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Polar Stratospheric Cloud Microphysics & Chlorine Activation

Interactive polar-stratosphere microphysics model: cool an air parcel below the NAT and ice-frost thresholds, watch nitric-acid trihydrate and ice particles nucleate, sediment out (denitrification), and drive heterogeneous chlorine activation on their surfaces.

Climate, Ecology & Environment3DAdvanced60 FPS📱 Mobile-adapted⇄ 2D version

This simulation follows a slice of the winter polar stratosphere as it cools inside the polar vortex. A cloud of instanced particles stands in for the background sulfate aerosol layer; drag the temperature down past the water-ice frost point or the nitric-acid-trihydrate (NAT) onset and particles nucleate into visibly larger crystals. Those crystals sediment under gravity — the real mechanism behind polar denitrification and dehydration — while their surfaces drive heterogeneous chlorine activation, tracked live as an activated-ClOx fraction. HNO₃ and H₂O sliders shift both phase thresholds, exactly as higher reservoir abundance lets particles form at a warmer temperature in the real atmosphere.

⚙ Under the hood

Cool a slice of the polar winter stratosphere below the NAT and ice-frost thresholds to nucleate real polar stratospheric cloud particles, watch them sediment out (denitrification/dehydration), and track the heterogeneous chlorine activation their surfaces drive.

stratosphereozone holepolar stratospheric cloudsdenitrificationatmospheric chemistryclimate

3D · Three.js / WebGL renderer · 60 FPS target · runs fully client-side, no install