How desert dust particles influence cloud formation?

Clouds in the Northern Hemisphere are more likely to freeze into ice when desert dust is present in the air. This finding, based on 35 years of satellite data, provides new insight into how clouds form and how they might influence future climate patterns.

A team of researchers led by ETH Zurich has confirmed that dust particles from deserts help turn cloud water into ice. These ice-forming clouds can affect both precipitation and how much sunlight Earth reflects into space.

“Where there’s more dust, clouds are much more likely to freeze at the top,” said Diego Villanueva, lead author of the study and post-doctoral researcher in Atmospheric Physics at ETH Zurich.

The study focused on clouds containing both water and ice. These are called mixed-phase clouds and often form at temperatures between -39°C and 0°C. They are common over the North Atlantic, Canada, and Siberia. Researchers found a strong link between dust levels in the atmosphere and the number of clouds that contain ice.

The more desert dust present in the air, the more likely these clouds were to glaciate, or turn into ice at their upper levels.

“This is one of the first studies to show that satellite measurements of cloud composition agree with what we know from the laboratory,” said Ulrike Lohmann, co-author of the study and Professor of Atmospheric Physics at ETH Zurich.

In lab tests, dust particles are known to cause water droplets to freeze at certain temperatures. The satellite data confirmed that this same process happens on a much larger scale in the real world.

The way clouds glaciate is more than a scientific detail. It plays a major role in how much water falls as rain or snow, and how much heat escapes Earth’s atmosphere. This has a direct effect on how scientists model and predict climate change.

Villanueva explained that most climate models have struggled to account for how and when clouds freeze. “This helps identify one of the most uncertain pieces of the climate puzzle,” he said.

The research also shows that cloud glaciation patterns are the same whether studied in a lab or seen from space. The freezing process that starts on a dust particle just nanometres wide scales up into massive clouds covering kilometres.

That consistency gives climate scientists a new benchmark. It helps them better understand how aerosols, tiny solid or liquid particles in the air, shape cloud behaviour and climate feedback loops.

“This is a big step in connecting lab science to global climate observations,” Villanueva said.

But not all regions behave the same way. In the Sahara Desert, where much of the dust originates, the hot air and dry conditions often prevent cloud formation. In contrast, mid- and high-latitude regions downwind from deserts are more likely to see this dust-driven glaciation effect.

The researchers also noted that the Southern Hemisphere shows different patterns. Marine aerosols, such as salt from ocean spray, may play a similar role in cloud glaciation there. That adds a new layer of complexity to the global climate system.

“There’s still more to understand,” said Villanueva. “We need to look at factors like wind strength and humidity to get the full picture.”

Still, the research confirms that dust is more than a local issue. Once it rises into the atmosphere, it can travel thousands of kilometres. Along the way, it changes the way clouds form and behave.

Those changes have direct effects. Cloud glaciation influences where and how rain and snow fall. It affects local weather and long-term climate patterns. It also impacts how much solar energy is reflected away from the planet.

This new understanding of dust’s role could lead to better climate models. It could also help meteorologists improve their short-term forecasts for weather events tied to cloud formation.

As scientists continue to refine these models, the role of aerosols like desert dust will become more important. What starts as a fine particle in the desert may shape the rain clouds over continents far away.

“Tiny particles can have a huge effect,” said Lohmann. “They change how clouds behave, and that changes everything else.”

The study adds to a growing body of research on how natural elements, like wind, dust, and moisture, interact in the atmosphere. While more work is needed to understand all the variables, this new evidence brings researchers one step closer to building more accurate climate models.

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