A Technique to Measure Ice Nuclei in the Contact Mode

Abstract

Abstract This study presents a new technique to study ice nucleation by aerosols in the contact mode. Contact freezing depends upon the interaction of a supercooled droplet of water and an aerosol particle, with the caveat that the particle must be at the air–water interface. To measure nucleation catalyzed in this mode, the technique employs water droplets that are supercooled via a temperature-controlled copper stage, then pulls aerosol-laden air past them. Particles deposit out of the airstream and come into contact with the surface of the droplet. The probability that a particle–droplet collision initiates a freezing event, necessitating knowledge of the total number of particles that collide with the droplet, is reported. In tests of the technique, ice nucleation by the bacteria Pseudomonas syringae is found to be more efficient in the contact mode than in the immersion mode by two orders of magnitude at −3°C with the difference diminishing by −8°C.