Bergeron-Findeisen mechanism
Quick Summary
The Bergeron-Findeisen mechanism, introduced in the 1930s by Tor Bergeron and Walter Findeisen, explains how ice crystals grow in cold clouds. In these clouds, ice crystals can form directly from water vapor. This process is efficient because the saturation vapor pressure of liquid water is higher than that of ice, causing water vapor to deposit onto ice crystals at the expense of liquid water.12
This rapid conversion allows tiny ice crystals to grow into snowflakes, which are large enough to fall. The specific shape of ice crystals depends on temperature and supersaturation. Ice crystals can also grow through aggregation (clumping together) or riming (freezing of supercooled water onto the crystal). These processes are fundamental to precipitation formation in many clouds.13
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