Abstract. The heterogeneous freezing temperatures of supercooled drops were measured using an acoustic levitator. This technique allows one to freely suspend single drops in the air without any wall contact. Heterogeneous nucleation by two types of illite (illite IMt1 and illite NX) and a montmorillonite sample was investigated in the immersion mode. Drops of 1 mm in radius were monitored by a video camera while cooled down to −28 • C to simulate freezing within the tropospheric temperature range. The surface temperature of the drops was contact-free, determined with an infrared thermometer; the onset of freezing was indicated by a sudden increase of the drop surface temperature. For comparison, measurements with one particle type (illite NX) were additionally performed in the Mainz vertical wind tunnel with drops of 340 µm radius freely suspended. Immersion freezing was observed in a temperature range between −13 and −26 • C as a function of particle type and particle surface area immersed in the drops. Isothermal experiments in the wind tunnel indicated that after the cooling stage freezing still proceeds, at least during the investigated time period of 30 s. The results were evaluated by applying two descriptions of heterogeneous freezing, the stochastic and the singular model. Although the wind tunnel results do not support the time-independence of the freezing process both models are applicable for comparing the results from the two experimental techniques.

Abstract. Immersion freezing experiments were performed utilizing two distinct single-droplet levitation methods. In the Mainz vertical wind tunnel, supercooled droplets of 700 µm diameter were freely floated in a vertical airstream at constant temperatures ranging from −5 to −30 ∘C, where heterogeneous freezing takes place. These investigations under isothermal conditions allow the application of the stochastic approach to analyze and interpret the results in terms of the freezing or nucleation rate. In the Mainz acoustic levitator, 2 mm diameter drops were levitated while their temperature was continuously cooling from +20 to −28 ∘C by adapting to the ambient temperature. Therefore, in this case the singular approach was used for analysis. From the experiments, the densities of ice nucleation active sites were obtained as a function of temperature. The direct comparison of the results from two different instruments indicates a shift in the mean freezing temperatures of the investigated drops towards lower values that was material-dependent. As ice-nucleating particles, seven materials were investigated; two representatives of biological species (fibrous and microcrystalline cellulose), four mineral dusts (feldspar, illite NX, montmorillonite, and kaolinite), and natural Sahara dust. Based on detailed analysis of our results we determined a material-dependent parameter for calculating the freezing-temperature shift due to a change in cooling rate for each investigated particle type. The analysis allowed further classification of the investigated materials to be described by a single- or a multiple-component approach. From our experiences during the present synergetic studies, we listed a number of suggestions for future experiments regarding cooling rates, determination of the drop temperature, purity of the water used to produce the drops, and characterization of the ice-nucleating material. The observed freezing-temperature shift is significantly important for the intercomparison of ice nucleation instruments with different cooling rates.

Abstract. The heterogeneous freezing temperatures of supercooled drops were measured by using an acoustic levitator. This technique allows to freely suspending single drops in air without electrical charges thereby avoiding any electrical influences which may affect the freezing process. Heterogeneous nucleation caused by several mineral dust particles (montmorillonite, two types of illite) was investigated in the immersion mode. Drops of 1 \\unit{mm} in radius were monitored by a~video camera during cooling down to −28 °C to simulate the tropospheric temperature range. The surface temperature of the drops was remotely determined with an infra-red thermometer so that the onset of freezing was indicated. For comparisons, measurements with one particle type were additionally performed in the Mainz vertical wind tunnel with drops of 340 \\unit{{\\mu}m} radius freely suspended. The data were interpreted regarding the particle surfaces immersed in the drops. Immersion freezing was observed in a~temperature range between −13 and −26 °C in dependence of particle type and surface area per drop. The results were evaluated by applying two descriptions of heterogeneous freezing, the stochastic and the singular model.

Abstract. Immersion freezing experiments were performed utilizing two distinct single-droplet levitation methods. In the Mainz vertical wind tunnel (M-WT) supercooled droplets of 700 μm diameter were freely floated in a vertical air stream at constant temperatures ranging from −5 °C to −30 °C where heterogeneous freezing takes place. These investigations under isothermal conditions allow applying the stochastic approach to analyze and interpret the results in terms of the freezing or nucleation rate. In the Mainz acoustic levitator (M-AL) 2 mm diameter drops were levitated while their temperature was continuously cooling from +20 °C to −28 °C by adapting to the ambient temperature. Therefore, in this case the singular approach was used for analysis. From the experiments, the densities of ice nucleating active sites (INAS) were obtained as function of temperature. The direct comparison of the results from two different instruments indicates a shift of the freezing temperatures towards lower values that was material dependent. As ice nucleating particles, seven materials were investigated, two representatives of biological species (fibrous and microcrystalline cellulose), four mineral dusts (feldspar, illite NX, montmorillonite, and kaolinite), and natural Sahara dust. Based on detailed analysis of our results we determined a material dependent temperature correction factor for each investigated particle type. The analysis allowed further classifying the investigated materials as single- or multiple-component. From our experiences during the present synergetic studies, we listed a number of suggestions for future experiments regarding cooling rates, determination of the drop temperature, purity of the water used to produce the drops, and characterization of the ice nucleating material. The observed freezing temperature shift is significantly important not only for the intercomparison of ice nucleation instruments with different cooling rates but also for cloud model simulations with high speed ascents of air masses.

<p>Short-term warnings for severe thunderstorms are produced at the German Weather Service (DWD) with the support of NowCastMIX, which automatically creates warning areas for the next 60 minutes. In short, NowCastMIX processes meteorological fields from various sources such as NWP, radar, surface station reports and lightning detections. Based on the available data, the potentials for heavy rain, hail and severe gusts are calculated every 5 minutes by a hierarchy of fuzzy logic sets. From these potentials, categorical thunderstorm warnings are issued for detected cells. By condensing the information into clusters, regions are then identified which require warnings.<br />One system that NowCastMIX currently uses as input is KONRAD. KONRAD is a method for automatic detection, tracking, and prediction of thunderstorm cells based on two-dimensional weather radar data. In recent years, a new scheme, KONRAD3D, has been developed, which provides three-dimensional objects of detected cells with the help of 3D radar volume scans. KONRAD3D also provides new state-of-the-art approaches to capture features such as the storm track more smoothly and consistently over time.<br />In order to let NowCastMIX benefit from this new development, KONRAD will be replaced by KONRAD3D. Subsequently, reanalyses with the new KONRAD3D module will be calculated for 194 convective days over a period of three convective seasons. A comparison of both data sets will show in which areas NowCastMIX benefits from the three-dimensional objects provided by KONRAD3D. The fuzzy logic of NowCastMIX will be tuned based on the reanalyses in order to optimize the probability of detection and false alarm ratio for the administrative districts of Germany.</p>

No abstract