Laboratory evidence for volume-dominated nucleation of ice in supercooled water microdroplets

D. Duft (1) , T. Leisner (1)

1 Institut für Physik

We report on measurements of the rate of homogeneous ice nucleation in supercooled water microdroplets levitated in an electrodynamic balance. By comparison of the freezing probability for droplets of radius 49 µm and 19 µm, we are able to conclude that homogeneous freezing is a volume-proportional process and that surface nucleation might only be important, if at all, for much smaller droplets.

Domaines: Océan, Atmosphère

D. Duft, T. Leisner. Laboratory evidence for volume-dominated nucleation of ice in supercooled water microdroplets. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions, 2004, 4 (3), pp.3077-3088. ⟨hal-00301286⟩