Articles | Volume 13, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1591-2013
© Author(s) 2013. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1591-2013
© Author(s) 2013. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
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08 Feb 2013
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 08 Feb 2013
Application of the Statistical Oxidation Model (SOM) to Secondary Organic Aerosol formation from photooxidation of C12 alkanes
C. D. Cappa
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, 95616, USA
X. Zhang
Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
C. L. Loza
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
J. S. Craven
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
L. D. Yee
Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
J. H. Seinfeld
Division of Engineering and Applied Science, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA
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Jianlin Hu, Shantanu Jathar, Hongliang Zhang, Qi Ying, Shu-Hua Chen, Christopher D. Cappa, and Michael J. Kleeman
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M. Dale Stokes, Grant Deane, Douglas B. Collins, Christopher Cappa, Timothy Bertram, Abigail Dommer, Steven Schill, Sara Forestieri, and Mathew Survilo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4257–4267, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4257-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4257-2016, 2016
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Sara D. Forestieri, Gavin C. Cornwell, Taylor M. Helgestad, Kathryn A. Moore, Christopher Lee, Gordon A. Novak, Camille M. Sultana, Xiaofei Wang, Timothy H. Bertram, Kimberly A. Prather, and Christopher D. Cappa
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Alma Hodzic, Prasad S. Kasibhatla, Duseong S. Jo, Christopher D. Cappa, Jose L. Jimenez, Sasha Madronich, and Rokjin J. Park
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The global budget and spatial distribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are highly uncertain in chemistry-climate models, which reflects our inability to characterize all phases of the OA lifecycle. We have performed global model simulations with the newly proposed formation and removal processes (photolysis and heterogeneous chemistry) and shown that SOA is a far more dynamic system, with 4 times stronger production rates and more efficient removal mechanisms, than assumed in models.
Christopher D. Cappa, Katheryn R. Kolesar, Xiaolu Zhang, Dean B. Atkinson, Mikhail S. Pekour, Rahul A. Zaveri, Alla Zelenyuk, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6511–6535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6511-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6511-2016, 2016
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Dominique E. Young, Hwajin Kim, Caroline Parworth, Shan Zhou, Xiaolu Zhang, Christopher D. Cappa, Roger Seco, Saewung Kim, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5427–5451, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5427-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5427-2016, 2016
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Aerosol chemistry and the sources and processes driving the observed temporal and diurnal variations of PM were studied in a polluted urban environment during winter 2013. These results were compared to a similar campaign from winter 2010. Meteorology strongly influenced PM composition, both directly and indirectly. Nighttime reactions played a more important role in 2013 and the influence from a nighttime formed residual layer that mixed down in the morning was also much more intense in 2013.
Christopher D. Cappa, Shantanu H. Jathar, Michael J. Kleeman, Kenneth S. Docherty, Jose L. Jimenez, John H. Seinfeld, and Anthony S. Wexler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3041–3059, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3041-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3041-2016, 2016
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S. H. Jathar, C. D. Cappa, A. S. Wexler, J. H. Seinfeld, and M. J. Kleeman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2309–2322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2309-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2309-2016, 2016
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Multi-generational chemistry schemes applied in regional models do not increase secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass production relative to traditional "two-product" schemes when both models are fitted to the same chamber data. The multi-generational chemistry schemes do change the predicted composition of SOA and the source attribution of SOA.
K. R. Kolesar, C. Chen, D. Johnson, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9327–9343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9327-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9327-2015, 2015
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Secondary organic aerosol from the dark ozonolysis of α‑pinene was formed at a range of mass loadings from 1 to 800μg m-3. The amount of mass loss during evaporation in a thermodenuder was found to be independent of mass loading. A kinetic model of evaporation was fit to the observations and good agreement was obtained when the particle was either composed of dimers that decompose into semi-volatile monomers or when it was composed of low-volatility compounds that evaporate directly.
S. H. Jathar, C. D. Cappa, A. S. Wexler, J. H. Seinfeld, and M. J. Kleeman
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2553–2567, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2553-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2553-2015, 2015
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Multi-generational oxidation of organic vapors can significantly alter the mass, chemical composition and properties of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here, we implement a semi-explicit, constrained multi-generational oxidation model of Cappa and Wilson (2012) in a 3-D air quality model. When compared with results from a current-generation SOA model, we predict similar mass concentrations of SOA but a different chemical composition. O:C ratios of SOA are in line with those measured globally.
D. B. Atkinson, J. G. Radney, J. Lum, K. R. Kolesar, D. J. Cziczo, M. S. Pekour, Q. Zhang, A. Setyan, A. Zelenyuk, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4045–4061, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4045-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4045-2015, 2015
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This work describes an analysis of measurements of the influence of water uptake on the light-scattering properties of sub- and supermicron-sized particles as observed in the Sacramento, CA, USA region during the 2010 CARES field campaign. The observations are used to derive campaign-average effective hygroscopicity parameters for submicron oxygenated organic aerosol and for supermicron particles, and the influence of chloride displacement reactions on particle hygroscopicity is examined.
G. M. Buffaloe, D. A. Lack, E. J. Williams, D. Coffman, K. L. Hayden, B. M. Lerner, S.-M. Li, I. Nuaaman, P. Massoli, T. B. Onasch, P. K. Quinn, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1881–1896, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1881-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1881-2014, 2014
C. D. Cappa, E. J. Williams, D. A. Lack, G. M. Buffaloe, D. Coffman, K. L. Hayden, S. C. Herndon, B. M. Lerner, S.-M. Li, P. Massoli, R. McLaren, I. Nuaaman, T. B. Onasch, and P. K. Quinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1337–1352, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1337-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1337-2014, 2014
Kathryn A. Moore, Thomas C. J. Hill, Chamika K. Madawala, Raymond J. Leibensperger III, Samantha Greeney, Christopher D. Cappa, M. Dale Stokes, Grant B. Deane, Christopher Lee, Alexei V. Tivanski, Kimberly A. Prather, and Paul J. DeMott
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3131–3159, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3131-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3131-2025, 2025
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This article presents results from the first study in a new wind–wave channel at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The experiment tested how wind over the ocean surface influences production of sea spray particles, which are important for radiative forcing and cloud formation in the atmosphere. We found that particle concentration and chemical composition varied with wind speed and that variations were driven by changes in wind and wave breaking rather than seawater biology or chemistry.
