Aerosol
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- A collection of airborne solid or liquid particles, with a typical size between 0.01 and 10 micrometers (µm) and residing in the atmosphere for at least several hours. Aerosols may be of either natural or anthropogenic origin. Aerosols may influence climate in two ways: directly through scattering and absorbing radiation, and indirectly through acting as condensation nuclei for cloud formation or modifying the optical properties and lifetime of clouds. The term has also come to be associated, erroneously, with the propellant used in "aerosol sprays." See climate, particulate matter, sulfate aerosols.
EPA - Cite This Source - This Definition - Particulate matter, solid or liquid, larger than a molecule but small enough to remain suspended in the atmosphere. Natural sources include salt particles from sea spray, dust and clay particles as a result of weathering of rocks, both of which are carried upward by the wind. Aerosols can also originate as a result of human activities and are often considered pollutants. Aerosols are important in the atmosphere as nuclei for the condensation of water droplets and ice crystals, as participants in various chemical cycles, and as absorbers and scatters of solar radiation, thereby influencing the radiation budget of the Earth's climate system. See climate, particulate matter, sulfate aerosols.
EPA - Cite This Source - This Definition - a suspension of solid or liquid particles in a gas, for example sulfate molecules (SO4-) suspended in the earth's atmosphere.
NCDC National Climatic Data Center - Cite This Source - This Definition - Aerosol Non-gaseous substances, divided into solid particles or liquid droplets, held in suspension in the atmosphere.
NSIDC - Cite This Source - This Definition - Anthropogenic, carbon dioxide, Desertification, Enhanced Greenhouse Effect, Mauna Loa, methane (CH\<sub\>4\</sub\>), Pollution, Source, Sulfate Aerosols, Sulfur dioxide (SO\<sub\>2\</sub\>)
- A system of colloidal particles dispersed in a gas, such as smoke or fog.
NOAA National Weather Service - Cite This Source - This Definition - Dense Fog Advisory, Evaporation-mixing Fog, Freezing Fog, GF, Ground Fog, Ice Fog, Nieve Penitente, Radiation Fog, Rain Induced Fog, Shallow Fog, Steam Fog, Tule Fog, Upslope Fog