PNNL

Abstract

It has become important to characterize the physicochemical properties of aerosol that have initiated the warm and ice clouds. The data is urgently needed to better represent the aerosol-cloud interaction mechanisms in the climate models. The laboratory and in-situ techniques to separate precisely the aerosol particles that act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN), termed as cloud nuclei (CN) henceforth, have become imperative in studying aerosol effects on clouds and the environment. This review summarizes these techniques, design considerations, associated artifacts and challenges, and briefly discusses the need for improved designs to expand the CN measurement database.