Study examined mechanisms forming new aerosol particles in the Arctic region

According to the research, microparticles formed near open water off Ny-Ålesund grew to sizes enabling them to affect the features of clouds. Aerosol particles were significantly smaller in the icy environment of Villum.

The results suggest that the shrinking of the ice cover accompanied by the changes in climate can significantly affect the mechanisms with which microparticles are formed, and the impact that they have on climate in the Arctic region.

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Researcher Ville Vakkari, Finnish Meteorological Institute, tel. 050 4076133, ville.vakkari@fmi.fi

Beck, L. J., Sarnela, N., Junninen, H., Hoppe, C. J. M., Garmash, O., Bianchi, F., Riva, M., Rose, C., Peräkylä, O., Wimmer, D., Kausiala, O., Jokinen, T., Ahonen, L., Mikkilä, J., Hakala, J., He, X.-C., Kontkanen, J., Wolf, K. K. E., Cappelletti, D., Mazzola, M., Traversi, R., Petroselli, C., Viola, A. P., Vitale, V., Lange, R., Massling, A., Nøjgaard, J. K., Krejci, R., Karlsson, L., Zieger, P., Jang, S., Lee, K., Vakkari, V., Lampilahti, J., Thakur, R. C., Leino, K., Kangasluoma, J., Duplissy, E.-M., Siivola, E., Marbouti, M., Tham, Y. J., Saiz-Lopez, A., Petäjä, T., Ehn, M., Worsnop, D. R., Skov, H., Kulmala, M., Kerminen, V.-M., and Sipilä, M.: Differing Mechanisms of New Particle Formation at Two Arctic Sites, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL091334, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091334, 2021.

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