Abundance of fluorescent biological aerosol particles at temperatures
conducive to the formation of mixed-phase and cirrus clouds

Twohy, Cynthia H.; McMeeking, Gavin R.; DeMott, Paul J.; McCluskey, Christina S.; Hill, Thomas C. J.; Burrows, Susannah M.; Kulkarni, Gourihar R.; Tanarhte, Meryem; Kafle, Durga N.; Toohey, Darin W.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8205-2016

Articles | Volume 16, issue 13

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8205-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8205-2016

© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 13

Research article

|

08 Jul 2016

Research article |

| 08 Jul 2016

Abundance of fluorescent biological aerosol particles at temperatures conducive to the formation of mixed-phase and cirrus clouds

Cynthia H. Twohy, Gavin R. McMeeking, Paul J. DeMott, Christina S. McCluskey, Thomas C. J. Hill, Susannah M. Burrows, Gourihar R. Kulkarni, Meryem Tanarhte, Durga N. Kafle, and Darin W. Toohey

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8205-2016-supplement

Data sets

MPL data ARM data Archive Cente http://www.archive.arm.gov

MFRSR data ARM data Archive Cente http://www.archive.arm.gov

SONDE data ARM data Archive Cente http://www.archive.arm.gov

Low Rate (LRT - 1 sps) Navigation, State Parameter, and Microphysics Flight-Level Data UCAR/NCAR - Earth Observing Laboratory http://data.eol.ucar.edu/codiac/dss/id=378.010

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Short summary

Fluorescent biological aerosol particles were measured in autumn over the continental United States at a variety of altitudes and temperatures, spanning the atmospheric boundary layer to the upper troposphere. Number concentrations of these particles generally decreased with height but were most variable at middle altitudes, above the boundary layer. This corresponds to the temperature range where biological particles may be more important than mineral dust at nucleating ice in clouds.