International Workshop on Comparing Ice Nucleation Measuring Systems 2014 (ICIS 2014) #3

Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, Cambridge MA

Investigators

Abstract

This project is the second part of a three-part workshop to improve scientific knowledge related to developing a better understanding of the atmospheric formation of ice particles. This workshop will take place at Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the world's foremost facility for producing ice clouds in a controlled setting. There is currently a poor understanding of the composition and concentration of ice-nucleating particles in the atmosphere and of the relationship between ice particles and clouds. This workshop will address the measurement of ice nucleating particle number density by co-locating and comparing different instruments making these measurements. Because ice nucleation largely controls precipitation, this work could provide major benefits for society by enabling better predictions of rain and snowfall. Part 1 of the workshop took place in November 2014 at AIDA where several instruments that measure particle composition were tested and compared with each other in the laboratory. Part 3 will take place at the Desert Research Institute's Storm Peak Laboratory, a high elevation site not subject to local emissions, where measurements from ice-nucleating instruments will be compared at a field site. The workshop focuses on: (1) the microphysics of how particles nucleate ice, (2) the number of ice forming particle as a function of atmospheric properties such as temperature and relative humidity, (3) the atmospheric distribution of ice forming particles and (4) the role of anthropogenic activities in producing or changing the behavior of ice forming particles. The project could provide a breakthrough in ice-nucleating particle measurement technology and in the understanding of ice-nucleating processes.