INUIT - Ice Nuclei Research Unit

INUIT was a DFG funded research group (FOR 1525) that started in November 2011. The research group ("Forschergruppe") investigated heterogenous ice formation in the atmosphere. This included laboratory investigations, field experiments and model studies. After the first phase (INUIT-1, 11/2011 - 12/2014) the project has shown to be successful, such that in November 2014, the proposal for a second phase of the project was positively evaluated. The second phase, INUIT-2 ran from 01/2015 until 12/2018.

Project partners:

University Frankfurt (Coordinating Institute, Spokesperson: Prof. J. Curtius)
Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), Mainz
University Mainz (JGU)
University Bielefeld
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig
Technical University Darmstadt (TUD)

Work Packages:
- WP-L: Laboratory Studies (coordination: O. Möhler, KIT)
- WP-F: Field measurements (coordination: J. Schneider, MPIC)
- WP-M: Modelling, theory, parameterizations, synthesis of results (coordination: K. Diehl, JGU; C. Hoose, KIT)

Our research project investigated ice nuclei compostion by means of mass spectrometry and counterflow impactor technique. As the coordinating team for the work package "Field measurements", we organized four field campaigns and participated in several laboratory campaigns.

People involved:
J. Schneider, S. Schmidt, H.-C. Clemen, T. Klimach, O. Eppers

Field campaigns:

 

INUIT-TO, Taunus Observatory, Germany, August 2012

The main purpose of this field campaign was the first field test of the coupling of the IN counter FINCH (U Frankfurt) and the Aerosol-MS via a newly developed pumped CVI (counterflow virtual impactor, TROPOS). Additionally, aerosol samples were taken and analyzed offline with respect to the IN concentration (FRIDGE, U Frankfurt). CCN size spectra were measured and a high volume sampler was used to sample biological aerosol particles and analyze their DNA (MPIC). The campaing took place at the Taunus-Observatory (TO), an infrastructure that is provided by the Goethe-University Frankfurt.

In addition to the INUIT partners, several groups joined the project: J. Crowley (MPIC, Cavity ring-down spectrometer, NO₃, N₂O₅, NO₂, Iodide-CIMS, ClNO₂, MARGA (U Helsinki), aerosol and gas composition); J. Williams (MPIC, PTR-MS, chlorine reactivity); T. Hoffmann/A. Vogel (U Mainz, APCI-MS, organic aerosol components).

 

INUIT-JFJ, High Alpine Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, Jan/Feb 2013

This field campaign was a collaboration between the projects INUIT, CLACE2013, INUPIAQ, and NUCLAC.
The main objective was the in-situ characterization of ice particle residuals (IPR) sampled from mixed-phase. Furthermore, ice nucelating particles (INP) activated by an ice nucleus counter were exctracted by a pumped CVI and analysed by offline and online methods. Additionally, aerosol properties and cloud microphysical properties were investigated.

Participating groups:
  Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland
  Max Planck Insitute for Chemistry (MPIC), Mainz, Germany
  Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
  Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany
  Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
  Technical University Darmstadt, Germany
  University Manchester, UK
  Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Germany
  University Gießen, Germany
  Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland
  University Basel, Switzerland
  Weizmann Institute, Rehovot, Israel
  University Helsinki

 

INUIT-Cyprus, Agia Marina Xyliatou, Cyprus, April 2016

The INUIT-Cyprus 2016 campaign took place from March 29 to April 28, 2016 at the Cyprus Atmospheric Observatory (CAO) at Agia Marina Xyliatou that is operated by the Cyprus Institute. The campaign is a cooperation with the EU-funded project BACCHUS and is also funded by ACTRIS TNA.

Link to the campaign blog.

The main objective of the campaign was the in-situ characterization of atmospheric ice nucleating particle (INP) close to their sources. Desert dust and marine aerosol were investigated with respect to their ice nucleation properties. The measurements included microphysical analyses of aerosol and INP, like size distribution and number concentration, as well as chemical analyses like aerosol mass spectrometry, high-volume filter sampling, fluorescence analysis etc.

