International Workshop on Comparing Ice Nucleation Measuring Systems 2014 (ICIS 2014)

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This effort will support US researchers to participate in a workshop that will bring together an international group of atmospheric scientists who are experts in conducting research on the relationship of ambient aerosol particles to the formation of ice-containing clouds. The ability to accurately model aerosol-cloud interactions is one of the largest uncertainties in predicting the Earth?s climate. Participating US scientists include those from leading ice measurement groups. One broader impact of this project is that it enables US scientists, including their postdoctoral fellows and graduate students, to have access to an exceptional state-of-the-art chamber facility for conducting research on air pollution, weather, and climate. The AIDA chamber is unique due to the combination of its size, temperature range, and comprehensive trace gas, aerosol, and cloud instrumentation. The proposed workshop offers US scientists an opportunity to evaluate the performance of their instruments in comparison with other similar instruments. The workshop will take place at the Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany, the world?s foremost facility for producing ice clouds in a controlled setting. Cloud and aerosol scientists from universities, government laboratories, and private research institutes will gather at AIDA for the purpose of comparing their state-of-the-art instruments for characterizing ice-forming aerosol. The scientists will use the AIDA chamber to nucleate ice on a variety of test aerosols of atmospheric relevance including mineral dust, biological aerosol, metal oxides and soluble materials. A number of individual mass spectrometers will be used to determine aerosol size and composition. The results from each instrument will be compared with the results obtained by the others. This activity will provide valuable information for determining whether similarities and differences in laboratory and field data are attributable to instrument performance or to aerosol variability.