During the SAMUM 2006 field campaign in southern Morocco, physical and chemical properties of desert aerosols were measured. Mass concentrations ranging from 30 μg m−3 for PM2.5 under desert background conditions up to 300 000 μg m−3 for total suspended particles (TSP) during moderate dust storms were measured. TSP dust concentrations are correlated with the local wind speed, whereas PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations are determined by advection from distant sources. Size distributions were measured for particles with diameter between 20 nm and 500 μm (parametrizations are given). Two major regimes of the size spectrum can be distinguished. For particles smaller than 500 nm diameter, the distributions show maxima around 80 nm, widely unaffected of varying meteorological and dust emission conditions. For particles larger than 500 nm, the range of variation may be up to one order of magnitude and up to three orders of magnitude for particles larger than 10 μm. The mineralogical composition of aerosol bulk samples was measured by X‐ray powder diffraction. Major constituents of the aerosol are quartz, potassium feldspar, plagioclase, calcite, hematite and the clay minerals illite, kaolinite and chlorite. A small temporal variability of the bulk mineralogical composition was encountered. The chemical composition of approximately 74 000 particles was determined by electron microscopic single particle analysis. Three size regimes are identified: for smaller than 500 nm in diameter, the aerosol consists of sulphates and mineral dust. For larger than 500 nm up to 50 μm, mineral dust dominates, consisting mainly of silicates, and—to a lesser extent—carbonates and quartz. For diameters larger than 50 μm, approximately half of the particles consist of quartz. Time series of the elemental composition show a moderate temporal variability of the major compounds. Calcium‐dominated particles are enhanced during advection from a prominent dust source in Northern Africa (Chott El Djerid and surroundings). The particle aspect ratio was measured for all analysed particles. Its size dependence reflects that of the chemical composition. For larger than 500 nm particle diameter, a median aspect ratio of 1.6 is measured. Towards smaller particles, it decreases to about 1.3 (parametrizations are given). From the chemical/mineralogical composition, the aerosol complex refractive index was determined for several wavelengths from ultraviolet to near‐infrared. Both real and imaginary parts show lower values for particles smaller than 500 nm in diameter (1.55–2.8 × 10−3i at 530 nm) and slightly higher values for larger particles (1.57–3.7 × 10−3i at 530 nm).

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[1] The ice nucleation properties of the nine most abundant minerals occurring in desert aerosols (quartz, albite, microcline, kaolinite, montmorillonite, illite, calcite, gypsum, and hematite) were investigated by environmental scanning electron microscopy (ESEM). In this instrument, the pure minerals are exposed to water vapor at variable pressures and temperatures. The crystallization of ice on the mineral particles is observed by secondary electron imaging, and the supersaturation for an activated particle fraction of 1-3% is determined as function of temperature. In all experiments, condensation of water prior to ice formation was not observed within detectable limits, even at water supersaturation. The highest temperatures for 1-3% activation vary between À10°C and À16°C for the nine minerals investigated, and the corresponding onset relative humidities relative to ice RH i between 107 and 117%. Supersaturation temperature curves for initial ice formation (1-3% activation) in the temperature range typical for mixed-phase clouds were measured for all nine minerals. The temperature dependence of the onset relative humidity is strongly dependent on mineralogy. Kaolinite, montmorillonite, and hematite show a strong increase in RH i with decreasing temperature, whereas RH i is almost constant for illite, albite, quartz, and calcite. The highly variable ice nucleation properties of the various mineral dust components should be considered for parameterization schemes. Illite and kaolinite are the most important minerals to consider, as they have high ice nucleation efficiency and are common components of desert aerosols.

Semianalytical expressions are suggested for the temperature dependence of those combinations of transport coefficients that govern the fission process. This is based on experience with numerical calculations within the linear response approach and the locally harmonic approximation. A reduced version of the latter is seen to comply with Kramers's simplified picture of fission. It is argued that for variable inertia his formula has to be generalized, as already required by the need that for overdamped motion the inertia must not appear at all. This situation may already occur above TϷ2 MeV, where the rate is determined by the Smoluchowski equation. Consequently, comparison with experimental results does not give information on the effective damping rate, as often claimed, but on a special combination of local stiffnesses and the friction coefficient calculated at the barrier.

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