AS3.6 | Ice nucleating particles and secondary ice production on cloud processes and radiative feedbacks: from observations to modeling
EDI
Ice nucleating particles and secondary ice production on cloud processes and radiative feedbacks: from observations to modeling
Convener: Ahmed Abdelmonem | Co-conveners: Xianda Gong, Heike Wex

Cloud feedbacks are the dominant uncertainty in assessing global and regional climate sensitivity. As such, an improved understanding of the key processes involved in cloud formation, development, and radiative effects will support better representations of these processes in climate models and reduce uncertainty in future climate predictions.
Ice nucleating particles (INPs) and secondary ice production play crucial roles in cloud processes and radiative feedback, influencing weather patterns and climate dynamics. This session explores the intricate interplay between INPs, secondary ice production mechanisms, and their impacts on cloud properties from both observational and modeling perspectives.
We will discuss cutting-edge findings on the sources, distribution, and variability of INPs in different atmospheric conditions. Insights from observational studies, remote sensing techniques, and laboratory experiments will be integrated with advanced modeling approaches to elucidate the complex microphysical and radiative feedback mechanisms.
We then discuss the secondary ice production mechanism and highlight their influence on cloud formation, evolution, and precipitation processes. The session aims to foster discussions on improving our understanding of secondary ice production processes, their representation in climate models, and their implications for regional and global climate variability and change.
Topics covered in this session are:
- Laboratory studies related to ice nucleating particles or secondary ice production
- Ice nucleation processes and characterizing INP in the field
- Modelling of secondary ice production
- Improving parameterizations associated with cloud formation in models – deep convective clouds, mixed-phase clouds, mesoscale convective systems
- Arctic Amplification and the effect of polar clouds on the global climate system

Cloud feedbacks are the dominant uncertainty in assessing global and regional climate sensitivity. As such, an improved understanding of the key processes involved in cloud formation, development, and radiative effects will support better representations of these processes in climate models and reduce uncertainty in future climate predictions.
Ice nucleating particles (INPs) and secondary ice production play crucial roles in cloud processes and radiative feedback, influencing weather patterns and climate dynamics. This session explores the intricate interplay between INPs, secondary ice production mechanisms, and their impacts on cloud properties from both observational and modeling perspectives.
We will discuss cutting-edge findings on the sources, distribution, and variability of INPs in different atmospheric conditions. Insights from observational studies, remote sensing techniques, and laboratory experiments will be integrated with advanced modeling approaches to elucidate the complex microphysical and radiative feedback mechanisms.
We then discuss the secondary ice production mechanism and highlight their influence on cloud formation, evolution, and precipitation processes. The session aims to foster discussions on improving our understanding of secondary ice production processes, their representation in climate models, and their implications for regional and global climate variability and change.
Topics covered in this session are:
- Laboratory studies related to ice nucleating particles or secondary ice production
- Ice nucleation processes and characterizing INP in the field
- Modelling of secondary ice production
- Improving parameterizations associated with cloud formation in models – deep convective clouds, mixed-phase clouds, mesoscale convective systems
- Arctic Amplification and the effect of polar clouds on the global climate system