ice present in clouds can affect cloud lifetime, precipitation and radiative properties1,2. The formation of ice in clouds is facilitated by the presence of airborne ice nucleating particles1,2. Sea spray is one of the major global sources of atmospheric particles, but it is unclear to what extent these particles are capable of nucleating ice3-11. Sea spray aerosol contains large amounts of organic material that is ejected into the atmosphere during bubble bursting at the organically enriched sea-air interface or sea surface microlayer12-19. Here we show that organic material in the sea surface microlayer nucleates ice under conditions relevant for mixed-phase cloud and high-altitude ice cloud formation. The ice nucleating material is likely biogenic and less than ~0.2 μm in size. We find that exudates separated from cells of the marine diatom T. Pseudonana nucleate ice and propose that organic material associated with phytoplankton cell exudates is a likely candidate for the observed ice nucleating ability of the microlayer samples. Global model simulations of marine organic aerosol in combination with our measurements suggest that marine organic material may be an important source of ice nucleating particles in remote marine environments such as the Southern Ocean, North Pacific and North Atlantic.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2015 The author(s). This is an author produced version of a letter published in Nature. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Inorganic Chemistry (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/I028858/1 Aerosol Society No External Ref NERC (Natural Environment Research Council) NE/K004417/1 EU - European Union 603445 EU - European Union 240449 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 05 Oct 2015 12:14 |
Last Modified: | 20 Jun 2021 08:37 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Nature Publishing Group |
Identification Number: | 10.1038/nature14986 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:88615 |