1. Faculty of Environment
  2. School of Earth and Environment
  3. Research projects
  4. Ice-Nucleating Particles in the Upper Troposphere: Advancing Cirrus Control and Experimental Science Strength “INPUT:ACCESS”

Research project

Ice-Nucleating Particles in the Upper Troposphere: Advancing Cirrus Control and Experimental Science Strength “INPUT:ACCESS”

  • Start date: 1 July 2025
  • End date: 30 June 2028
  • Funder: ARIA
  • Value: £1,300,000
  • Partners and collaborators: NOAA, CIRES, Imperial College
  • Primary investigator: Dr Tom Whale
  • Co-investigators: Professor Benjamin Murray
  • External co-investigators: J. P. Schwarz, E. A. Asher, A. Baron, S. D. Eastham, E. J. Jensen A. Rollins, K. H. Rosenlof, K. Smith, T. D. Thornberry

We will advance process-level understanding of three climate cooling approaches focused on cirrus clouds and water vapor controls at high altitudes.

Cirrus processes are one of the largest sources of uncertainty in surface temperature response to climate change, and central to several intervention ideas. Hence, in situ measurements are needed to assess specific drivers of ice nucleation.

We will address this need by combining our respective expertise in:

  1. Balloon-borne measurements
  2. Ice nucleating particle measurements
  3. Cirrus modeling.

Our proposed efforts will enable us to advance both the measurement technology and the understanding of ice processes and parameters relevant to cirrus interventions. We will launch small weather balloons with novel instrumentation to collect ice nucleating particles from the cirrus regime, analyse them under laboratory recreations of cirrus conditions, and port our findings to improve model assessment of cirrus intervention impacts.

These capabilities, which have never previously been achieved, will dramatically change the landscape of cirrus relevant research. If large-scale outdoor testing – or deployment – ever occurs in regards to related climate interventions, then the balloon payload and analysis techniques developed in this proposal will be essential for monitoring. Climate intervention via manipulating upper troposphere cirrus may provide significant surface cooling with minimal environmental effects; this study will strengthen confidence in evaluating cirrus cloud related interventions, as well as identifying the most efficient ways to apply them.