When Do Subpollen Particles Become Relevant for Ice Nucleation Processes in Clouds?

Journal article, 2022

When exposed to sufficiently humid environments, pollen grains burst and release large quantities of small subpollen particles (SPPs) which carry ice nucleating macromolecules. In this study, for the first time we develop a physically based parameterization describing the bursting process of pollen by applying a turgor pressure parameterization and quantify the impact SPPs have on overall ice nucleation in clouds. SPPs are generated from simulated birch pollen emissions over Europe for a 10-day case study in spring. We found SPP concentrations to surpass pollen grain concentrations by 4–6 orders of magnitude leading to an abundance of biological ice nuclei from SPPs in the range of 103−104 m−3. However, it is found that these concentrations lead to only small changes in hydrometeor number densities and precipitation. Addressing the question when SPPs become relevant for ice nucleation in clouds, we conducted a sensitivity investigation. We find that amplifying ice nucleation efficiency of biological particles by factors greater 100 increases the ice particle numbers by up to 25% (T ≈ 268 K). Strong reductions show in cloud droplet number concentration and water vapor at these temperatures while water vapor is increasing at 600 m. Overall, we found a net reduction of water in the atmosphere as liquid and particularly water vapor density is reduced, while frozen water mass density increases above 257 K. Findings indicate an alteration of mixed-phase cloud composition and increased precipitation (up to 6.2%) when SPPs are considered as highly efficient biological ice nuclei.