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Highly active ice-nucleating particles at the summer North Pole
  • +13
  • Grace Courtney Elouise Porter,
  • Michael P Adams,
  • Ian M. Brooks,
  • Luisa Ickes,
  • Linn Karlsson,
  • Caroline Leck,
  • Matthew Edward Salter,
  • Julia Schmale,
  • Karolina Siegel,
  • Sebastien N F Sikora,
  • Mark Duncan Tarn,
  • Jutta Vüllers,
  • Heini Wernli,
  • Paul Zieger,
  • Julika Zinke,
  • Benjamin J Murray
Grace Courtney Elouise Porter
Univeristy of Leeds
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Michael P Adams
University of Leeds
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Ian M. Brooks
University of Leeds
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Luisa Ickes
Chalmers University
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Linn Karlsson
Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES), Stockholm University; Sweden & Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University
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Caroline Leck
Meteorology
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Matthew Edward Salter
Stockholm University
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Julia Schmale
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering
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Karolina Siegel
Stockholm University
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Sebastien N F Sikora
University of Leeds
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Mark Duncan Tarn
University of Leeds
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Jutta Vüllers
University of Leeds
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Heini Wernli
ETH Zurich
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Paul Zieger
Stockholm University
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Julika Zinke
Stockholm University
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Benjamin J Murray
University of Leeds

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

The amount of ice versus supercooled water in clouds defines their radiative properties and role in climate feedbacks. Hence, knowledge of the concentration of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) is needed. Generally, the concentrations of INP is found to be very low in remote marine locations allowing clouds to persist in a supercooled state. However, little is known about the INP population in clouds at and around the summertime North Pole. We had expected that concentrations of INPs at the North Pole would have been very low given the distance from open ocean and terrestrial sources coupled with effective wet scavenging processes. Here we show that during summer 2018 (August and September) high concentrations of biological INPs (active at >-20°C) were present at the North Pole. In fact, INP concentrations were sometimes as high as those recorded in mid-latitude locations strongly impacted by highly active biological INPs, in strong contrast to the Southern Ocean. Furthermore, using a balloon borne sampler we demonstrated that INP concentrations were often different at the surface versus higher in the boundary layer where clouds form. Back trajectory analysis suggests that there were strong sources of INPs near the Russian coast, possibly associated with wind-driven sea spray production, whereas the pack ice, open leads, and the marginal ice zone were not sources of highly active INPs. These findings suggest that primary ice production, and therefore Arctic climate, is sensitive to transport from locations such as the Russian coast that are already experiencing marked climate change.
27 Mar 2022Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres volume 127 issue 6. 10.1029/2021JD036059