Seasonal variability, sources, and parameterization of ice-nucleating particles in the Rocky Mountain region: importance of soil dust and biological contributions

Zhou, Ruichen; Perkins, Russell; Juergensen, Drew; Barry, Kevin; Ayars, Kelton; Dutton, Oren; DeMott, Paul; Kreidenweis, Sonia

doi:10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 2

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026

© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 26, issue 2

Research article

|

29 Jan 2026

Research article |

| 29 Jan 2026

Seasonal variability, sources, and parameterization of ice-nucleating particles in the Rocky Mountain region: importance of soil dust and biological contributions

Ruichen Zhou, Russell Perkins, Drew Juergensen, Kevin Barry, Kelton Ayars, Oren Dutton, Paul DeMott, and Sonia Kreidenweis

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026-supplement

Data sets

Ice Nucleation Spectrometer for INP measurement (INP) Y. Shi et a. https://doi.org/10.5439/1770816

Source apportionment of aerosols at the White River IMPROVE site near the SAIL site R. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.5439/2573028

Back trajectories during SAIL. ARM Data Collection, Oak Ridge National Laboratory R. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.5439/2574969

Merged aerosol size distribution from SMPS and OPC for SAIL R. Zhou et al. https://doi.org/10.5439/2572899

Scanning mobility particle sizer (AOSSMPS) C. Kuang et al. https://doi.org/10.5439/1476898

Optical Particle Counter (AOSOPC) E. Cromwell et al. https://doi.org/10.5439/1824224

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Short summary

A small fraction of aerosol particles, microscopic pieces of solid or liquid in the air, are important for controlling the freezing processes in clouds, which in turn impacts rain and snow. This work examines how concentrations of these special and important particles change throughout the year at a measurement location in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We find at this location, most of these special particles are associated with soil dusts in the air, and concentrations decrease in the winter.