Reina S. Buenconsejo, Sophia M. Charan, John H. Seinfeld, and Paul O. Wennberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1883–1897, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1883-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1883-2025, 2025
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Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5265–5286, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, 2024
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) fuel the production of air pollutants like ozone and particulate matter. The representation of VOC chemistry remains challenging due to its complexity in speciation and reactions. Here, we develop a chemical mechanism, RACM2B-VCP, that better represents VOC chemistry in urban areas such as Los Angeles. We also discuss the contribution of VOCs emitted from volatile chemical products and other anthropogenic sources to total VOC reactivity and O3.
Ryan N. Farley, James E. Lee, Laura-Hélèna Rivellini, Alex K. Y. Lee, Rachael Dal Porto, Christopher D. Cappa, Kyle Gorkowski, Abu Sayeed Md Shawon, Katherine B. Benedict, Allison C. Aiken, Manvendra K. Dubey, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3953–3971, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3953-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3953-2024, 2024
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The black carbon aerosol composition and mixing state were characterized using a soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer. Single-particle measurements revealed the major role of atmospheric processing in modulating the black carbon mixing state. A significant fraction of soot particles were internally mixed with oxidized organic aerosol and sulfate, with implications for activation as cloud nuclei.
Elyse A. Pennington, Yuan Wang, Benjamin C. Schulze, Karl M. Seltzer, Jiani Yang, Bin Zhao, Zhe Jiang, Hongru Shi, Melissa Venecek, Daniel Chau, Benjamin N. Murphy, Christopher M. Kenseth, Ryan X. Ward, Havala O. T. Pye, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2345–2363, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2345-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2345-2024, 2024
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To assess the air quality in Los Angeles (LA), we improved the CMAQ model by using dynamic traffic emissions and new secondary organic aerosol schemes to represent volatile chemical products. Source apportionment demonstrates that the urban areas of the LA Basin and vicinity are NOx-saturated, with the largest sensitivity of O3 to changes in volatile organic compounds in the urban core. The improvement and remaining issues shed light on the future direction of the model development.
Ryan N. Farley, Sonya Collier, Christopher D. Cappa, Leah R. Williams, Timothy B. Onasch, Lynn M. Russell, Hwajin Kim, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15039–15056, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15039-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15039-2023, 2023
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Soot particles, also known as black carbon (BC), have important implications for global climate and regional air quality. After the particles are emitted, BC can be coated with other material, impacting the aerosol properties. We selectively measured the composition of particles containing BC to explore their sources and chemical transformations in the atmosphere. We focus on a persistent, multiday fog event in order to study the effects of chemical reactions occurring within liquid droplets.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Bryan K. Place, Qindan Zhu, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Ryan Ward, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13015–13028, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13015-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13015-2023, 2023
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NOx is a precursor to hazardous tropospheric ozone and can be emitted from various anthropogenic sources. It is important to quantify NOx emissions in urban environments to improve the local air quality, which still remains a challenge, as sources are heterogeneous in space and time. In this study, we calculate NOx emissions over Los Angeles, based on aircraft measurements in June 2021, and compare them to a local emission inventory, which we find mostly overpredicts the measured values.
Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Caleb Arata, Qindan Zhu, Benjamin C. Schulze, Roy Woods, John H. Seinfeld, Anthony Bucholtz, Ronald C. Cohen, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12753–12780, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12753-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12753-2023, 2023
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The San Joaquin Valley is an agricultural area with poor air quality. Organic gases drive the formation of hazardous air pollutants. Agricultural emissions of these gases are not well understood and have rarely been quantified at landscape scale. By combining aircraft-based emission measurements with land cover information, we found mis- or unrepresented emission sources. Our results help in understanding of pollution sources and in improving predictions of air quality in agricultural regions.
Qindan Zhu, Bryan Place, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Sha Tong, Huanxin Zhang, Jun Wang, Clara M. Nussbaumer, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9669–9683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, 2023
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Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a hazardous air pollutant, and it is the precursor of short-lived climate forcers like tropospheric ozone and aerosol particles. While NOx emissions from transportation has been strictly regulated, soil NOx emissions are overlooked. We use the airborne flux measurements to observe NOx emissions from highways and urban and cultivated soil land cover types. We show non-negligible soil NOx emissions, which are significantly underestimated in current model simulations.
Kevin J. Nihill, Matthew M. Coggon, Christopher Y. Lim, Abigail R. Koss, Bin Yuan, Jordan E. Krechmer, Kanako Sekimoto, Jose L. Jimenez, Joost de Gouw, Christopher D. Cappa, Colette L. Heald, Carsten Warneke, and Jesse H. Kroll
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7887–7899, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7887-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7887-2023, 2023
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In this work, we collect emissions from controlled burns of biomass fuels that can be found in the western United States into an environmental chamber in order to simulate their oxidation as they pass through the atmosphere. These findings provide a detailed characterization of the composition of the atmosphere downwind of wildfires. In turn, this will help to explore the effects of these changing emissions on downwind populations and will also directly inform atmospheric and climate models.
Yuchen Wang, Xvli Guo, Yajie Huo, Mengying Li, Yuqing Pan, Shaocai Yu, Alexander Baklanov, Daniel Rosenfeld, John H. Seinfeld, and Pengfei Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5233–5249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5233-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5233-2023, 2023
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Substantial advances have been made in recent years toward detecting and quantifying methane super-emitters from space. However, such advances have rarely been expanded to measure the global methane pledge because large-scale swaths and high-resolution sampling have not been coordinated. Here we present a versatile spaceborne architecture that can juggle planet-scale and plant-level methane retrievals, challenge official emission reports, and remain relevant for stereoscopic measurements.
