Articles | Volume 18, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2305-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-18-2305-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Data description article
| 
27 Mar 2026
Data description article |
| 27 Mar 2026
| 27 Mar 2026
Measurements of water droplet size distributions in a turbulent wind tunnel
Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Silvio Schmalfuß
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
Frank Stratmann
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
Dennis Niedermeier
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
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Measurements of ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations are valuable for the simulation of cloud properties. In recent years, filter sampling in combination with offline INP measurements has become increasingly popular. However, most sampling is ground-based, and the vertical transport of INPs is not well quantified. The High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA) for applications on board aircraft was developed to expand the sparse dataset of INP concentrations at cloud level.
Dimitri Castarède, Zoé Brasseur, Yusheng Wu, Zamin A. Kanji, Markus Hartmann, Lauri Ahonen, Merete Bilde, Markku Kulmala, Tuukka Petäjä, Jan B. C. Pettersson, Berko Sierau, Olaf Stetzer, Frank Stratmann, Birgitta Svenningsson, Erik Swietlicki, Quynh Thu Nguyen, Jonathan Duplissy, and Erik S. Thomson
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Clouds play a key role in Earth’s climate by influencing the surface energy budget. Certain types of atmospheric aerosols, called ice-nucleating particles (INPs), induce the formation of ice in clouds and, thus, often initiate precipitation formation. The Portable Ice Nucleation Chamber 2 (PINCii) is a new instrument developed to study ice formation and to conduct ambient measurements of INPs, allowing us to investigate the sources and properties of the atmospheric aerosols that can act as INPs.
Kevin C. H. Sze, Heike Wex, Markus Hartmann, Henrik Skov, Andreas Massling, Diego Villanueva, and Frank Stratmann
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Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) play an important role in cloud formation and thus in our climate. But little is known about the abundance and properties of INPs, especially in the Arctic, where the temperature increases almost 4 times as fast as that of the rest of the globe. We observe higher INP concentrations and more biological INPs in summer than in winter, likely from local sources. We also provide three equations for estimating INP concentrations in models at different times of the year.
Yuan Wang, Silvia Henning, Laurent Poulain, Chunsong Lu, Frank Stratmann, Yuying Wang, Shengjie Niu, Mira L. Pöhlker, Hartmut Herrmann, and Alfred Wiedensohler
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Aerosol particle activation affects cloud, precipitation, radiation, and thus the global climate. Its long-term measurements are important but still scarce. In this study, more than 4 years of measurements at a central European station were analyzed. The overall characteristics and seasonal changes of aerosol particle activation are summarized. The power-law fit between particle hygroscopicity factor and diameter was recommended for predicting cloud
condensation nuclei number concentration.
Xianda Gong, Martin Radenz, Heike Wex, Patric Seifert, Farnoush Ataei, Silvia Henning, Holger Baars, Boris Barja, Albert Ansmann, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10505–10525, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10505-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10505-2022, 2022
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The sources of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are poorly understood in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). We studied INPs in the boundary layer in the southern Patagonia region. No seasonal cycle of INP concentrations was observed. The majority of INPs are biogenic particles, likely from local continental sources. The INP concentrations are higher when strong precipitation occurs. While previous studies focused on marine INP sources in SH, we point out the importance of continental sources of INPs.
Christian Tatzelt, Silvia Henning, André Welti, Andrea Baccarini, Markus Hartmann, Martin Gysel-Beer, Manuela van Pinxteren, Robin L. Modini, Julia Schmale, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9721–9745, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9721-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9721-2022, 2022
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We present the abundance and origin of cloud-relevant aerosol particles in the preindustral-like conditions of the Southern Ocean (SO) during austral summer. Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particles (INP) were measured during a circum-Antarctic scientific cruise with in situ instrumentation and offline filter measurements, respectively. Transport processes were found to play an equally important role as local sources for both the CCN and INP population of the SO.
