Laboratory investigations of contact and immersion freezing of mineral dust using an acoustic levitator

., 2007). Modelling studies have shown that the type and quantity of atmospheric aerosol particles acting as ice nuclei can affect ice cloud microphysical and radiative properties as well as their precipitation efficiency (e.g. Lohmann and Diehl, 2006; Storelvmo et al., 2008). Therefore, a quantitative description of the ice nucleation processes is crucial for a better understanding of formation, life cycles, and the optical properties of clouds as well as for the numerical precipitation forecast. Mineral dust particles are efficient ice nuclei (Pruppacher and Klett, 1997). The ice nucleation properties of the most abundant minerals occurring in desert aerosols were investigated by environmental scanning electron microscopy (Zimmermann