Tiny, floating particles in the atmosphere called aerosols are a key ingredient for forming clouds. They’re also one of the big unknowns in climate models.
These microscopic particles form thanks to an array of complex chemical reactions in the atmosphere and grow into nuclei on which water vapor can condense. But those chemical reactions are complex and hard to measure.
Bigelow Laboratory researchers have partnered with scientists at Carnegie Mellon University to unravel the complicated process of aerosol formation and how it’s shaped by gases naturally released by plankton and seaweed across the vast ocean.
The team is running sophisticated experiments at our dock to understand what particles are forming, how quickly, and in what ways that process is influenced by marine algae — information that will improve scientists’ understanding of how the atmosphere will behave in a changing climate.
