Abstract
Cloud formation in the atmosphere is related to the presence of water vapour, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice nuclei (IN). Ionisation in the atmosphere is caused by a variety of sources, but the contribution from cosmic rays is always present and is modulated by the solar cycle. Methods of investigating the variability in ionisation are described. The mechanisms proposed by which (1) ionisation could influence cloud formation, and (2) by which changes to the CCN and IN could occur are discussed. Direct formation of sulphate CN is conceivable in atmospheric air by radioactivity, and charging of molecular clusters leads to greater collisions rates than for neutral clusters. Modification of the ice nucleation efficiency of aerosol could also have atmospheric effects through latent heat release. However in both cases definitive atmospheric experimental work is lacking and therefore any link between solar variability and clouds remains unproven.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Adachi, M., Ishida, T., Kim, T.O., and Okuyama, K.: 1998, ‘Effects of NH3 on particle formation from NO2/H2O/air and SO2/H2O/air mixtures by α-ray radiolysis’, J. Aerosol. Sci. 29, S1, 58,339–58,340.
Aplin, K. L., and Harrison, R.G.: 1999, ‘The interaction between air ions and aerosol particles in the atmosphere’, in D. M. Taylor (ed.), Proceedings of 10th International Electrostatics Conference, Cambridge, April 1999, Institute of Physics Conference series 163, 411–414.
Castleman, A. W.: 1982, in D. R. Schryer (ed.), Heterogeneous Atmospheric Chemistry, AGU, Washington.
Chalmers, J. A.: 1967, Atmospheric Electricity, 2nd edition, Pergamon, Oxford.
Clement, C. F. and Harrison, R. G.: 1992, ‘The charging of radioactive aerosols’, J. Aerosol. Sci. 23, 5, 481–504.
Dawson, G. A., and Cardell, G. R.: 1973, Electrofreezing of supercooled waterdrops’, J. Geophys. Res. 78, 36, 8864–8866.
Dolezalek, H., Reiter, R. and Kroling: 1985, ‘Basic comments on the Physics, occurrence in the atmosphere, and possible biological effects of air ions’, Int J. Biometeorology 29, 207–242.
Emi, H., Shintani, E., Namiki, N., and Otani, Y.: 1998, ‘Measurement of the ion mobility distribution at a new mobility analyser with separation in axial direction to the flow’, J. Aerosol. Sci. 29, S1, S1247–S1248.
Fletcher N. H.: 1966, ‘The physics of rainclouds’, CUP.
Gabarashvili, T. G., and Gliki N.V.: 1967, ‘Origination of the ice phase in supercooled water under the influence of electrically charged crystals of cholesterol and naphthalene’, Izv. Atmos. and Oceanic Physics 3, 5, 570–574.
Gerdien, H.: 1905, ‘Die absolute Messung der Spezifischen Leitfähigkeit und der Dichte des vertikalen Leitungstroms in der Atmosphäre’, J. Terr. Mag. 65, 10.
Gringel, W.: 1978, ‘Untersuchungen zur elecktrischen Luftleitfähigkeit unter Berücksichtigung der Sonnenaktivität und der Aerosolteilchenkonzentration bis 35 km Höhe’, PhD Dissertation, Eberhard-Karls-Universität zu Tübingen.
Gunn, R.: 1954, ‘Diffusion charging of atmospheric droplets by ions and the resulting combination coefficients’, J. Meteor 11, 339–347.
Harrison, R.G.: 1997, ‘Climate change and the global atmospheric electrical system’, Atmospheric Environment 31, 20, 3483–3484.
Harrison, R. G., and Lodge, B. N.: 1998, ‘A calorimeter to detect freezing in supercooled water droplets, Rev. Sci. Inst. 69, 11, 4004–4005.
Horrak, U., Salm, J., and Tammet, H.: 1998, ‘Bursts of intermediate ions in atmospheric air’ J. Geophys. Res. 103 D12, 13909–13915.
Katz, U.: 1968, ‘The ice nucleation activity of electrically charged and uncharged CuS particles’, in Proc. Int. Conf. on Cloud Physics, August, 26 – 30, 1968, Toronto, pp. 183–187.
Landau, L. D., and Lifshitz, E. M.: 1980, Statistical Physics, Part 1, 3rd edition, Pergamon.
Mason, B. J: 1971, The Physics of Clouds, OUP.