Mengying Li, Shaocai Yu, Xue Chen, Zhen Li, Yibo Zhang, Zhe Song, Weiping Liu, Pengfei Li, Xiaoye Zhang, Meigen Zhang, Yele Sun, Zirui Liu, Caiping Sun, Jingkun Jiang, Shuxiao Wang, Benjamin N. Murphy, Kiran Alapaty, Rohit Mathur, Daniel Rosenfeld, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11845–11866, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11845-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11845-2022, 2022
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This study constructed an emission inventory of condensable particulate matter (CPM) in China with a focus on organic aerosols (OAs), based on collected CPM emission information. The results show that OA emissions are enhanced twofold for the years 2014 and 2017 after the inclusion of CPM in the new inventory. Sensitivity cases demonstrated the significant contributions of CPM emissions from stationary combustion and mobile sources to primary, secondary, and total OA concentrations.
Shenglun Wu, Hyung Joo Lee, Andrea Anderson, Shang Liu, Toshihiro Kuwayama, John H. Seinfeld, and Michael J. Kleeman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4929–4949, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4929-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4929-2022, 2022
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An ozone control experiment usually conducted in the laboratory was installed in a trailer and moved to the outdoor environment to directly confirm that we are controlling the right sources in order to lower ambient ozone concentrations. Adding small amounts of precursor oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds to ambient air showed that the highest ozone concentrations are best controlled by reducing concentrations of oxides of nitrogen. The results confirm satellite measurements.
Delaney B. Kilgour, Gordon A. Novak, Jon S. Sauer, Alexia N. Moore, Julie Dinasquet, Sarah Amiri, Emily B. Franklin, Kathryn Mayer, Margaux Winter, Clare K. Morris, Tyler Price, Francesca Malfatti, Daniel R. Crocker, Christopher Lee, Christopher D. Cappa, Allen H. Goldstein, Kimberly A. Prather, and Timothy H. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1601–1613, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1601-2022, 2022
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We report measurements of gas-phase volatile organosulfur molecules made during a mesocosm phytoplankton bloom experiment. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), methanethiol (MeSH), and benzothiazole accounted for on average over 90 % of total gas-phase sulfur emissions. This work focuses on factors controlling the production and emission of DMS and MeSH and the role of non-DMS molecules (such as MeSH and benzothiazole) in secondary sulfate formation in coastal marine environments.
Sophia M. Charan, Yuanlong Huang, Reina S. Buenconsejo, Qi Li, David R. Cocker III, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 917–928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-917-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-917-2022, 2022
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In this study, we investigate the secondary organic aerosol formation potential of decamethylcyclopentasiloxane (D5), which is used as a tracer for volatile chemical products and measured in high concentrations both outdoors and indoors. By performing experiments in different types of reactors, we find that D5’s aerosol formation is highly dependent on OH, and, at low OH concentrations or exposures, D5 forms little aerosol. We also reconcile results from other studies.
Elyse A. Pennington, Karl M. Seltzer, Benjamin N. Murphy, Momei Qin, John H. Seinfeld, and Havala O. T. Pye
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18247–18261, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18247-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18247-2021, 2021
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Volatile chemical products (VCPs) are commonly used consumer and industrial items that contribute to the formation of atmospheric aerosol. We implemented the emissions and chemistry of VCPs in a regional-scale model and compared predictions with measurements made in Los Angeles. Our results reduced model bias and suggest that VCPs may contribute up to half of anthropogenic secondary organic aerosol in Los Angeles and are an important source of human-influenced particular matter in urban areas.
Linhui Jiang, Yan Xia, Lu Wang, Xue Chen, Jianjie Ye, Tangyan Hou, Liqiang Wang, Yibo Zhang, Mengying Li, Zhen Li, Zhe Song, Yaping Jiang, Weiping Liu, Pengfei Li, Daniel Rosenfeld, John H. Seinfeld, and Shaocai Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16985–17002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16985-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16985-2021, 2021
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This paper establishes a bottom-up approach to reveal a unique pattern of urban on-road vehicle emissions at a spatial resolution 1–3 orders of magnitude higher than current inventories. The results show that the hourly average on-road vehicle emissions of CO, NOx, HC, and PM2.5 are 74 kg, 40 kg, 8 kg, and 2 kg, respectively. Integrating our traffic-monitoring-based approach with urban measurements, we could address major data gaps between urban air pollutant emissions and concentrations.
Weimeng Kong, Stavros Amanatidis, Huajun Mai, Changhyuk Kim, Benjamin C. Schulze, Yuanlong Huang, Gregory S. Lewis, Susanne V. Hering, John H. Seinfeld, and Richard C. Flagan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5429–5445, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5429-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5429-2021, 2021
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We present the design, modeling, and experimental characterization of the nano-scanning electrical mobility spectrometer (nSEMS), a recently developed instrument that probes particle physical properties in the 1.5–25 nm range. The nSEMS has proven to be extremely powerful in examining atmospheric nucleation and the subsequent growth of nanoparticles in the CERN CLOUD experiment, which provides a valuable asset to study atmospheric nanoparticles and to evaluate their impact on climate.
Stavros Amanatidis, Yuanlong Huang, Buddhi Pushpawela, Benjamin C. Schulze, Christopher M. Kenseth, Ryan X. Ward, John H. Seinfeld, Susanne V. Hering, and Richard C. Flagan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4507–4516, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4507-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4507-2021, 2021
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We assess the performance of a highly portable mobility analyzer, the Spider DMA, in measuring ambient aerosol particle size distributions, with specific attention to its moderate sizing resolution (R=3). Long-term field testing showed excellent correlation with a conventional mobility analyzer (R=10) over the 17–500 nm range, suggesting that moderate resolution may be sufficient to obtain key properties of ambient size distributions, enabling smaller instruments and better counting statistics.
Liqiang Wang, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Xue Chen, Zhen Li, Yibo Zhang, Mengying Li, Khalid Mehmood, Weiping Liu, Tianfeng Chai, Yannian Zhu, Daniel Rosenfeld, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14787–14800, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14787-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14787-2020, 2020
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The Chinese government has made major strides in curbing anthropogenic emissions. In this study, we constrain a state-of-the-art CTM by a reliable data assimilation method with extensive chemical and meteorological observations. This comprehensive technical design provides a crucial advance in isolating the influences of emission changes and meteorological perturbations over the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2016 to 2019, thus establishing the first map of the PM2.5 mitigation across the YRD.
