Seminar

Abstract

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) can affect the amount of solar radiation reaching Earth’s surface by altering cloud droplet number concentration and size and, as a result, cloud reflectivity and albedo. Understanding and quantifying the sources of CCN to the atmosphere are critical for climate models. In the late 1980’s, it was hypothesized that dimethylsulfide (DMS) derived sulfate made up the majority of the CCN in the marine boundary layer (MBL) distant from continental and anthropogenic aerosol sources. Field and laboratory experiments performed over the past two decades have shown that the sources of CCN to the remote MBL are much more complex than the original DMS hypothesis. This talk will review the evolution of our understanding of ocean-derived sources of CCN.