Jakub L. Nowak, Robert Grosz, Wiebke Frey, Dennis Niedermeier, Jędrzej Mijas, Szymon P. Malinowski, Linda Ort, Silvio Schmalfuß, Frank Stratmann, Jens Voigtländer, and Tadeusz Stacewicz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4075–4089, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4075-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4075-2022, 2022
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A high-resolution infrared hygrometer (FIRH) was adapted to measure humidity and its rapid fluctuations in turbulence inside a moist-air wind tunnel LACIS-T where two air streams of different temperature and humidity are mixed. The measurement was achieved from outside the tunnel through its glass windows and provided an agreement with a reference dew-point hygrometer placed inside. The characterization of humidity complements previous investigations of velocity and temperature fields.
Manuela van Pinxteren, Tiera-Brandy Robinson, Sebastian Zeppenfeld, Xianda Gong, Enno Bahlmann, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Nadja Triesch, Frank Stratmann, Oliver Wurl, Anja Engel, Heike Wex, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5725–5742, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5725-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5725-2022, 2022
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A class of marine particles (transparent exopolymer particles, TEPs) that is ubiquitously found in the world oceans was measured for the first time in ambient marine aerosol particles and marine cloud waters in the tropical Atlantic Ocean. TEPs are likely to have good properties for influencing clouds. We show that TEPs are transferred from the ocean to the marine atmosphere via sea-spray formation and our results suggest that they can also form directly in aerosol particles and in cloud water.
Xianda Gong, Heike Wex, Thomas Müller, Silvia Henning, Jens Voigtländer, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5175–5194, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5175-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5175-2022, 2022
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We conducted 10 yr measurements to characterize the atmospheric aerosol at Cabo Verde. An unsupervised machine learning algorithm, K-means, was implemented to study the aerosol types. Cloud condensation nuclei number concentrations during dust periods were 2.5 times higher than marine periods. The long-term data sets, together with the aerosol classification, can be used as a basis to improve understanding of annual cycles of aerosol, and aerosol-cloud interactions in the North Atlantic.
Rupert Holzinger, Oliver Eppers, Kouji Adachi, Heiko Bozem, Markus Hartmann, Andreas Herber, Makoto Koike, Dylan B. Millet, Nobuhiro Moteki, Sho Ohata, Frank Stratmann, and Atsushi Yoshida
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-95, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-95, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
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In spring 2018 the research aircraft Polar 5 conducted flights in the Arctic atmosphere. The flight operation was from Station Nord in Greenland, 1700 km north of the Arctic Circle (81°43'N, 17°47'W). Using a mass spectrometer we measured more than 100 organic compounds in the air. We found a clear signature of natural organic compounds that are transported from forests to the high Arctic. These compounds have the potential to change the cloud cover and energy budget of the Arctic region.
Markus Hartmann, Xianda Gong, Simonas Kecorius, Manuela van Pinxteren, Teresa Vogl, André Welti, Heike Wex, Sebastian Zeppenfeld, Hartmut Herrmann, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11613–11636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11613-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11613-2021, 2021
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Ice-nucleating particles (INPs) are not well characterized in the Arctic despite their importance for the Arctic energy budget. Little is known about their nature (mineral or biological) and sources (terrestrial or marine, long-range transport or local). We find indications that, at the beginning of the melt season, a local, biogenic, probably marine source is likely, but significant enrichment of INPs has to take place from the ocean to the aerosol phase.
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Short summary
In order to gain a better understanding on the impact of entrainment on cloud droplet size distributions, water droplets were sprayed into the mixing plane of a turbulent wind tunnel, where two separately conditioned air streams are combined. One air stream resembling 'in cloud' conditions (with relative humidity close to saturation) and one air stream resembling 'out of cloud' conditions, which are dryer and warmer. The paper describes the data set and outlines future use examples.
In order to gain a better understanding on the impact of entrainment on cloud droplet size...
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