Articles | Volume 26, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-1515-2026
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

Related authors

Unraveling the chemical structures and sources of biomass-derived organic aerosols through a year-long offline analysis in Hyytiälä, Finland
Qianzhe Sun, Ruichen Zhou, Sho Ohata, Chiaki Shirota, Tuukka Petäjä, Ilona Ylivinkka, Lauri Ahonen, Markku Kulmala, and Michihiro Mochida
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1023,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1023, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary

Cited articles

Agresti, A. and Coull, B. A.: Approximate is better than “exact” for interval estimation of binomial proportions, Am. Stat., 52, 119–126, 1998. 
Ashbaugh, L. L., Malm, W. C., and Sadeh, W. Z.: A residence time probability analysis of sulfur concentrations at Grand Canyon National Park, Atmos. Environ., 19, 1263–1270, 1985. 
Atkinson, J. D., Murray, B. J., Woodhouse, M. T., Whale, T. F., Baustian, K. J., Carslaw, K. S., Dobbie, S., O'Sullivan, D., and Malkin, T. L.: The importance of feldspar for ice nucleation by mineral dust in mixed-phase clouds, Nature, 498, 355–358, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12278, 2013. 
Barry, K. R., Hill, T. C. J., Jentzsch, C., Moffett, B. F., Stratmann, F., and DeMott, P. J.: Pragmatic protocols for working cleanly when measuring ice nucleating particles, Atmos. Res., 250, 105419, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosres.2020.105419, 2021a. 
Barry, K. R., Hill, T. C. J., Levin, E. J. T., Twohy, C. H., Moore, K. A., Weller, Z. D., Toohey, D. W., Reeves, M., Campos, T., Geiss, R., Schill, G. P., Fischer, E. V., Kreidenweis, S. M., and DeMott, P. J.: Observations of Ice Nucleating Particles in the Free Troposphere From Western US Wildfires, J. Geophys. Res.: Atmos., 126, e2020JD033752, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020jd033752, 2021b. 
Download
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.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint