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Deep convective clouds as aerosol production engines: Role of insoluble organics
Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
Finnish Meteorological Institute and University of Kuopio, Kuopio, Finland
Climate and Global Change Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
Deep convection associated with thunderstorms and sometimes with frontal systems is an effective way to transport material from the planetary boundary layer to the upper troposphere and even to the lower stratosphere. Aerosol particles observed in clouds and in cloud outflows suggest that deep convection is an important source of particles in the upper troposphere. However, the detailed pathways by which the observed small particles could have been formed inside the clouds are unknown. In this paper we propose a hypothesis, where water insoluble trace gases that can survive the deep convective updraft are producing new particles at low temperatures near the tropopause. In order to be able to verify this new mechanism, laboratory experiments were designed to simulate this process. It was found that ambient water insoluble trace gases were indeed able to produce new aerosol particles by homogeneous nucleation under cloud like conditions. Therefore it seems that our hypothesis gives a plausible explanation for new particle production inside cloud anvils and cloud outflows.
Received 8 December 2005; accepted 31 May 2006; published 7 September 2006.
Citation: (2006), Deep convective clouds as aerosol production engines: Role of insoluble organics, J. Geophys. Res., 111, D17202, doi:10.1029/2005JD006963.
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