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    Annual variability of ice-nucleating particle concentrations at different Arctic locations
    (Göttingen : Copernicus GmbH, 2019) Wex, H.; Huang, L.; Zhang, W.; Hung, H.; Traversi, R.; Becagli, S.; Sheesley, R.J.; Moffett, C.E.; Barrett, T.E.; Bossi, R.; Skov, H.; Hünerbein, A.; Lubitz, J.; Löffler, M.; Linke, O.; Hartmann, M.; Herenz, P.; Stratmann, F.
    Number concentrations of ice-nucleating particles (NINP) in the Arctic were derived from ground-based filter samples. Examined samples had been collected in Alert (Nunavut, northern Canadian archipelago on Ellesmere Island), Utqiagvik, formerly known as Barrow (Alaska), Nyalesund (Svalbard), and at the Villum Research Station (VRS; northern Greenland). For the former two stations, examined filters span a full yearly cycle. For VRS, 10 weekly samples, mostly from different months of one year, were included. Samples from Ny-Alesund were collected during the months from March until September of one year. At all four stations, highest concentrations were found in the summer months from roughly June to September. For those stations with sufficient data coverage, an annual cycle can be seen. The spectra of NINP observed at the highest temperatures, i.e., those obtained for summer months, showed the presence of INPs that nucleate ice up to-5 °C. Although the nature of these highly ice-active INPs could not be determined in this study, it often has been described in the literature that ice activity observed at such high temperatures originates from the presence of ice-active material of biogenic origin. Spectra observed at the lowest temperatures, i.e., those derived for winter months, were on the lower end of the respective values from the literature on Arctic INPs or INPs from midlatitude continental sites, to which a comparison is presented herein. An analysis concerning the origin of INPs that were ice active at high temperatures was carried out using back trajectories and satellite information. Both terrestrial locations in the Arctic and the adjacent sea were found to be possible source areas for highly active INPs.
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    Kaolinite particles as ice nuclei: Learning from the use of different kaolinite samples and different coatings
    (Göttingen : Copernicus, 2014) Wex, H.; Demott, P.J.; Tobo, Y.; Hartmann, S.; Rösch, M.; Clauss, T.; Tomsche, L.; Niedermeier, D.; Stratmann, F.
    Kaolinite particles from two different sources (Fluka and Clay Minerals Society (CMS)) were examined with respect to their ability to act as ice nuclei (IN). This was done in the water-subsaturated regime where often deposition ice nucleation is assumed to occur, and for water-supersaturated conditions, i.e., in the immersion freezing mode. Measurements were done using a flow tube (the Leipzig Aerosol Cloud Interaction Simulator, LACIS) and a continuous-flow diffusion chamber (CFDC). Pure and coated particles were used, with coating thicknesses of a few nanometers or less, where the coating consisted of levoglucosan, succinic acid or sulfuric acid. In general, it was found that the coatings strongly reduced deposition ice nucleation. Remaining ice formation in the water-subsaturated regime could be attributed to immersion freezing, with particles immersed in concentrated solutions formed by the coatings. In the immersion freezing mode, ice nucleation rate coefficients het from both instruments agreed well with each other, particularly when the residence times in the instruments were accounted for. Fluka kaolinite particles coated with either levoglucosan or succinic acid showed the same IN activity as pure Fluka kaolinite particles; i.e., it can be assumed that these two types of coating did not alter the ice-active surface chemically, and that the coatings were diluted enough in the droplets that were formed prior to the ice nucleation, so that freezing point depression was negligible. However, Fluka kaolinite particles, which were either coated with pure sulfuric acid or were first coated with the acid and then exposed to additional water vapor, both showed a reduced ability to nucleate ice compared to the pure particles. For the CMS kaolinite particles, the ability to nucleate ice in the immersion freezing mode was similar for all examined particles, i.e., for the pure ones and the ones with the different types of coating. Moreover, het derived for the CMS kaolinite particles was comparable to het derived for Fluka kaolinite particles coated with sulfuric acid. This is suggestive for the Fluka kaolinite possessing a type of ice-nucleating surface feature which is not present on the CMS kaolinite, and which can be destroyed by reaction with sulfuric acid. This might be potassium feldspar.