Brigitte Rooney, Yuan Wang, Jonathan H. Jiang, Bin Zhao, Zhao-Cheng Zeng, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14597–14616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14597-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14597-2020, 2020
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Wildfires have become increasingly prevalent. Intense smoke consisting of particulate matter (PM) leads to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. The record-breaking Camp Fire ravaged Northern California for two weeks in 2018. Here, we employ a comprehensive chemical transport model along with ground-based and satellite observations to characterize the PM concentrations across Northern California and to investigate the pollution sensitivity predictions to key parameters of the model.
Sophia M. Charan, Reina S. Buenconsejo, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13167–13190, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13167-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13167-2020, 2020
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In urban areas, the emissions from volatile chemical products may be responsible for the formation of as much particulate matter as motor vehicles. Since exposure to particulate matter is a public health crisis, understanding its formation is critical. In this work, we investigate the secondary organic aerosol formation potential of benzyl alcohol, an important compound that is representative of some of these new emission sources, and find that more particulate matter forms than is expected.
Christopher D. Cappa, Christopher Y. Lim, David H. Hagan, Matthew Coggon, Abigail Koss, Kanako Sekimoto, Joost de Gouw, Timothy B. Onasch, Carsten Warneke, and Jesse H. Kroll
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8511–8532, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8511-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8511-2020, 2020
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Smoke from combustion of a wide range of biomass fuels (e.g., leaves, twigs, logs, peat, and dung) was photochemically aged in a small chamber for up to 8 d of equivalent atmospheric aging. Upon aging, the particle chemical composition and ability to absorb sunlight changed owing to reactions in both the gas and particulate phases. We developed a model to explain the observations and used this to derive insights into the aging of smoke in the atmosphere.
Alexander B. MacDonald, Ali Hossein Mardi, Hossein Dadashazar, Mojtaba Azadi Aghdam, Ewan Crosbie, Haflidi H. Jonsson, Richard C. Flagan, John H. Seinfeld, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7645–7665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7645-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7645-2020, 2020
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Understanding how humans affect Earth's climate requires understanding of how particles in the air affect the number concentration of droplets in a cloud (Nd). We use the air-equivalent mass concentration of different chemical species contained in cloud water to predict Nd. In this study we found that the prediction of Nd is (1) best described by total sulfate; (2) improved when considering up to five species; and (3) dependent on factors like turbulence, smoke presence, and in-cloud height.
Ziyue Li, Emma L. D'Ambro, Siegfried Schobesberger, Cassandra J. Gaston, Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker, Jiumeng Liu, John E. Shilling, Joel A. Thornton, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2489–2512, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2489-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2489-2020, 2020
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We discuss the development and application of a robust clustering method for the interpretation of compound-specific organic aerosol thermal desorption profiles. We demonstrate the utility of clustering for analysis and interpretation of the composition and volatility of secondary organic aerosol. We show that the thermal desorption profiles are represented by only 9–13 distinct clusters, with the number of clusters obtained dependent on the precursor and formation conditions.
Khalid Mehmood, Yujie Wu, Liqiang Wang, Shaocai Yu, Pengfei Li, Xue Chen, Zhen Li, Yibo Zhang, Mengying Li, Weiping Liu, Yuesi Wang, Zirui Liu, Yannian Zhu, Daniel Rosenfeld, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2419–2443, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2419-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2419-2020, 2020
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We selected June 2014 as our study period, which exhibited a complete evolution process of open biomass burning (OBB) dominated by open crop straw burning (OCSB) over central and eastern China (CEC). We established a constraining method that integrates ground-based PM2.5 measurements with the two-way coupled WRF-CMAQ model to derive optimal OBB emissions. It was found that these emissions could allow the model to reproduce meteorological and chemical fields over CEC during the study period.
Crystal D. McClure, Christopher Y. Lim, David H. Hagan, Jesse H. Kroll, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1531–1547, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1531-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1531-2020, 2020
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We characterized various optical, chemical, and physical properties of particles produced from combustion of a variety of different biomass fuels, many representative of those found in the western US. We find that many properties scale with the ratio between bulk average organic aerosol and black carbon mass concentrations, although there are some properties that do not.
Matthew M. Coggon, Christopher Y. Lim, Abigail R. Koss, Kanako Sekimoto, Bin Yuan, Jessica B. Gilman, David H. Hagan, Vanessa Selimovic, Kyle J. Zarzana, Steven S. Brown, James M. Roberts, Markus Müller, Robert Yokelson, Armin Wisthaler, Jordan E. Krechmer, Jose L. Jimenez, Christopher Cappa, Jesse H. Kroll, Joost de Gouw, and Carsten Warneke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14875–14899, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14875-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14875-2019, 2019
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Wildfire emissions significantly contribute to adverse air quality; however, the chemical processes that lead to hazardous pollutants, such as ozone, are not fully understood. In this study, we describe laboratory experiments where we simulate the atmospheric chemistry of smoke emitted from a range of biomass fuels. We show that certain understudied compounds, such as furans and phenolic compounds, are significant contributors to pollutants formed as a result of typical atmospheric oxidation.
Christopher Y. Lim, David H. Hagan, Matthew M. Coggon, Abigail R. Koss, Kanako Sekimoto, Joost de Gouw, Carsten Warneke, Christopher D. Cappa, and Jesse H. Kroll
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12797–12809, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12797-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12797-2019, 2019
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Wildfires are a large source of gases and particles to the atmosphere, both of which impact human health and climate. The amount and composition of particles from wildfires can change with time in the atmosphere; however, the impact of aging is not well understood. In a series of controlled laboratory experiments, we show that the particles are oxidized and a significant fraction of the gas-phase carbon (24 %–56 %) is converted to particle mass over the course of several days in the atmosphere.
Emma L. D'Ambro, Siegfried Schobesberger, Cassandra J. Gaston, Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker, Ben H. Lee, Jiumeng Liu, Alla Zelenyuk, David Bell, Christopher D. Cappa, Taylor Helgestad, Ziyue Li, Alex Guenther, Jian Wang, Matthew Wise, Ryan Caylor, Jason D. Surratt, Theran Riedel, Noora Hyttinen, Vili-Taneli Salo, Galib Hasan, Theo Kurtén, John E. Shilling, and Joel A. Thornton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 11253–11265, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11253-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-11253-2019, 2019
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Isoprene is the most abundantly emitted reactive organic gas globally, and thus it is important to understand its fate and role in aerosol formation and growth. A major product of its oxidation is an epoxydiol, IEPOX, which can be efficiently taken up by acidic aerosol to generate substantial amounts of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). We present chamber experiments exploring the properties of IEPOX SOA and reconcile discrepancies between field, laboratory, and model studies of this process.
