Themed collection Atmospheric chemistry in cold environments
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Electrical charging of snow and ice in polar regions and the potential impact on atmospheric chemistry
Different processes can lead to high electrical field strengths in snow and ice in polar regions with the potential to initiate free radical processes and a number of other chemical modifications.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2024,4, 144-163
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EA00084B
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Snow particles physiochemistry: feedback on air quality, climate change, and human health
During the last several decades, numerous researchers have provided evidence that physical and biogeochemical processes at air-snow/ice-water interfaces are very complex, and, in many cases, interlinked.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 891-920
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00067A
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The molecular scale mechanism of deposition ice nucleation on silver iodide
Schematic of the proposed deposition ice nucleation mechanism on AgI (0001).
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2024,4, 243-251
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EA00140G
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Atmospheric oxidation impact on sea spray produced ice nucleating particles
Ice nucleating particles (INPs) in sea spray aerosol (SSA) are important for ice formation in clouds over oceans. We found that SSA INP concentrations during a phytoplankton bloom were degraded with exposure to 3 to 8 days of atmospheric oxidation.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2023,3, 1513-1532
https://doi.org/10.1039/D3EA00060E
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Resolving the controls over the production and emission of ice-nucleating particles in sea spray
Oceans emit ice-nucleating particles (INPs) which freeze supercooled cloud droplets, modifying clouds. We added dead biomass of three phytoplankton to seawater. Each time, this stimulated INP production in the water and INP emissions in sea spray.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2023,3, 970-990
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00154C
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Using coherent X-rays to follow dynamics in amorphous ices
Amorphous ice plays an important role in our overall understanding of water's phase diagram.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 1314-1323
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00052K
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Sensitivity of ice nucleation parameterizations to the variability in underlying ice nucleation rate coefficients
We use simulated droplet freezing experiments to probe the impact of variability in ice nucleation propensities (represented as differently-shaped distributions), and observe differences at low frozen fractions and for broad distributions.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 1101-1107
https://doi.org/10.1039/D2EA00019A
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Ice nucleating properties of airborne dust from an actively retreating glacier in Yukon, Canada
Airborne dust from the Kaskawulsh Glacier outwash sediments contains effective INPs. The concentrations and properties of the INPs were investigated.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 714-726
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00101A
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Ice nucleation imaged with X-ray spectro-microscopy
Ice nucleation can now be imaged in situ using X-ray spectro-microscopy in a new experiment, which is applied to mineral aerosol particles composed of ferrihydrite or feldspar and associated organic matter.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 335-351
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00077B
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Size-fractionation of trace elements in dusty snow from open pit bitumen mines and upgraders: collection, handling, preparation and analysis of samples from the Athabasca bituminous sands region of Alberta, Canada
A robust sample handling, processing and analytical method was developed for reliable determination of 40 TEs in dusty snow. The “dissolved” TEs in snow from the ABS region were extremely low, and TEs were almost exclusively found in the particulate fraction.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 428-440
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00034A
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Ice nucleating particles in the Canadian High Arctic during the fall of 2018
Our results suggest that a significant source of ice nucleating particles at Alert, Nunavut, during October and November, was likely ice-free and snow-free land at latitudes >50 °N.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 279-290
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00068C
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Volcanic ash ice nucleation activity is variably reduced by aging in water and sulfuric acid: the effects of leaching, dissolution, and precipitation
The ice nucleation activity of volcanic ash can change when exposed to liquid water or aqueous sulfuric acid through a complex interplay of geochemical alteration mechanisms.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022,2, 85-99
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00071C
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Mineral and biological ice-nucleating particles above the South East of the British Isles
Mineral dust is responsible for the ice-nucleating properties of aerosol samples collected over the British Isles below ∼−20 °C, while an additional source, potentially biogenic, must explain the ice-nucleating properties at higher temperatures.
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2021,1, 176-191
https://doi.org/10.1039/D1EA00003A
About this collection
Atmospheric chemistry occurring in wintertime and in cold regions can have a unique impact on health, geochemical cycles, and climate, due to the presence of ice clouds, snow, and sea ice. This topic collection highlights important research published in Environmental Science: Atmospheres investigating this exciting area with a particular focus on the characteristics of ice-nucleation events.