Document Type

Data

Publication Date

11-17-2025

Abstract

Experiments in the Pi Convection-Cloud Chamber conducted by systematically changing the diameter of injected dry aerosol particles while holding the temperature gradient constant demonstrate that dry diameter strongly influences the onset of haze-dominated conditions. Two factors contribute: the system becomes water-limited, resulting in reduction of supersaturation by growing aerosol particles to the activation diameter; and the activation process becomes kinetically limited. Aerosol dry diameter exerts a strong influence on activation time, with a power-law exponent of 9/2. Kinetically-limited activation occurs when the ratio of the activation and droplet residence times is greater than unity. The findings demonstrate that a haze-dominated state, where cloud formation is suppressed, can be achieved not only with weak supersaturation forcing and high aerosol concentration but also with large, hygroscopic aerosol particles. These results have implications for cloud formation in polluted environments, fog development near the ocean, and hygroscopic cloud seeding.

Comments

This research was supported by NSF grant AGS-2133229. E.R. Lewis and F. Yang were funded by DOE as part of the Atmospheric System Research (ASR) program under contract DE-SC0012704.

This paper this data supports has been submitted for publication in Geophysical Research Letters.

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