Atmospheric ice nucleation by fertile soil dusts particles: Relative importance of mineral and biological components

Dusts emitted from agricultural soils may represent a significant source of atmospheric particulates at mid-latitudes. Such dusts, which can be aerosolised by anthropogenic agricultural activities, have previously been estimated to be present in the atmosphere at sufficient number densities that they could potentially compete with other known ice nuclei (IN). In contrast to soils from arid regions, such as the Sahara, fertile soils contain a larger fraction of biological material, which can lead to an enhancement in the ice nucleating ability of their associated dusts. However, considerable uncertainties remain regarding the relative efficacy of soil dust particles from fertile soils as IN. Using an experimental methodology designed to increase sensitivity to a wide range of ice nucleation efficiencies, we have characterized the immersion mode ice nucleating activities of sub 11 mu m particles extracted from surface soils collected in four locations around England. By using a variety of droplet sizes, from pico-to micro-litre, we have been able to characterize the ice active site densities in soils (estimated using a time-independent framework) at temperatures ranging from -5 degrees C down to the homogeneous limit of freezing at similar to -36 degrees C. At temperatures below -15 degrees C, we find that the ice active site densities tend towards those expected from the mineral components in the soils, suggesting that the inorganic fraction of soil dusts becomes increasingly important in the initiation of the ice phase at large supercoolings. Conversely, above -15 degrees C we find that the ice nucleating activity of the soils dusts was larger than expected from the mineral composition of the soils. The sites responsible for this high temperature ice nucleating activity were sensitive to heat treatment and digestion with hydrogen peroxide, suggesting that they are biological in origin. We conclude that although only being a relatively minor contributor to the global atmospheric dust burden, the enhanced IN activities of dusts generated from agricultural activities may impact upon cloud glaciation, particularly at temperatures above -15 degrees C.