| Abstract: | Some cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) constitute a reservoir of latent ice-forming nuclei (IFN) active by condensation-followed-by-freezing and by sorption. Evaporated droplets occasionally left aerosol particles that acted as sorption IFN at temperatures as high as −5°C and water vapor supersaturation over ice of 0.2%. The newly formed aerosol particles (residues of evaporated droplets) are all mixed particles. The discovery of IFN produced from CCN promotes new insights into the process of ice formation in clouds; in an evaporating parcel of a cloud the rate of formation of ice particles will be enhanced by continuous production of IFN. Aerosol particles left behind after evaporation of a cloud may provide a source of IFN for formation of some of the cirrus clouds. |
