Articles | Volume 19, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2183-2019
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2183-2019
Research article
 | 
20 Feb 2019
Research article |  | 20 Feb 2019

Droplet activation behaviour of atmospheric black carbon particles in fog as a function of their size and mixing state

Ghislain Motos, Julia Schmale, Joel C. Corbin, Marco Zanatta, Urs Baltensperger, and Martin Gysel-Beer

Related authors

Drivers of droplet formation in east Mediterranean orographic clouds
Romanos Foskinis, Ghislain Motos, Maria I. Gini, Olga Zografou, Kunfeng Gao, Stergios Vratolis, Konstantinos Granakis, Ville Vakkari, Kalliopi Violaki, Andreas Aktypis, Christos Kaltsonoudis, Zongbo Shi, Mika Komppula, Spyros N. Pandis, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Alexandros Papayannis, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9827–9842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9827-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Aerosol and dynamical contributions to cloud droplet formation in Arctic low-level clouds
Ghislain Motos, Gabriel Freitas, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Jörg Wieder, Guangyu Li, Wenche Aas, Chris Lunder, Radovan Krejci, Julie Thérèse Pasquier, Jan Henneberger, Robert Oscar David, Christoph Ritter, Claudia Mohr, Paul Zieger, and Athanasios Nenes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13941–13956, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13941-2023, 2023
Short summary
Physicochemical characterization and source apportionment of Arctic ice-nucleating particles observed in Ny-Ålesund in autumn 2019
Guangyu Li, Elise K. Wilbourn, Zezhen Cheng, Jörg Wieder, Allison Fagerson, Jan Henneberger, Ghislain Motos, Rita Traversi, Sarah D. Brooks, Mauro Mazzola, Swarup China, Athanasios Nenes, Ulrike Lohmann, Naruki Hiranuma, and Zamin A. Kanji
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10489–10516, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10489-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10489-2023, 2023
Short summary
Cloud droplet activation properties and scavenged fraction of black carbon in liquid-phase clouds at the high-alpine research station Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.)
Ghislain Motos, Julia Schmale, Joel C. Corbin, Rob. L. Modini, Nadine Karlen, Michele Bertò, Urs Baltensperger, and Martin Gysel-Beer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3833–3855, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3833-2019,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3833-2019, 2019
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Measurement report: Long-term assessment of primary and secondary organic aerosols in the Shanghai megacity throughout China's Clean Air actions since 2010
Haifeng Yu, Yunhua Chang, Lin Cheng, Yusen Duan, and Jianlin Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5355–5369, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5355-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5355-2025, 2025
Short summary
The evolution of aerosol mixing state derived from a field campaign in Beijing: implications for particle aging timescales in urban atmospheres
Jieyao Liu, Fang Zhang, Jingye Ren, Lu Chen, Anran Zhang, Zhe Wang, Songjian Zou, Honghao Xu, and Xingyan Yue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5075–5086, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5075-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5075-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement report: Size-resolved particle effective density measured by an AAC-SMPS and implications for chemical composition
Yao Song, Jing Wei, Wenlong Zhao, Jinmei Ding, Xiangyu Pei, Fei Zhang, Zhengning Xu, Ruifang Shi, Ya Wei, Lu Zhang, Lingling Jin, and Zhibin Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4755–4766, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4755-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4755-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement report: Aircraft observations of aerosol and microphysical quantities of stratocumulus in autumn over Guangxi Province, China – daylight variation, vertical distribution, and aerosol–cloud interactions
Sihan Liu, Honglei Wang, Delong Zhao, Wei Zhou, Yuanmou Du, Zhengguo Zhang, Peng Cheng, Tianliang Zhao, Yue Ke, Zihao Wu, and Mengyu Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4151–4165, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4151-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4151-2025, 2025
Short summary
Hygroscopic aerosols amplify longwave downward radiation in the Arctic
Denghui Ji, Mathias Palm, Matthias Buschmann, Kerstin Ebell, Marion Maturilli, Xiaoyu Sun, and Justus Notholt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3889–3904, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3889-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3889-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Baltensperger, U., Streit, N., Weingartner, E., Nyeki, S., Prévôt, A. S. H., Dingenen, R. V., Virkkula, A., Putaud, J.-P., Even, A., Brink, H. ten, Blatter, A., Neftel, A., and Gäggeler, H. W.: Urban and rural aerosol characterization of summer smog events during the PIPAPO field campaign in Milan, Italy, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, LOP6-1–LOP6-14, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001JD001292, 2002. 
Bond, T. C., Habib, G., and Bergstrom, R. W.: Limitations in the enhancement of visible light absorption due to mixing state, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D20211, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007315, 2006. 
Brown, S., Lee, T., Roberts, P., and Collett, J.: Wintertime residential biomass burning in Las Vegas, Nevada; marker components and apportionment methods, Atmosphere, 7, 58, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos7040058, 2016. 
Download
Short summary
Clouds form by condensation of water vapour on aerosol particles. We showed that black carbon, a subset of particles responsible for a climate warming due to their strong light absorption and known to be insoluble in water, were able to form droplets when the humidity of the air is very slightly over 100 %. This is made possible by their acquisition of a coating made of hydrophilic material during atmospheric aging. The predictability of this process using theory was successfully tested.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint