Aerosols significantly influence Earth’s climate, atmospheric chemistry, and air quality through their direct interactions with radiation and their effects on cloud formation, properties, lifetime, and precipitation. Aerosol-cloud interactions are particularly important in marine, high-altitude, remote, and extreme environments, including the Himalayas, and the Polar regions, where unique atmospheric conditions provide valuable insights into global climate and atmospheric processes. Understanding how aerosols form, grow, and transform; act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and ice-nucleating particles (INPs); interact with clouds and radiation; and are ultimately removed from the atmosphere is essential for improving climate models and reducing uncertainties in climate predictions.
Despite their importance, aerosol properties, sources, and transformation processes in these environments remain poorly constrained. Observational data are limited because of logistical challenges, harsh conditions, and restricted accessibility. This session aims to address these knowledge gaps by bringing together observational and modelling studies from marine environments, high-altitude regions, remote continental environments including Amazon Tall Tower Observatory, and extreme environments: including the Himalayas, the Arctic, and Antarctica.
We invite contributions addressing:
• Light-absorbing aerosols, including black carbon (BC), brown carbon (BrC), and mineral dust;
• Aerosol-cloud interactions and the properties of CCN and INPs;
• Microphysical properties and mixing state;
• New particle formation, growth processes, and formation pathways;
• Source apportionment of aerosols;
• Results from recent field campaigns involving ground-based, shipborne, aircraft, and measurements from autonomous platforms;
• Emerging observational techniques and research infrastructure, including uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), balloon-borne sensors, and automated ground-based systems that enable high-resolution measurements under extreme conditions;
• The physical and chemical properties of aerosols and their precursors, including the roles of different chemical species in regional and global atmospheric processes; and
• Interactions at air-sea and air-snow interfaces and their relationships with meteorological and chemical processes.