Project partners:

 Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), Mainz, Germany
    - Particle Chemsitry Department (J. Schneider, H. Clemen, F. Köllner): Aerosol mass spectrometer ALABAMA, CPC, OPC, MAAP
    - Multiphase Chemistry Departement (J. Fröhlich, P. Yordanova): High-volume sampler with DNA-analysis
  Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany
    - Fast Ice Nucleation Chamber FINCH (D. Rose, R. Kohl, F. Frank)
    - FRIDGE (H. Bingemer, D. Weber, J. Schrod, J. Drücke, R. Rossberg)
  Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
    - IN-PCVI (S. Mertes, S. Günnel)
    - CCNC (A. Welti, M. Hartmann, P. Herenz, N. Samtleben)
  Technical University Darmstadt (TUD), Darmstadt, Germany
    - ESEM impactors (M. Ebert, K. Kandler, S. Eriksen Hammer, N. Benker)
  Karlsruhe Institute for Technilogy (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
    - MOUDI impactor, filter sampler (O. Möhler, T. Schiebel)
  ETH Zurich, Switzerland
    - Horizontal Ice Nucleus Counter HINC, liquid impinger (Z. Kanji, J. Atkinson, F. Ramelli)
  University of Denver, Colodaro, U.S.
    - WIBS (A. Huffman, N. Savage)
  National Observatory of Athens (NOA), Athens, Greece (E. Marinou, M. Kottas) + TROPOS, Leipzig, Germany (A. Ansmann, R. Engelmann)
    - Polly Lidar
  Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), Limassol, Cyprus
    - Limassol Lidar
  Cyprus Institute (J. Sciare, M. Pikridis, I. Stavroulas)
    - Operation of the field station, routine aerosol and trace gas measurements
    - Infrastructure supply

 

INUIT-JFJ2017, High Alpine Research Station Jungfraujoch, Switzerland, Jan/Feb 2017

The field campaign INUIT-JFJ/CLACE 2017 aimed for a more detailed characterization of ice clouds and mixed phase clouds on the high Alpine research station Jungfraujoch. The station is located at 3500 m altitude and is therefore well suited to study ice crystals and their residuals. We employed instruments that measure microphysical ice crystal properties outside in the ambient atmosphere and instruments that measured chemical and physical properties (number, size, composition) of aerosol particles and ice particle residuals (IPR) in the laboratory. To select the ice crystals out of the mixed phase clouds, two world-wide unique inlet systems were used: the ice-CVI (Mertes et al., 2007) and the ice selective inlet (ISI, Kupiszewski et al., 2015). An aerosol concentrator was used to enhance the number of availabe ice nucleation particles (INP) for the ice nucleus counters in the laboratory.

Participating groups:
  Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
    F. Frank, R. Kohl, F. Frank, T. Keber, J. Wolf, D. Weber, P. Brauner, H. Bingemer, J. Curtius
    (FINCH, FRIDGE)
  Max Planck Institute for Chemistry (MPIC), Mainz, Germany
    H. Clemen, O. Eppers, J. Schneider
    (ALABAMA, AMS)
  Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Leipzig, Germany
    U. Kästner, S. Mertes
    (Ice-CVI)
  Karlsruhe Institute for Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
    T.Schiebel, O. Möhler, X. Shen, R. Ramisetty, C. Mohr, H. Saathoff
    (INP filters, LAAPToF)
  Technical University Darmstadt (TUD), Germany
    S. Eriksen Hammer, M. Ebert, S. Weinbruch
    (ESEM sampler)
  Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Villigen, Switzerland
    E. Herrmann, M. Gysel
    (ISI, basic aerosol measurements)
  Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH) Zurich, Switzerland
    L. Lachner, Z. Kanji, F. Ramelli, J. Henneberger
    (HINC, HOLIMO)
  University of Toronto, Canada
    E. Gute, J. Abbatt
    (Aerosol Concentrator)
  University of Manchester, UK
    K. Bower, M. Flynn, G. Lloyd, W. Schladewitz
    (Cloud microphysics)

