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research article

Distinct CCN activation kinetics above the marine boundary layer along the California coast

Ruehl, C. R.
•
Chuang, P. Y.
•
Nenes, Athanasios  
2009
Geophysical Research Letters

The influence of aerosols on cloud properties remains one of the largest sources of uncertainty in estimates of the anthropogenic component of climate change. Here we report the rate of cloud droplet formation on particles sampled at a site near the California coast that is typically above the marine boundary layer. We observed persistent bimodal diameter spectra which are better explained by kinetic limitations than by differences in equilibrium properties. The slowly-growing mode contained 10-25% of the total cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and had apparent mass accommodation coefficients (a) 10-30 times smaller than mat measured for ammonium sulfate. Cloud parcel modeling suggests that most of these slowly-growing CCN will not form cloud droplets. The relatively small and narrow size distribution of the low-a droplets suggest that a condensed film is a more likely cause of these limitations than slow dissolution. Copyright 2009 by the American Geophysical Union.

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Type
research article
DOI
10.1029/2009GL038839
Author(s)
Ruehl, C. R.
•
Chuang, P. Y.
•
Nenes, Athanasios  
Date Issued

2009

Publisher

American Geophysical Union

Published in
Geophysical Research Letters
Volume

36

Issue

15

Article Number

L15814

Subjects

Aerosols

•

Ammonium compounds

•

Boundary layers

•

Dissolution

•

Drop formation

•

Landforms

•

Uncertainty analysis

•

Activation kinetics

•

Ammonium Sulfate

•

Anthropogenic components

•

California

•

Cloud condensation nuclei

•

Cloud droplets

•

Cloud properties

•

Condensed films

•

Equilibrium properties

•

Kinetic limitations

•

Marine boundary layers

•

Mass accommodation coefficient

•

Narrow size distributions

•

Sources of uncertainty

•

Climate change

•

aerosol property

•

ammonium sulfate

•

atmospheric modeling

•

boundary layer

•

cloud condensation nucleus

•

cloud droplet

•

dissolution

•

reaction kinetics

•

size distribution

•

sulfate

•

California

•

North America

•

United States

Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
LAPI  
Available on Infoscience
October 15, 2018
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/149034
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