Atmospheric impact of quasiliquid layers on ice surfaces

Abstract

We present a fully thermodynamically constrained model to calculate the thickness of the quasiliquid layer on ice surfaces and apply this model to atmospherically relevant situations to calculate the quasiliquid thickness and volume for ice aerosols and snow pack. These volumes are comparable to the liquid volumes present in a representative liquid-droplet cloud. The pure water calculations represent conservative lower bounds to the volume possible from more complex solutions. Incorporation of solution chemistry into the model demonstrates both the effect played by impurities when studying this phenomenon and how the formation of the quasiliquid layer concentrates impurities on the ice surface. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.