Coagulation¶
Coagulation, the process by which the collision of two particles results in a single particle with volume equal to the sum of the volumes of the colliding particles, is an integral component in characterizing the evolution of atmospheric aerosols in time and space. The theory behind this process involves utilizing an experimentally derived expression for the frequency of particle collisions with respect to particle size and incorporating this expression within a mathematical scheme to keep count of the number of collisions as a function of particle size. Coagulation acts to reduce the total number of particles and to increase their mean size within an aerosol population; consequently coagulation impacts many other atmospheric processes that are influenced by particle size.