He et al. (2025) Response of Mixed‐Phase Cloud Microphysics to Aerosol Perturbations at the Contrasting Sites of Limassol, Cyprus, and Punta Arenas, Chile

Identification

• Journal: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
• Year: 2025
• Date: 2025-09-29
• Authors: Yun He, Patric Seifert, Cristofer Jiménez, Martin Radenz, Albert Ansmann, Johannes Bühl, Rodanthi‐Elisavet Mamouri, Boris Barja
• DOI: 10.1029/2024jd043157

Research Groups

• Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
• Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, Limassol, Cyprus
• Atmospheric Research Laboratory, University of Magallanes, Punta Arenas, Chile

Short Summary

This study investigates the microphysical response of mixed-phase clouds to contrasting aerosol conditions at Limassol, Cyprus (dust-influenced) and Punta Arenas, Chile (continental/marine), finding that ice crystal number concentrations directly correlate with the availability and type of ice-nucleating particles.

Objective

• To disentangle how different aerosol conditions (dust vs. continental/marine) at contrasting sites (Limassol, Cyprus, and Punta Arenas, Chile) result in varying ice microphysical properties within mixed-phase clouds.

Study Configuration

• Spatial Scale: Two contrasting sites: Limassol, Cyprus (34.67°N, 33.04°E), characterized by dust plumes; and Punta Arenas, Chile (53.2°S, 70.9°W), characterized by continental and marine aerosols.
• Temporal Scale:
  • Limassol case: 30 April 2017, within the Cyprus Clouds, Aerosol, and Rain Experiment (CyCARE) (October 2016 – March 2018).
  • Punta Arenas case: 28 November 2018, within the Dynamics, Aerosol, Clouds, And Precipitation Observations in the Pristine Environment of the Southern Ocean (DACAPO-PESO) field campaign (November 2018 – November 2021).

Methodology and Data

• Models used:
  • Parameterizations from DeMott et al. [6] for dust-related ice-nucleating particle concentration (INPC).
  • Parameterizations from DeMott et al. [7] for continental aerosol-related INPC.
• Data sources:
  • Ground-based remote sensing observations from the mobile Leipzig Aerosol and Cloud Remote Observations System (LACROS).
  • MIRA-35 35-GHz cloud radar.
  • Portable PollyXT multi-wavelength Raman polarization lidar.
  • Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS1) analysis for meteorological parameters.
  • Ice crystal number concentration (ICNC) retrieved using a combined lidar-radar method [5].
  • Ice-nucleating particle concentration (INPC) obtained using the Polarization Lidar PHOtometer Networking (POLIPHON) method [4].

Main Results

• At Limassol, abundant dust ice-nucleating particles (INPs) led to high ice crystal number concentrations (ICNC) ranging from 1.0 × 10^3 to 1.0 × 10^4 per cubic meter, with cloud top temperatures around -26.7 °C and -20.6 °C.
• At Punta Arenas, significantly lower INP concentrations, primarily contributed by continental aerosols (even with an assumed 4% contribution to total aerosol loading), resulted in ICNC values of 1.0 × 10^1 to 1.0 × 10^2 per cubic meter, with a cloud top temperature of -14.8 °C.
• A general agreement (closure) was found between the profiles of INPC and ICNC within one order of magnitude for both cases.
• Quantitatively, two orders of magnitude fewer INPC at Punta Arenas directly corresponded to two orders of magnitude fewer ICNC compared to Limassol.

Contributions

• This study provides detailed case studies using combined lidar-radar observations to directly link contrasting aerosol conditions to specific ice microphysical properties in mixed-phase clouds, moving beyond previous statistical analyses.
• It quantitatively demonstrates the direct influence of ice-nucleating particle supply on ice crystal number concentrations in different atmospheric environments.

Funding

• [No specific funding projects, programs, or reference codes were mentioned in the provided paper text.]

Citation

@article{He2025Response,
  author = {He, Yun and Seifert, Patric and Jiménez, Cristofer and Radenz, Martin and Ansmann, Albert and Bühl, Johannes and Mamouri, Rodanthi‐Elisavet and Barja, Boris},
  title = {Response of Mixed‐Phase Cloud Microphysics to Aerosol Perturbations at the Contrasting Sites of Limassol, Cyprus, and Punta Arenas, Chile},
  journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1029/2024jd043157},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1029/2024jd043157}
}