Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-30-2011

Department

Department of Physics

Abstract

Heterogeneous ice nucleation, a primary pathway for ice formation in the atmosphere, has been described alternately as being stochastic, in direct analogy with homogeneous nucleation, or singular, with ice nuclei initiating freezing at deterministic temperatures. We present an idealized, conceptual model to explore the transition between stochastic and singular ice nucleation. This "soccer ball" model treats particles as being covered with surface sites (patches of finite area) characterized by different nucleation barriers, but with each surface site following the stochastic nature of ice embryo formation. The model provides a phenomenological explanation for seemingly contradictory experimental results obtained in our research groups. Even with ice nucleation treated fundamentally as a stochastic process this process can be masked by the heterogeneity of surface properties, as might be typical for realistic atmospheric particle populations. Full evaluation of the model findings will require experiments with well characterized ice nucleating particles and the ability to vary both temperature and waiting time for freezing.

Publisher's Statement

© 2011 Author(s). Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-8767-2011

Publication Title

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Version

Publisher's PDF

Included in

Physics Commons

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