Ingeborg E. Nielsen, Henrik Skov, Andreas Massling, Axel C. Eriksson, Manuel Dall'Osto, Heikki Junninen, Nina Sarnela, Robert Lange, Sonya Collier, Qi Zhang, Christopher D. Cappa, and Jacob K. Nøjgaard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10239–10256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10239-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10239-2019, 2019
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Measurements of the chemical composition of sub-micrometer aerosols were carried out in northern Greenland during the Arctic haze (February–May) where concentrations are high due to favorable conditions for long-range transport. Sulfate was the dominant aerosol (66 %), followed by organic matter (24 %). The highest black carbon concentrations where observed in February. Source apportionment yielded three factors: a primary factor (12 %), an Arctic haze factor (64 %) and a marine factor (22 %).
Brigitte Rooney, Ran Zhao, Yuan Wang, Kelvin H. Bates, Ajay Pillarisetti, Sumit Sharma, Seema Kundu, Tami C. Bond, Nicholas L. Lam, Bora Ozaltun, Li Xu, Varun Goel, Lauren T. Fleming, Robert Weltman, Simone Meinardi, Donald R. Blake, Sergey A. Nizkorodov, Rufus D. Edwards, Ankit Yadav, Narendra K. Arora, Kirk R. Smith, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7719–7742, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7719-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7719-2019, 2019
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Approximately 3 billion people worldwide cook with solid fuels, such as wood, charcoal, and agricultural residues, that are often combusted in inefficient cookstoves. Here, we simulate the distribution of the two major health-damaging outdoor pollution species (PM2.5 and O3) using state-of-the-science emissions databases and atmospheric chemical transport models to estimate the impact of household combustion on ambient air quality in India.
Rebecca H. Schwantes, Sophia M. Charan, Kelvin H. Bates, Yuanlong Huang, Tran B. Nguyen, Huajun Mai, Weimeng Kong, Richard C. Flagan, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7255–7278, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7255-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7255-2019, 2019
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Oxidation of isoprene, the dominant non-methane biogenic volatile organic compound emitted into the atmosphere, is a significant source of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here formation of SOA from isoprene oxidation by the hydroxyl radical (OH) under high-NO conditions is measured. This work improves our understanding of isoprene SOA formation by demonstrating that low-volatility compounds formed under high-NO conditions produce significantly more aerosol than previously thought.
Ali Akherati, Christopher D. Cappa, Michael J. Kleeman, Kenneth S. Docherty, Jose L. Jimenez, Stephen M. Griffith, Sebastien Dusanter, Philip S. Stevens, and Shantanu H. Jathar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4561–4594, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4561-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4561-2019, 2019
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Unburned and partially burned organic compounds emitted from fossil fuel and biomass combustion can react in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight to form particles. In this work, we use an air pollution model to examine the influence of these organic compounds released by motor vehicles and fires on fine particle pollution in southern California.
Ziyue Li, Katherine A. Smith, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14585–14608, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14585-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14585-2018, 2018
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We investigated the influence of relative humidity (RH) on the heterogeneous oxidation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) particles by OH radicals. We observed significantly faster volume loss and compositional change of SOA at high RH, showing that viscosity differences determine compositional changes, but variability in either the uptake coefficient or the fragmentation probability are required to explain the difference in volume loss between low and high RH.
Sailaja Eluri, Christopher D. Cappa, Beth Friedman, Delphine K. Farmer, and Shantanu H. Jathar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13813–13838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13813-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13813-2018, 2018
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As oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) are increasingly used to study aerosol formation and evolution in laboratory and field environments, there is a need to develop models that can be used to interpret OFR data. In this work, we evaluate two coupled chemistry and thermodynamic models to simulate secondary organic aerosol formation (SOA) from diluted diesel exhaust and explore the sources, pathways, and processes important to SOA formation.
Sara D. Forestieri, Taylor M. Helgestad, Andrew T. Lambe, Lindsay Renbaum-Wolff, Daniel A. Lack, Paola Massoli, Eben S. Cross, Manvendra K. Dubey, Claudio Mazzoleni, Jason S. Olfert, Arthur J. Sedlacek III, Andrew Freedman, Paul Davidovits, Timothy B. Onasch, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12141–12159, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12141-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12141-2018, 2018
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We characterized optical properties of flame-derived black carbon particles and interpret our observations through the use of Mie theory and Rayleigh–Debye–Gans theory. We determined that the mass absorption coefficient is independent of particle collapse and use this to derive theory- and wavelength-specific refractive indices for black carbon (BC). We demonstrate the inadequacy of Mie theory and suggest an alternative approach for atmospheric models to better represent light absorption by BC.
Sara D. Forestieri, Sean M. Staudt, Thomas M. Kuborn, Katharine Faber, Christopher R. Ruehl, Timothy H. Bertram, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10985–11005, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10985-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10985-2018, 2018
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Our work establishes how surface tension reduction influences droplet growth and activation of simple sea spray mimics (NaCl coated with fatty acids). Fatty acids can substantially reduce droplet surface tension near activation but have limited impact on activation. Coating of NaCl by palmitic acid (a wax) impedes water uptake, but this impedance is removed if oleic acid (a liquid) is mixed in. The properties that surface-active compounds need to impact activation are theoretically examined.
Dean B. Atkinson, Mikhail Pekour, Duli Chand, James G. Radney, Katheryn R. Kolesar, Qi Zhang, Ari Setyan, Norman T. O'Neill, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5499–5514, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5499-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5499-2018, 2018
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We use in situ measurements of particle light extinction to assess the performance of a typical aerosol remote retrieval method. The retrieved fine-mode fraction of extinction, a property commonly used to characterize the anthropogenic influence on the aerosol optical depth, compares well with the in situ measurements as does the retrieved effective fine-mode radius, which characterizes the average size of the particles that contribute most to scattering.
