Supercooled water: new measurements of the latent heat of freezing

We present new measurements of the latent heat of freezing for water in the temperature range -8 to -25 Celsius (see figure). Our measurements show a marked deviation from expressions commonly used to estimate the temperature dependent latent heat. Following the discussion in Kostinski and Cantrell (2008), we argue that the conventional expression assumes reversibility and a hydrostatic equation of state for ice. Actual freezing of supercooled water satisfies neither. We also compare our measurements to previous work by Fukuta and Gramada (2003) and Bertolini et al. (1985).

D. Bertolini, M. Cassettari, and G. Salvetti, Chem. Phys. Lett., 119, 553–555, 1985.

N. Fukuta and C. Gramada, J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 1871-1875, 2003.

A. Kostinski and W. Cantrell, J. Atmos. Sci., 65, 2961-2971, 2008.