Approximate Models for Lateral Growth on Ice Crystal Surfaces during Vapor Depositional Growth

Abstract

AbstractMeasurements show that after facets form on frozen water droplets, those facets grow laterally across the crystal surface leading to an increase in volume and surface area with only a small increase in maximum dimension. This lateral growth of the facets is distinctly different from that predicted by the capacitance model and by the theory of faceted growth. In this paper we develop two approximate theories of lateral growth, one that is empirical and one that uses explicit growth mechanisms. We show that both theories can reproduce the overall features of lateral growth on a frozen, supercooled water droplet. Both theories predict that the area-average deposition coefficient should decrease in time as the particle grows, and this result may help explain the divergence of some prior measurements of the deposition coefficient. The theories may also explain the approximately constant mass growth rates that have recently been found in some measurements. We also show that the empirical theory can reproduce the lateral growth that occurs when a previously sublimated crystal is regrown, as may happen during the recycling of crystals in cold clouds.