Kelvin Effect and Hygroscopic Growth of Mineral Nucleation Component (MINN) under Varying Relative Humidity: A Koehler Theory Approach
This study presents the results of the analysis of the influence of the Kelvin curvature and hygroscopic growth on the optical and equilibrium properties of desert aerosols components under varying relative humidity (RH). Microphysical properties (volume mix ratios, dry mode radii and wet mode radii) of desert aerosols were extracted from the OPAC 4.0 (Optical Properties of Aerosols and Clouds) and analyzed to quantify the influence of Kelvin Curvature (Kelvin effect) and water activities on equilibrium relative humidities, effective radius and effective hygroscopic growth. Data were extracted over the spectral range of (0.4 to 0.8 μm) and at eight relative humidities of (0%, 50%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 95%, 98%, and 99%). The concentrations of Mineral Nucleation Non-Spherical Mode (MINN) were varied to obtain five different models. Koehler theory was applied to determine the effective hygroscopic growth factor, effective radius, Kelvin effect, water activity, equilibrium vapour pressure, and first-order Kelvin corrections, while the empirical γ-model, k-model, and three-parameter growth model were used to evaluate hygroscopic growth behaviour. The results showed that the effective hygroscopic growth factor increased with increasing relative humidity of Mineral Nucleation Non-Spherical Mode (MINN) concentration, whereas the effective radius and Kelvin effect decreased. Water activity approached unity, while equilibrium vapour pressure increased rapidly near saturation. Kelvin effect corrections of the effective hygroscopic growth factor and effective radius remained negligible below 90% relative humidity but increased between 95% and 99% relative humidity. The regression analysis produced R2 values of 0.99905 to 0.99929, which show data fitted equation very well, with A ranging from -0.0181 to -0.0137, and B from 0.0208 to 0.0442 across models 1 to 5. The k- model gave R2 = 0.99912 to 0.99913, while the three-parameter model gave R2 = 0.99925 to 0.99928. Model 1 consistently showed the largest corrections value and Model 5 the smallest correction. The study demonstrated that increasing mineral aerosol concentration enhanced water uptake while reducing the relative influence of Kelvin curvature.