Alex K. Y. Lee, Chia-Li Chen, Jun Liu, Derek J. Price, Raghu Betha, Lynn M. Russell, Xiaolu Zhang, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 15055–15067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15055-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15055-2017, 2017
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Understanding the mixing state of ambient black carbon (BC) and the chemical characteristics of its associated coatings is important to evaluate BC fate and environmental impacts. This study reports fresh secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation near traffic emissions during daytime. Our observations suggest that BC was unlikely the major condensation sink of SOA, and a portion of SOA condensed on BC surface was chemically different from other SOA particles that were externally mixed with BC.
Gouri Prabhakar, Caroline L. Parworth, Xiaolu Zhang, Hwajin Kim, Dominique E. Young, Andreas J. Beyersdorf, Luke D. Ziemba, John B. Nowak, Timothy H. Bertram, Ian C. Faloona, Qi Zhang, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 14747–14770, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14747-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-14747-2017, 2017
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This work assesses the processes that control the ambient concentrations of particulate nitrate in the the wintertime San Joaquin Valley of California through a combination of aircraft and surface measurements made during the DISCOVER-AQ study. We provide an observational demonstration of how nocturnal production and advection in aloft layers combines with daytime production and loss from entrainment and deposition to give rise to a distinct diurnal profile in surface nitrate concentrations.
Jianlin Hu, Shantanu Jathar, Hongliang Zhang, Qi Ying, Shu-Hua Chen, Christopher D. Cappa, and Michael J. Kleeman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5379–5391, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5379-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5379-2017, 2017
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Organic aerosol is a major constituent of ultrafine particulate matter (PM0.1). In this study, a source-oriented air quality model was used to simulate the concentrations and sources of primary and secondary organic aerosols in PM0.1 in California for a 9-year modeling period to provide useful information for epidemiological studies to further investigate the associations with health outcomes.
Rebecca H. Schwantes, Katherine A. Schilling, Renee C. McVay, Hanna Lignell, Matthew M. Coggon, Xuan Zhang, Paul O. Wennberg, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 3453–3474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3453-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-3453-2017, 2017
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Toluene, one of the principle aromatic compounds present in the atmosphere, is oxidized by OH to produce cresol and other products. Here later-generation low-volatility oxygenated products from cresol oxidation by OH are detected in the gas and particle phases. This work identifies a simple and significant mechanism for toluene secondary organic aerosol formation through the cresol pathway. Likely the phenolic pathway of other aromatic compounds is also important for secondary organic aerosol.
Yuanlong Huang, Matthew M. Coggon, Ran Zhao, Hanna Lignell, Michael U. Bauer, Richard C. Flagan, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 839–867, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-839-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-839-2017, 2017
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We report on the development of a new laminar flow tube reactor for the study of gas-phase atmospheric chemistry and secondary organic aerosol formation. The present paper is devoted to the design and fluid dynamical characterization of the reactor. The results of gas and particle residence time distribution experiments in the reactor, together with an evaluation of the effect of non-isothermal conditions, are reported.
Theodora Nah, Renee C. McVay, Jeffrey R. Pierce, John H. Seinfeld, and Nga L. Ng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2297–2310, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2297-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2297-2017, 2017
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We present a model framework that accounts for coagulation in chamber studies where high seed aerosol surface area concentrations are used. The uncertainties in the calculated SOA mass concentrations and yields between four different particle-wall loss correction methods over the series of α-pinene ozonolysis experiments are also assessed. We show that SOA mass yields calculated by the four methods can deviate significantly in studies where high seed aerosol surface area concentrations are used.
Natasha Hodas, Andreas Zuend, Katherine Schilling, Thomas Berkemeier, Manabu Shiraiwa, Richard C. Flagan, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12767–12792, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12767-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12767-2016, 2016
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Discontinuities in apparent hygroscopicity below and above water saturation have been observed for organic and mixed organic-inorganic aerosol particles in both laboratory studies and in the ambient atmosphere. This work explores the extent to which such discontinuities are influenced by organic component molecular mass and viscosity, non-ideal thermodynamic interactions between aerosol components, and the combination of these factors.
M. Dale Stokes, Grant Deane, Douglas B. Collins, Christopher Cappa, Timothy Bertram, Abigail Dommer, Steven Schill, Sara Forestieri, and Mathew Survilo
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 9, 4257–4267, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4257-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-9-4257-2016, 2016
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A small breaking wave and foam simulator has been fabricated that allows the continuous analysis of the produced marine aerosols. Based on the original Marine Aerosol Reference Tank (MART) the miniature version allows the culturing of delicate planktonic organisms because it operates without a large, sheer-inducing pump. This allows the study of marine aerosol production and the effects of biologically controlled seawater chemistry under controlled and repeatable experimental conditions.
Theodora Nah, Renee C. McVay, Xuan Zhang, Christopher M. Boyd, John H. Seinfeld, and Nga L. Ng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9361–9379, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9361-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9361-2016, 2016
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The influence of seed aerosol surface area and oxidation rate on SOA formation in α-pinene ozonolysis is studied. SOA growth rate and mass yields are independent of seed surface area, consistent with the condensation of SOA-forming vapors being dominated by quasi-equilibrium growth. Faster α-pinene oxidation rates and higher SOA mass yields are observed at increasing O3 concentrations, indicating that a faster α-pinene oxidation rate leads to rapidly produced SOA-forming oxidation products.
Sara D. Forestieri, Gavin C. Cornwell, Taylor M. Helgestad, Kathryn A. Moore, Christopher Lee, Gordon A. Novak, Camille M. Sultana, Xiaofei Wang, Timothy H. Bertram, Kimberly A. Prather, and Christopher D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 9003–9018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9003-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-9003-2016, 2016
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Hygroscopic growth factors at 85 % relative humidity (GF(85 %)) were quantified along with particle composition for primary sea spray aerosol (SSA) particles generated in marine aerosol reference tanks (MARTs) from seawater in which two independent phytoplankton blooms were induced. The observed 5 to 15 % depression in the GF(85 %) values (relative to pure sea salt) is consistent with the large observed volume fractions of non-refractory organic matter (NR-OM) comprising the SSA.
