New findings about tiny aerosols will greatly improve climate models January 22, 2021 SHARE New results from an atmospheric study over the eastern North Atlantic reveal that tiny aerosol particles which seed clouds can form out of next-to-nothingness over the open ocean. This image was taken on the aircraft carrying 55 different atmospheric instrument systems which took measurements over the Azores and surrounding ocean. (Courtesy photo) New results from an atmospheric study over the eastern North Atlantic reveal that tiny aerosol particles that seed clouds can form out of next-to-nothingness over the open ocean. This “new particle formation” occurs when sunlight reacts with molecules of trace gases in the marine boundary layer, the atmosphere within about the first mile above Earth’s surface. The findings will improve how aerosols and clouds are represented in models that describe Earth’s climate so scientists can understand how the particles — and the processes that control them — might have impacted the planet’s past and present and better predict the future.