Laboratory Campaigns:
- FINCH + PCVI + mass spectrometer (TROPOS), Nov 2012
- Freezing of pollen washing water, LACIS, (TROPOS) June 2013
- FIN-1 (Fifth International Ice Nucleation Workshop, Part 1), AIDA (KIT), Nov. 2014
- FINCH + PCVI + mass spectrometer (TROPOS), June 2015
- Coal fly ash ice nucleation (TROPOS), Nov 2016
- FINCH + PCVI + mass spectrometer (TROPOS) January 2018

Results:

For general INUIT results, see the INUIT Special Issue in AMT/ACP

Publications with results from our group:

Lacher, L., Clemen, H.-C., Shen, X., Mertes, S., Gysel-Beer, M., Moallemi, A., Steinbacher, M., Henne, S., Saathoff, H., Möhler, O., Höhler, K., Schiebel, T., Weber, D., Schrod, J., Schneider, J., and Kanji, Z. A.: Sources and nature of ice-nucleating particles in the free troposphere at Jungfraujoch in winter 2017, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16925–16953, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16925-2021, 2021.

Clemen, H.-C., Schneider, J., Klimach, T., Helleis, F., Köllner, F., Hünig, A., Rubach, F., Mertes, S., Wex, H., Stratmann, F., Welti, A., Kohl, R., Frank, F., and Borrmann, S.: Optimizing the detection, ablation, and ion extraction efficiency of a single-particle laser ablation mass spectrometer for application in environments with low aerosol particle concentrations, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5923–5953, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5923-2020, 2020.

Ellen Gute, Larissa Lacher, Zamin A. Kanji, Rebecca Kohl, Joachim Curtius, Daniel Weber, Heinz Bingemer, Hans-Christian Clemen, Johannes Schneider, Martin Gysel-Beer, Stephen T. Ferguson & Jonathan P.D. Abbatt, Field evaluation of a Portable Fine Particle Concentrator (PFPC) for ice nucleating particle measurements, Aerosol Science and Technology, DOI: 10.1080/02786826.2019.1626346, 2019.

Hiranuma, N., Adachi, K., Bell, D. M., Belosi, F., Beydoun, H., Bhaduri, B., Bingemer, H., Budke, C., Clemen, H.-C., Conen, F., Cory, K. M., Curtius, J., DeMott, P. J., Eppers, O., Grawe, S., Hartmann, S., Hoffmann, N., Höhler, K., Jantsch, E., Kiselev, A., Koop, T., Kulkarni, G., Mayer, A., Murakami, M., Murray, B. J., Nicosia, A., Petters, M. D., Piazza, M., Polen, M., Reicher, N., Rudich, Y., Saito, A., Santachiara, G., Schiebel, T., Schill, G. P., Schneider, J., Segev, L., Stopelli, E., Sullivan, R. C., Suski, K., Szakáll, M., Tajiri, T., Taylor, H., Tobo, Y., Ullrich, R., Weber, D., Wex, H., Whale, T. F., Whiteside, C. L., Yamashita, K., Zelenyuk, A., and Möhler, O.: A comprehensive characterization of ice nucleation by three different types of cellulose particles immersed in water, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4823-4849, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4823-2019, 2019.

Eriksen Hammer, S., Mertes, S., Schneider, J., Ebert, M., Kandler, K., and Weinbruch, S.: Composition of ice particle residuals in mixed-phase clouds at Jungfraujoch (Switzerland): enrichment and depletion of particle groups relative to total aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13987-14003, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13987-2018, 2018.

