A Versatile Apparatus for Measuring the Growth Rates of Small Ice Prisms from the Vapor Phase

Abstract

I describe an adaptable apparatus for making precision measurements of the growth of faceted ice prisms from water vapor as a function of temperature, supersaturation, and background gas pressure. I also describe procedures for modeling growth data to disentangle a variety of physical effects and better understand systematic errors and measurement uncertainties. By enabling precise ice-growth measurements over a broad range of environmental conditions, this apparatus is well suited for investigating the molecular attachment kinetics at the ice/vapor interface, which is needed to understand and model snow crystal growth dynamics.