Deciphering the role of sea-ice microorganisms on cloud processes in the Arctic

How does the discharge of microorganisms caused by the massive sea-ice melt affect cloud processes in the Arctic? Our project combines field measurements at the Villum Research Station in northeast Greenland and laboratory simulation studies that we will run in collaboration with the Department of Chemistry at Aarhus University. The project focuses on the role of ice nucleating microorganisms in the process of cloud formation in the Arctic. Based on the known ice-binding properties of these ice nucleating microorganisms, we propose that the sea ice selectively incorporates and therefore also concentrates these types of microorganisms. Once the sea ice melts, these cloud-forming microorganisms get released into the surface sea layer, from where they get ejected into the atmosphere by small air bubbles. Thus, because of climate change that cause massive sea-ice melt, the seawater microbial composition will change and could affect the weather and climate in the Arctic.