Articles | Volume 24, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9939-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9939-2024
Research article
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09 Sep 2024
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 09 Sep 2024

Biological and dust aerosols as sources of ice-nucleating particles in the eastern Mediterranean: source apportionment, atmospheric processing and parameterization

Kunfeng Gao, Franziska Vogel, Romanos Foskinis, Stergios Vratolis, Maria I. Gini, Konstantinos Granakis, Anne-Claire Billault-Roux, Paraskevi Georgakaki, Olga Zografou, Prodromos Fetfatzis, Alexis Berne, Alexandros Papayannis, Konstantinos Eleftheridadis, Ottmar Möhler, and Athanasios Nenes

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Cited articles

Barahona, D. and Nenes, A.: Parameterizing the competition between homogeneous and heterogeneous freezing in ice cloud formation – polydisperse ice nuclei, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 5933–5948, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-5933-2009, 2009. 
Barlow, J. F., Dunbar, T. M., Nemitz, E. G., Wood, C. R., Gallagher, M. W., Davies, F., O'Connor, E., and Harrison, R. M.: Boundary layer dynamics over London, UK, as observed using Doppler lidar during REPARTEE-II, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 2111–2125, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-2111-2011, 2011. 
Bates, T. S., Kapustin, V. N., Quinn, P. K., Covert, D. S., Coffman, D. J., Mari, C., Durkee, P. A., De Bruyn, W. J., and Saltzman, E. S.: Processes controlling the distribution of aerosol particles in the lower marine boundary layer during the First Aerosol Characterization Experiment (ACE 1), J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 103, 16369–16383, https://doi.org/10.1029/97jd03720, 1998. 
Beall, C. M., Hill, T. C. J., DeMott, P. J., Köneman, T., Pikridas, M., Drewnick, F., Harder, H., Pöhlker, C., Lelieveld, J., Weber, B., Iakovides, M., Prokeš, R., Sciare, J., Andreae, M. O., Stokes, M. D., and Prather, K. A.: Ice-nucleating particles near two major dust source regions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 12607–12627, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-12607-2022, 2022. 
Bergeron, T.: On the physics of clouds and precipitation, in: Proces Verbaux de l'Association de Météorologie, International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics, 156–178, https://cir.nii.ac.jp/crid/1573105975504427392 (last access: 5 September 2024), 1935. 
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Executive editor
Ice Nucleating Particles (INP) remain one of the biggest sources of uncertainty when mechanistically predicting the properties of clouds and precipitation in meteorological and earth system models. This paper presents the results from some comprehensive in situ and remote sensing measurements of these aerosols at a mountaintop site in the Eastern Mediterranean, performing a highly detailed study of their sources and properties, including those of dust and bioaerosol. The results are then used to generate new parameterisations that can be applied in large-scale models, thus providing an observational basis for improving future predictions.
Short summary
Ice nucleating particle (INP) concentrations  are required for correct predictions of clouds and precipitation in a changing climate, but they are poorly constrained in climate models. We unravel source contributions to INPs in the eastern Mediterranean and find that biological particles are important, regardless of their origin. The parameterizations developed exhibit superior performance and enable models to consider biological-particle effects on INPs.
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