The impact of aerosol mixing state on immersion freezing: insights from classical nucleation theory and particle-resolved simulations

Tang, Wenhan; Arabas, Sylwester; Curtis, Jeffrey H.; Knopf, Daniel A.; West, Matthew; Riemer, Nicole

doi:10.5194/acp-26-9221-2026

Articles | Volume 26, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-9221-2026

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

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-9221-2026

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

Articles | Volume 26, issue 12

Research article

|

01 Jul 2026

Research article |

| 01 Jul 2026

The impact of aerosol mixing state on immersion freezing: insights from classical nucleation theory and particle-resolved simulations

Wenhan Tang, Sylwester Arabas, Jeffrey H. Curtis, Daniel A. Knopf, Matthew West, and Nicole Riemer

Data sets

Data for: The impact of aerosol mixing state on immersion freezing: Insights from classical nucleation theory and particle-resolved simulations W. Tang et al. https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-6849781_V2

Model code and software

PyPartMC (v2.0.2) Z D'Aquino et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19440879

compdyn/partmc: Version 2.9.0 (2.9.0) M. West et al. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.20939670

Short summary

We studied how aerosol particles help form ice in clouds. Using new theory and detailed computer simulations, we found that the way different materials are mixed within these particles has a strong impact on how much ice forms. When ice-forming material is spread across all particles, more droplets freeze than when it is only in a few. This result means that to better predict clouds and climate, models need to account for how particle materials are mixed.