Collaborative Research: Marine microgels: A microlayer source of summer CCN in high Arctic open leads

Investigators from the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences and the Institute for Systems Biology have received funding to identify and quantify organic molecules in the Arctic Ocean that serve as cloud condensation nuclei. They are investigating the possibility that organic particles on the surface of the Arctic ocean form microgels which become airborne and play a significant role in cloud formation. They will determine the origins of the gels through a variety of chemical analyses. The project will help understand the dynamics of stratocumulus clouds and their effects on Arctic climate. Data will be collected in collaboration with Swedish scientists as part of the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS).