Articles | Volume 25, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8671-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8671-2025
© Author(s) 2025. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Measurement report
| 
11 Aug 2025
Measurement report |
| 11 Aug 2025
| 11 Aug 2025
Measurement report: Influence of particle density on secondary ice production by graupel and frozen drop collisions
Sudha Yadav
Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Lilly Metten
Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
Pierre Grzegorczyk
Laboratoire de Météorologie Physique (UMR6016)/UCA/CNRS, Aubière, France
Alexander Theis
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Subir K. Mitra
Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz, Germany
Institute for Atmospheric Physics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
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Secondary ice production generates high concentrations of ice crystals in clouds. These processes have been poorly understood. We conducted experiments at the wind tunnel laboratory of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, on graupel–graupel and graupel–snowflake collisions. From these experiments fragment number, size, cross-sectional area, and aspect ratio were determined.
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We investigated the retention of chemical species and their binary mixtures during freezing of raindrops via acoustic levitation. Our results reveal high retention, with nearly all substances being fully retained during freezing. This could be attributed to a faster freezing time compared to a slower mass expulsion time, along with ice shell formation during freezing. This result helps improve our understanding of the interaction between ice microphysical processes and chemistry in deep convective clouds.
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Riming, a crucial process in cloud dynamics, influences the vertical distribution of compounds in the atmosphere. Experiments in Mainz's wind tunnel investigated retention coefficients of organic compounds under varying conditions. Findings suggest a correlation between the Henry's law constant and retention, applicable even to complex organic molecules.
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Secondary ice production generates high concentrations of ice crystals in clouds. These processes have been poorly understood. We conducted experiments at the wind tunnel laboratory of the Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, on graupel–graupel and graupel–snowflake collisions. From these experiments fragment number, size, cross-sectional area, and aspect ratio were determined.
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The freezing of cloud drops is promoted by ice-nucleating particles immersed in the drops. This process is essential to understand ice and subsequent precipitation formation in clouds. We investigated the efficiency of several particle types to trigger immersion freezing with two single-drop levitation techniques: a wind tunnel and an acoustic levitator. The evaluation accounted for different conditions during our two series of experiments, which is also applicable to future comparison studies.
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The properties of ice crystals smaller than 150 µm in diameter were investigated in a cold-room laboratory using digital holography and microscopy. Automated image processing has been used to determine the track of falling ice crystals, and collected crystals were melted and scanned under a microscope to infer particle mass. A parameterization relating particle size and mass was determined which describes ice crystals in this size range more accurately than existing relationships.
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Short summary
Laboratory studies on the fragmentation of ice particles by collision are presented. Graupel particles were created by riming at –7 and –15 °C, also simulating rotation and tumbling. Frozen ice drops were generated by freezing water in 3D-printed spherical molds. The number of fragments generated by collision was between 1 and 20 and was strongly dependent on the density of the graupel. We also showed that the number of fragments approaches zero when the particle suffers more than three collisions in a row.
Laboratory studies on the fragmentation of ice particles by collision are presented. Graupel...
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