Articles | Volume 21, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3871-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3871-2021
Research article
 | 
15 Mar 2021
Research article |  | 15 Mar 2021

The importance of Aitken mode aerosol particles for cloud sustenance in the summertime high Arctic – a simulation study supported by observational data

Ines Bulatovic, Adele L. Igel, Caroline Leck, Jost Heintzenberg, Ilona Riipinen, and Annica M. L. Ekman

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Cited articles

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Short summary
We use detailed numerical modelling to show that small aerosol particles (diameters ~25–80 nm; so-called Aitken mode particles) significantly influence low-level cloud properties in the clean summertime high Arctic. The small particles can help sustain clouds when the concentration of larger particles is low (<10–20 cm-3). Measurements from four different observational campaigns in the high Arctic support the modelling results as they indicate that Aitken mode aerosols are frequently activated.
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