Alma Hodzic, Prasad S. Kasibhatla, Duseong S. Jo, Christopher D. Cappa, Jose L. Jimenez, Sasha Madronich, and Rokjin J. Park
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 7917–7941, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7917-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-7917-2016, 2016
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The global budget and spatial distribution of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) are highly uncertain in chemistry-climate models, which reflects our inability to characterize all phases of the OA lifecycle. We have performed global model simulations with the newly proposed formation and removal processes (photolysis and heterogeneous chemistry) and shown that SOA is a far more dynamic system, with 4 times stronger production rates and more efficient removal mechanisms, than assumed in models.
Christopher D. Cappa, Katheryn R. Kolesar, Xiaolu Zhang, Dean B. Atkinson, Mikhail S. Pekour, Rahul A. Zaveri, Alla Zelenyuk, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 6511–6535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6511-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-6511-2016, 2016
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Measurements of size-dependent aerosol optical properties at visible wavelengths made during the 2010 CARES study are reported on, with a special focus on the characterization of supermicron particles. The relationships with and dependence upon particle composition, particle size, photochemical aging, water uptake and heating are discussed, along with broader implications of these in situ measurements for the interpretation of remote sensing products.
Dominique E. Young, Hwajin Kim, Caroline Parworth, Shan Zhou, Xiaolu Zhang, Christopher D. Cappa, Roger Seco, Saewung Kim, and Qi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 5427–5451, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5427-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-5427-2016, 2016
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Aerosol chemistry and the sources and processes driving the observed temporal and diurnal variations of PM were studied in a polluted urban environment during winter 2013. These results were compared to a similar campaign from winter 2010. Meteorology strongly influenced PM composition, both directly and indirectly. Nighttime reactions played a more important role in 2013 and the influence from a nighttime formed residual layer that mixed down in the morning was also much more intense in 2013.
Christopher D. Cappa, Shantanu H. Jathar, Michael J. Kleeman, Kenneth S. Docherty, Jose L. Jimenez, John H. Seinfeld, and Anthony S. Wexler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3041–3059, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3041-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3041-2016, 2016
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Losses of vapors to walls of chambers can negatively bias SOA formation measurements, consequently leading to low predicted SOA concentrations in air quality models. Here, we show that accounting for such vapor losses leads to substantial increases in the predicted amount of SOA formed from VOCs and to notable increases in the O : C atomic ratio in two US regions. Comparison with a variety of observational data suggests generally improved model performance when vapor wall losses are accounted for.
Renee C. McVay, Xuan Zhang, Bernard Aumont, Richard Valorso, Marie Camredon, Yuyi S. La, Paul O. Wennberg, and John H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2785–2802, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2785-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2785-2016, 2016
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Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) affects climate change, human health, and cloud formation. We examine SOA formation from the biogenic hydrocarbon α-pinene and observe unexpected experimental results that run contrary to model predictions. Various processes are explored via modeling to rationalize the observations. The paper identifies the importance of further constraining via experiments various steps in the chemical mechanism in order to accurately predict SOA worldwide.
S. H. Jathar, C. D. Cappa, A. S. Wexler, J. H. Seinfeld, and M. J. Kleeman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 2309–2322, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2309-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-2309-2016, 2016
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Multi-generational chemistry schemes applied in regional models do not increase secondary organic aerosol (SOA) mass production relative to traditional "two-product" schemes when both models are fitted to the same chamber data. The multi-generational chemistry schemes do change the predicted composition of SOA and the source attribution of SOA.
K. R. Kolesar, C. Chen, D. Johnson, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 9327–9343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9327-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-9327-2015, 2015
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Secondary organic aerosol from the dark ozonolysis of α‑pinene was formed at a range of mass loadings from 1 to 800μg m-3. The amount of mass loss during evaporation in a thermodenuder was found to be independent of mass loading. A kinetic model of evaporation was fit to the observations and good agreement was obtained when the particle was either composed of dimers that decompose into semi-volatile monomers or when it was composed of low-volatility compounds that evaporate directly.
S. H. Jathar, C. D. Cappa, A. S. Wexler, J. H. Seinfeld, and M. J. Kleeman
Geosci. Model Dev., 8, 2553–2567, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2553-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-8-2553-2015, 2015
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Multi-generational oxidation of organic vapors can significantly alter the mass, chemical composition and properties of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Here, we implement a semi-explicit, constrained multi-generational oxidation model of Cappa and Wilson (2012) in a 3-D air quality model. When compared with results from a current-generation SOA model, we predict similar mass concentrations of SOA but a different chemical composition. O:C ratios of SOA are in line with those measured globally.
M. J. Alvarado, C. R. Lonsdale, R. J. Yokelson, S. K. Akagi, H. Coe, J. S. Craven, E. V. Fischer, G. R. McMeeking, J. H. Seinfeld, T. Soni, J. W. Taylor, D. R. Weise, and C. E. Wold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 6667–6688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6667-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-6667-2015, 2015
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Being able to understand and simulate the chemical evolution of biomass burning smoke plumes under a wide variety of conditions is a critical part of forecasting the impact of these fires on air quality, atmospheric composition, and climate. Here we use an improved model of this chemistry to simulate the evolution of ozone and secondary organic aerosol within a young biomass burning smoke plume from the Williams prescribed burn in chaparral, which was sampled over California in November 2009.
E. Jung, B. A. Albrecht, H. H. Jonsson, Y.-C. Chen, J. H. Seinfeld, A. Sorooshian, A. R. Metcalf, S. Song, M. Fang, and L. M. Russell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5645–5658, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5645-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5645-2015, 2015
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To study the effect of giant cloud condensation nuclei (GCCN) on precipitation processes in stratocumulus clouds, 1-10 µm diameter salt particles were released from an aircraft while flying near the cloud top off the central coast of California. The analyses suggest that GCCN result in a four-fold increase in the cloud base rainfall rate and depletion of the cloud water due to rainout.