McGorman, D. R., and Rust, W. D.: 1998, The electrical nature of storms, OUP.
Mossop, S. C.: 1985, ‘The origin and concentration of ice crystals in clouds’, Bull. Am. Meteor. Soc. 66, 264–273.
O’Dowd, C.D., Smith, M. H., Lowe, J. A., Harrison, R. M., Davison, B., and Hewitt, C. N.: 1996, ‘New particle formation in the marine environment’, in M. Kulmala and P. E. Wagner (eds.), Proc. 14th Int. Conf. on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols, pp. 925–928.
Paltridge, G. W.: 1965,’ Experimental measurements of the small-ion density and electrical conductivity of the stratosphere’, J. Geophys. Res. 70, 2751–2761.
Pruppacher, H. R.: 1973, ‘Electrofreezing of supercooled water’, Pure Appl. Geophys. 104, 623–634.
Pruppacher, H. R., and Klett, J. D.: 1997, Microphysics of clouds and precipitation, 2nd edition, Kluwer.
Pudovkin, M. I., and Veretenenko, S. V.: 1995, ‘Cloudiness decreases associated with Forbush–decreases of galactic cosmic rays’, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys. 75, 1349–1355.
Raes, F., Janssens, A., and Van Dingenen, R.: 1986, ‘The role of ion-induced aerosol formation in the lower atmosphere’, J. Aerosol. Sci. 17, 3, 466–470.
Reiter, R.: 1974, in H. Dolezalek and R. Reiter (eds.), Electric Processes in Atmospheres, Steinkopff, Darmstadt, FRG, 1977.
Rogers, R. R., and Yau, M. K.: 1989, A short course in cloud physics, Pergamon, 3rd edition.
Rosinski, J., Nagamoto, C. T., and Zhou, M.Y.: 1995, ‘Ice forming nuclei over the East China Sea’, Atmospheric Research 36, 95–105.
Rosinski, J.: 1995, ‘Cloud condensation nuclei as a real source of ice forming nuclei in continental and marine air masses’, Atmospheric Research 38, 351–359.
Smith, M. H., Griffiths, R. F., and Latham, J.: ‘The freezing of raindrops falling through strong electric fields’, QJRMS 97, 495–505.
Scott, J. P., and Evans, W. H.: 1969, ‘The electrical conductivity of clouds’, Pure and Appl. Geophysic. 75, 219–232.
Svensmark, H., and Friis-Christensen, E.: 1997, ‘Variations of cosmic ray flux and global cloud coverage — a missing link in solar-climate relationships’, J. Atmos. Solar-Terrestrial Phys. 59, 1225–1232.
Thomson, J. J.: 1924, ‘Recombination of gaseous ions, the chemical combination of gases and monomolecular reactions’, Phil. Mag 47, 337–378.
Tinsley, B. A., and Dean, G. W.: 1991, ‘Apparent tropospheric response to MeV-GeV particle flux variations: a connection via electrofreeezing of supercooled water in high-level clouds?’ J. Geophys. Res. 96, 22,283–22,296.
Tinsley, B. A., Rohrbaugh, R. P., Hei, M., and Beard K. V.: 2000, ‘Effects of image charges on the scavenging of aerosol particles by cloud droplets, and on droplet charging and possible ice nucleation processes’, J. Atmos. Sci., in press.
Tripathi, S.N.: 2000, ‘Removal of Charged Aerosols’, PhD Thesis, University of Reading, U.K., submitted.
Turco, R. P., Zhao, Jing-Xia, and Yu, F.: 1998, ‘A new source of tropospheric aerosols: Ion-ion recombination’ Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 5, 635–638.
Volland, H.: 1984, Atmospheric Electrodynamics, Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Wang, P. K., Grover, S. N., and Pruppacher, H. R.: 1978, ‘On the effect of electric charges on the scavenging of aerosol particles by clouds and small raindrops’, J. Atmos. Sci. 34, 1735–1743.
Yu, F., Turco, R. P., Kärcher, B., and Schroder, F. P.: 1998, ‘On the mechanisms controlling the formation and properties of volatile particles in aircraft wakes’, Geophys. Res. Lett. 25, 20, 3839–3842.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Harrison, R.G. Cloud Formation and the Possible Significance of Charge for Atmospheric Condensation and Ice Nuclei. Space Science Reviews 94, 381–396 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026708415235
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026708415235