Research project Plastic in Arctic Clouds: Microplastics And their influence on ice-Nucleation (PAC-MAN)
Do microplastics reach Arctic clouds and influence how ice forms? PAC-MAN combines cloud sampling at the Zeppelin Observatory in Svalbard with laboratory experiments and atmospheric modelling to provide the first direct evidence of microplastics inside clouds and their climate impact.
Microplastic particles have recently been identified as a global atmospheric contaminant, but their role in cloud formation remains largely unknown. PAC-MAN investigates whether microplastics are present in Arctic clouds and assesses their potential to influence cloud microphysics, ice nucleation and climate.
Combining field observations at the Zeppelin Observatory in Svalbard, laboratory experiments and atmospheric modelling, we aim to provide the first direct experimental evidence of microplastics within clouds. A CVI inlet paired with advanced single-particle detection will identify microplastics in cloud residuals, while laboratory studies test the ice-nucleating ability of aged and fresh microplastics.
The project addresses a key knowledge gap at the intersection of atmospheric science and pollution research, and may reveal a previously overlooked feedback mechanism in the Arctic climate system, improving climate models and future plastic pollution assessments.