Grawe, S., Augustin-Bauditz, S., Clemen, H.-C., Ebert, M., Eriksen Hammer, S., Lubitz, J., Reicher, N., Rudich, Y., Schneider, J., Staacke, R., Stratmann, F., Welti, A., and Wex, H.: Coal fly ash: linking immersion freezing behavior and physicochemical particle properties, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13903-13923, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13903-2018, 2018.

Schmidt, S., Schneider, J., Klimach, T., Mertes, S., Schenk, L. P., Kupiszewski, P., Curtius, J., and Borrmann, S.: Online single particle analysis of ice particle residuals from mountain-top mixed-phase clouds using laboratory derived particle type assignment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 575-594, doi:10.5194/acp-17-575-2017, 2017.

Augustin-Bauditz, S., Wex, H., Denjean, C., Hartmann, S., Schneider, J., Schmidt, S., Ebert, M., and Stratmann, F.: Laboratory-generated mixtures of mineral dust particles with biological substances: characterization of the particle mixing state and immersion freezing behavior, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5531-5543, doi:10.5194/acp-16-5531-2016, 2016.

Kupiszewski, P., M. Zanatta, S. Mertes, P. Vochezer, G. Lloyd, J. Schneider, L. Schenk, M. Schnaiter, U. Baltensperger, E. Weingartner: Ice residual properties in mixed-phase clouds at the high-alpine Jungfraujoch site, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 121, 12343–12362, doi:10.1002/2016JD024894, 2016.

Vogel., L. A., Schneider, J., Müller-Tautges, C., Klimach, T., and Hoffmann, T., Aerosol Chemistry Resolved by Mass Spectrometry - Insights into Ambient New Particle Formation and Growth, Environ.Sci.Technol., doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01673, 2016.

Vogel., L. A., Schneider, J., Müller-Tautges, C., Phillips, G. J., Pöhlker, M. L., Rose, D., Zuth, C., Makkonen, U., Hakola, H., Crowley, J. N., Pöschl., U, and Hoffmann, T., Aerosol Chemistry Resolved by Mass Spectrometry – Linking Field Measurements of CCN Activity to Organic Aerosol Composition, Environ.Sci.Techn., doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b01675, 2016.

Worringen, A., Kandler, K., Benker, N., Dirsch, T., Mertes, S., Schenk, L., Kästner, U., Frank, F., Nillius, B., Bundke, U., Rose, D., Curtius, J., Kupiszewski, P., Weingartner, E., Vochezer, P., Schneider, J., Schmidt, S., Weinbruch, S., and Ebert, M.: Single-particle characterization of ice-nucleating particles and ice particle residuals sampled by three different techniques, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4161-4178, doi:10.5194/acp-15-4161-2015, 2015.

Schmidt, Susan: Analyse der chemischen Zusammensetzung von Eis- und Wolkenresiduen mittels Einzelpartikel-Massenspektrometrie und Charakterisierung von Aerosolpartikeln aus anthropogenen Quellen, PhD thesis (in German), University Mainz, 2015.
http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:hebis:77-diss-1000002218

Schenk, L. P., Mertes, S., Kästner, U., Frank, F., Nillius, B., Bundke, U., Rose, D., Schmidt, S., Schneider, J., Worringen, A., Kandler, K., Bukowiecki, N., Ebert, M., Curtius, J., and Stratmann, F.: Characterization and first results of an ice nucleating particle measurement system based on counterflow virtual impactor technique, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., 7, 10585-10617, doi:10.5194/amtd-7-10585-2014, 2014.

Fröhlich, R., Cubison, M. J., Slowik, J. G., Bukowiecki, N., Prévôt, A. S. H., Baltensperger, U., Schneider, J., Kimmel, J. R., Gonin, M., Rohner, U., Worsnop, D. R., and Jayne, J. T.: The ToF-ACSM: a portable aerosol chemical speciation monitor with TOFMS detection, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 6, 3225-3241, doi:10.5194/amt-6-3225-2013, 2013.