Studying Ice Formation from Aircraft: Experimental Constraints on Techniques for Sampling Ice and Ice Forming Particles

Abstract:

A major experimental pathway to study the role of ice forming particles in clouds involves evaporating ice particles in a counterflow virtual impactor (CVI), measuring the residue with airborne instrumentation to determine the IFP concentration, and then comparing these concentrations with simultaneous measurements of ice concentrations, as determined from various types of instruments designed to measure hydrometeor concentrations. In order for these types of experiments to provide meaningful results, they must consider a number of factors, such as the impact of the CVI on the ice particles and the effects of probe tip shattering on the measurement of ice concentrations. These problems can be minimized by careful selection of sampling conditions and by studying the morphology of the sampled ice particles.