Temperature dependence of the formation of sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere

Classical nucleation theory is used in calculations of the temperature dependence of the characteristics and nucleation rates of sulfate aerosols in the binary H2SO4-H2O vapor mixture, in order to assess the influence of temperature on the formation of sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere, and to explore the possibility of new particle formation through homogeneous nucleation processes at regions where temperature is as low as -75 C, rather than the often-assumed -50 or -55 C. Calculation results indicate that the number of particles formed at a lower temperature is larger by several orders of magnitude than at higher temperatures, when water and sulfuric acid vapor concentrations are kept constant, and that large quantities of ultrafine particles which cannot be detected by conventional methods may exist at low-temperature stratospheric regions.