Cloud-active particles over the central Arctic Ocean

Concentrations of cloud condensation (CCN) and ice forming nuclei (IFN) were measured throughout an expedition by icebreaker around the central Arctic Ocean including the North Pole from July 15 to September 23, 1996. Daily median CCN concentrations at 0.25% supersaturation were typically in the range 15 to 50 cm(-3), but concentrations varied by 3 orders of magnitude over the expedition and commonly by an order of magnitude within a day. They were highest near the ice edge and fell by almost an order of magnitude in the first 36 hours of transport from the open sea into the pack ice region. For longer transport times they increased again indicating a local source, suggested to be drops injected into the air by bubbles bursting on open leads. Median concentrations of IFN ranged from 18 M 3 just inside the pack ice at the beginning of the expedition to 1 m(-3) at the end. The differences with transport time from the ice edge were less marked than for CCN. Comparison of CCN measurements with simultaneously measured number size distributions showed that the median concentration active at a given supersaturation was only 71% of the number expected if at I the particles had been composed of pure ammonium sulfate. Transmission electron microscope observations of individual particles suggested an evolution of many CCN from nonvolatile, nonhygroscopic particles <50 nm by acquisition of the oxidation products of dimethyl sulfide. Cloud processing added further mass. The largest primary source within the pack ice region was deduced to be film drops from bursting bubbles yielding liquid particles with a high organic content and surfactant properties. A relationship between CCN number and sulfur mass is derived which extends previous results to lower CCN numbers and indicates a greater sensitivity to change in sulfate mass than at lower latitudes. Bacteria and probable submicron fragments of marine organisms were identified in the samples and suggested to be the source of IFN.