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An evaluation of ice nuclei characteristics from the long-term measurement data over North China

Asia-Pacific Journal of Atmospheric Sciences volume 48, pages 197–204 (2012)Cite this article

Abstract

An attempt was made to delineate the characteristics of ice nuclei (IN) over North China using the ground-based measurement data from 1963–2003. The results show that: (1) the IN concentrations increased during the period from 1963–1996, but decreased after 2000; (2) the average IN concentrations range from 1.0 to 26.3, 3.6 to 78.9, 19.2 to 627.3, and 92.9 to 5285.0 L−1 at temperature −15, −20, −25, and −30°C, with the overall average of 7.8, 20.6, 167.7, and 890.6 L−1, respectively; and (3) the number concentration of active IN increased nearly exponentially with decreasing temperature, with the slope (ranging from 0.11 to 0.42°C−1) being of a narrow range in a log-linear coordinate; the regression equations for the western central China and the eastern central China can be expressed as N(T) = 0.0396 exp (−0.317 ΔT) and N(T) = 0.1496 exp (−0.299ΔT), respectively. The present study may be useful toward applications in models for predicting IN effects on the cloud, precipitation and climate over North China.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Science, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China

    Jinfang Yin & Guoqing Zhai

  2. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, China

    Jinfang Yin & Donghai Wang

  3. State Key Laboratory of Severe Weather, Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Donghai Wang

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  1. Jinfang Yin
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  2. Donghai Wang
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Correspondence to Donghai Wang.

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Yin, J., Wang, D. & Zhai, G. An evaluation of ice nuclei characteristics from the long-term measurement data over North China. Asia-Pacific J Atmos Sci 48, 197–204 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-012-0020-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13143-012-0020-8

Key words

  • Ice nuclei
  • concentration variation
  • parameterization of ice nuclei