An international team of scientists from Sweden, Norway, Japan, and Switzerland, has presented research findings that reveal a crucial role of biological particles, including pollen, spores, and bacteria, in the formation of ice within Arctic clouds.
An international team of scientists from Sweden, Norway, Japan, and Switzerland, has presented research findings that reveal a crucial role of biological particles, including pollen, spores, and bacteria, in the formation of ice within Arctic clouds. These findings, published in Nature Communications, have far-reaching implications for climate science and our understanding of the rapidly changing Arctic climate.
The research, whose outcomes have unveiled the connection between biological particles and the formation of ice in Arctic clouds, was conducted over multiple years at the Zeppelin Observatory, situated on the remote Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, Norway, in the High Arctic. Gabriel Freitas, lead author and PhD student at the Department of Environmental Science, Stockholm University, detailed their innovative approach:
"We have individually identified and counted these biological particles using a sensitive optical technique reliant on light scattering and UV-induced fluorescence. This precision is essential as we navigate through the challenge of detecting these particles in minuscule concentrations, akin to finding a needle in a haystack."
Read more at Stockholm University
Image: Tundra near the Ny-Ålesund village in the summer of 2019 with the Zeppelin Observatory in the background (left hand side, engulfed in clouds). The tundra is potentially a major source of bioaerosols in the Arctic. (Photo Credit: Gabriel Freitas)
