Measuring atmospheric marine ice nucleating particles using cryopreservatin technologies (CryoINC)

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Despite oceans covering over 70% of the planet and sea spray being one of the dominant aerosol types in the atmosphere, its role in the formation of ice in clouds remains poorly understood. At present we do not know if Ice Nucleating Particles (INPs) in the oceanic atmosphere are derived from local marine biogenic sources or from long range transport from the continents. In this proposal the student will measure oceanic INP with an instrument recently developed for use in cryopreservation applications.The student will work in close collaboration with Asymptote Ltd who are an SME company specialising in cryopreservation and crystallisation and have a strong track record with Murray. They have recently developed a new system for the controlled freezing of biological samples which could be easily adapted for atmospheric INP research. The student will work at Asymptote's laboratories in Cambridge in order to learn how to use this instrument and make minor adaptations to it for the measurement of atmospheric INP (CryoINC). The Asymptote controlled rate freezing equipment uses Stirling cryocoolers to achieve low temperatures and only needs an electrical supply making it portable and ideal for field work, whereas conventional systems use inconvenient liquid nitrogen or fluids cooled using mechanical compressors. An earlier version has been successfully used on cruises to the Arctic and Atlantic by Murray's team. Asymptote's instrument is compatible with a wide range of robotic and automation technologies, which with additional investment (possibly from the Technology Strategy Board) will allow us to develop a commercial autonomous INP measurement system.The student will deploy CryoINC in several marine environments in collaboration with our project partners. The first will be at the well-established Mace Head atmospheric observatory on the West Coast of Ireland which is an ideal land-based site for sampling marine air. The second will be on board a research ship, facilitated by the British Antarctic Survey, in the remote marine environment possibly on a cruise to Antarctica via the Atlantic. Risk to the student's project is reduced by making use of an established atmospheric observatory, while also offering highly valuable ship based fieldwork training in the more challenging remote oceanic environment.