English

Toward a Comprehensive Model of Snow Crystal Growth Dynamics: 2. Structure Dependent Attachment Kinetics near -5 C

Materials Science 2015-06-12 v1

Abstract

We present experimental data demonstrating the presence of structure-dependent attachment kinetics (SDAK) in ice crystal growth from water vapor near -5 C. Specifically, we find that the nucleation barrier on the basal edge of a thin-walled hollow columnar crystal is approximately ten times smaller than the corresponding nucleation barrier on a large basal facet. These observations support the hypothesis that SDAK effects play an important role in determining the growth morphologies of atmospheric ice crystals as a function of temperature.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1302.1231,
  title  = {Toward a Comprehensive Model of Snow Crystal Growth Dynamics: 2. Structure Dependent Attachment Kinetics near -5 C},
  author = {Kenneth G. Libbrecht},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1302.1231},
  year   = {2015}
}