Collaborative Research: A Novel Laboratory Approach for Exploring Contact Ice Nucleation

该项目旨在增进对大气中非均质冰成核的物理机制的基本了解，特别注重接触成核。接触成核，即在冰核粒子(INP)和液滴碰撞后发生的，可以说是最不被理解的成冰机制。这项研究将解决以下科学问题：(1)能否建立可靠的方法来测量接触式冰核？(2)在接触式成核过程中，最重要的是液滴表面的INP位置还是碰撞？(3)什么类型的气溶胶是最有效的INP？它们在浸入和接触模式成核方面是否相同？(4)潜在的INP大小重要吗？在衬底上的测量是否代表自由漂浮的液滴？该项目将支持博士后、研究生和未毕业的学生，以及为年轻学生开发专注于大气科学的教育游戏。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project seeks to increase fundamental understanding of the physical mechanisms that drive heterogeneous ice nucleation in the atmosphere, with a particular focus on contact nucleation. Contact nucleation, that occurs after an ice nucleating particle (INP) and a droplet collide, is arguably the least understood mechanism for nucleating ice. Numerical models that incorporate improved mechanisms that represent ice nucleation may lead to more accurate daily weather forecasts and predictions of climate change.This research will address the following science questions: (1) Can methods be established to measure contact ice nucleation reliably? (2) In the contact nucleation process, is it the INP position at a droplet's surface or the collision that is important? (3) What types of aerosols are the most effective INPs? Are they the same in immersion and contact mode nucleation? (4) Does potential INP size matter and can measurement on a substrate represent free-floating droplets?The project will support a postdoc and both graduate and ungraduated students, as well as the development of educational games that focus on atmospheric science for younger students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.