Articles | Volume 19, issue 16
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5373-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-5373-2026
Research article
 | 
18 Aug 2026
Research article |  | 18 Aug 2026

Curve fitting algorithm for multimodal particle size distributions – a theoretical basis

Christopher N. Rapp, Gerardo Carrillo-Cardenas, Tareq Hussein, Sining Niu, Yue Zhang, Fred J. Brechtel, A. Gannet Hallar, and Daniel J. Cziczo

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Cited articles

Albrecht, B. A.: Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness, Science, 245, 1227–1230, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.245.4923.1227, 1989. 
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Elzhov, T. V., Mullen, K. M., Spiess, A.-N., and Bolker, B.: minpack.lm: R interface to the levenberg-marquardt nonlinear least-squares algorithm found in MINPACK, plus support for bounds, CRAN, https://doi.org/10.32614/CRAN.package.minpack.lm, 2022. 
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Short summary
Particles in the atmosphere vary in size and concentration, forming what is known as a particle size distribution (PSD). These distributions rarely consist of a single group of similar particles, known as a mode. Instead, they are often made up multiple overlapping modes. This work introduces an open-source algorithm to separate complex PSDs into their individual modes, enabling characterization of each particle population to provide insight into properties relevant to human health and climate.
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