Articles | Volume 26, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-6703-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-26-6703-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
18 May 2026
Research article |
| 18 May 2026
| 18 May 2026
Strong springtime increase of ice-nucleating particle concentration in the Rocky Mountains
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
A. Gannet Hallar
Storm Peak Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, UT, USA
Ian B. McCubbin
Storm Peak Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, UT, USA
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Joey Bail
Storm Peak Laboratory, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, UT, USA
Karl D. Froyd
Air Innova, Boulder, CO, USA
Justin Jacquot
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, IN, USA
now at: Earth Observing Laboratory, Research Aviation Facility, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, USA
Xiaoli Shen
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, IN, USA
now at: Now at Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Christopher Rapp
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, IN, USA
Ottmar Möhler
Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Daniel Cziczo
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, IN, USA
Data sets
Dataset: Strong springtime increase of ice-nucleating particle concentration in the Rocky Mountains Larissa Lacher et al. https://doi.org/10.35097/yy6adarzhy2xvgx7
Short summary
We observe a trend of increasing ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentration in spring in the Rocky Mountains, related to regional dust emissions that may intensify with climate change. Additionally, super-micrometer particles were found as the most important contributors to the INP population. This finding was partly enabled by a novel setup of the Portable Ice Nucleation Experiment (PINE), coupled with a pumped-counterflow virtual impactor allowing for direct analysis of INP properties.
We observe a trend of increasing ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentration in spring in the...
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