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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 34, L08801, doi:10.1029/2006GL028850, 2007

Variability of the relationship between particle size and cloud-nucleating ability

James G. Hudson

Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher Education, Reno, Nevada, USA

Abstract

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) are characterized by their critical supersaturation (S_c), which is a function of particle size and chemistry, namely water solubility. Measurements that relate particle size to S_c can thus be used to determine CCN solubility. A sufficiently small degree of variability of size-S_c measurements has been cited as evidence that CCN can be deduced from particle size measurements alone. Since particle size is so much easier to measure than particle chemistry or CCN this would have significant advantages for investigations of the largest climate uncertainty, the indirect aerosol effect; e.g., remote sensing of CCN. However, we present size-S_c measurements with a greater range of variability, which appears to at least limit or cast doubts on the practicality of deducing CCN from particle size measurements.

Received 22 November 2006; accepted 13 March 2007; published 17 April 2007.

Keywords: cloud condensation nuclei.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906); 0320 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry; 0321 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud/radiation interaction; 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251); 0365 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Troposphere: composition and chemistry.

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Citation: Hudson, J. G. (2007), Variability of the relationship between particle size and cloud-nucleating ability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L08801, doi:10.1029/2006GL028850.

Copyright 2007 by the American Geophysical Union.