N. Hodas, A. Zuend, W. Mui, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5027–5045, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5027-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5027-2015, 2015
X. Zhang, R. H. Schwantes, R. C. McVay, H. Lignell, M. M. Coggon, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4197–4214, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4197-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4197-2015, 2015
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We present an experimental protocol to constrain the nature of organic vapor--wall deposition in Teflon chambers and develop an empirical model to predict the wall-induced deposition rate of intermediate/semi/non-volatility organic vapors in chambers.
D. B. Atkinson, J. G. Radney, J. Lum, K. R. Kolesar, D. J. Cziczo, M. S. Pekour, Q. Zhang, A. Setyan, A. Zelenyuk, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 4045–4061, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4045-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-4045-2015, 2015
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This work describes an analysis of measurements of the influence of water uptake on the light-scattering properties of sub- and supermicron-sized particles as observed in the Sacramento, CA, USA region during the 2010 CARES field campaign. The observations are used to derive campaign-average effective hygroscopicity parameters for submicron oxygenated organic aerosol and for supermicron particles, and the influence of chloride displacement reactions on particle hygroscopicity is examined.
T. B. Nguyen, J. D. Crounse, R. H. Schwantes, A. P. Teng, K. H. Bates, X. Zhang, J. M. St. Clair, W. H. Brune, G. S. Tyndall, F. N. Keutsch, J. H. Seinfeld, and P. O. Wennberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 13531–13549, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13531-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-13531-2014, 2014
J. D. Fast, J. Allan, R. Bahreini, J. Craven, L. Emmons, R. Ferrare, P. L. Hayes, A. Hodzic, J. Holloway, C. Hostetler, J. L. Jimenez, H. Jonsson, S. Liu, Y. Liu, A. Metcalf, A. Middlebrook, J. Nowak, M. Pekour, A. Perring, L. Russell, A. Sedlacek, J. Seinfeld, A. Setyan, J. Shilling, M. Shrivastava, S. Springston, C. Song, R. Subramanian, J. W. Taylor, V. Vinoj, Q. Yang, R. A. Zaveri, and Q. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10013–10060, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10013-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10013-2014, 2014
M. Shiraiwa, T. Berkemeier, K. A. Schilling-Fahnestock, J. H. Seinfeld, and U. Pöschl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8323–8341, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8323-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8323-2014, 2014
R. A. Zaveri, R. C. Easter, J. E. Shilling, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 5153–5181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5153-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-5153-2014, 2014
T. B. Nguyen, M. M. Coggon, K. H. Bates, X. Zhang, R. H. Schwantes, K. A. Schilling, C. L. Loza, R. C. Flagan, P. O. Wennberg, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3497–3510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3497-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3497-2014, 2014
J. J. Ensberg, P. L. Hayes, J. L. Jimenez, J. B. Gilman, W. C. Kuster, J. A. de Gouw, J. S. Holloway, T. D. Gordon, S. Jathar, A. L. Robinson, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2383–2397, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2383-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2383-2014, 2014
G. M. Buffaloe, D. A. Lack, E. J. Williams, D. Coffman, K. L. Hayden, B. M. Lerner, S.-M. Li, I. Nuaaman, P. Massoli, T. B. Onasch, P. K. Quinn, and C. D. Cappa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1881–1896, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1881-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1881-2014, 2014
X. Zhang, R. H. Schwantes, M. M. Coggon, C. L. Loza, K. A. Schilling, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1733–1753, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1733-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1733-2014, 2014
C. L. Loza, J. S. Craven, L. D. Yee, M. M. Coggon, R. H. Schwantes, M. Shiraiwa, X. Zhang, K. A. Schilling, N. L. Ng, M. R. Canagaratna, P. J. Ziemann, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1423–1439, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1423-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1423-2014, 2014
C. D. Cappa, E. J. Williams, D. A. Lack, G. M. Buffaloe, D. Coffman, K. L. Hayden, S. C. Herndon, B. M. Lerner, S.-M. Li, P. Massoli, R. McLaren, I. Nuaaman, T. B. Onasch, and P. K. Quinn
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 1337–1352, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1337-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-1337-2014, 2014
A. L. Corrigan, L. M. Russell, S. Takahama, M. Äijälä, M. Ehn, H. Junninen, J. Rinne, T. Petäjä, M. Kulmala, A. L. Vogel, T. Hoffmann, C. J. Ebben, F. M. Geiger, P. Chhabra, J. H. Seinfeld, D. R. Worsnop, W. Song, J. Auld, and J. Williams
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 12233–12256, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12233-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-12233-2013, 2013
L. D. Yee, J. S. Craven, C. L. Loza, K. A. Schilling, N. L. Ng, M. R. Canagaratna, P. J. Ziemann, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11121–11140, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11121-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11121-2013, 2013
A. Wonaschütz, M. Coggon, A. Sorooshian, R. Modini, A. A. Frossard, L. Ahlm, J. Mülmenstädt, G. C. Roberts, L. M. Russell, S. Dey, F. J. Brechtel, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9819–9835, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9819-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9819-2013, 2013
L. D. Yee, K. E. Kautzman, C. L. Loza, K. A. Schilling, M. M. Coggon, P. S. Chhabra, M. N. Chan, A. W. H. Chan, S. P. Hersey, J. D. Crounse, P. O. Wennberg, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8019–8043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8019-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8019-2013, 2013
H. Jiang, H. Liao, H. O. T. Pye, S. Wu, L. J. Mickley, J. H. Seinfeld, and X. Y. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7937–7960, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7937-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7937-2013, 2013
X. Zhang and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5907–5926, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5907-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5907-2013, 2013
J. S. Craven, L. D. Yee, N. L. Ng, M. R. Canagaratna, C. L. Loza, K. A. Schilling, R. L. N. Yatavelli, J. A. Thornton, P. J. Ziemann, R. C. Flagan, and J. H. Seinfeld
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 11795–11817, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11795-2012, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11795-2012, 2012
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Laboratory Studies | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Copper accelerates photochemically induced radical chemistry of iron-containing secondary organic aerosol (SOA)
The role of surface-active macromolecules in the ice-nucleating ability of lignin, Snomax, and agricultural soil extracts
Secondary organic aerosol formation from nitrate radical oxidation of styrene: aerosol yields, chemical composition, and hydrolysis of organic nitrates
Hydrogen peroxide photoformation in particulate matter and its contribution to S(IV) oxidation during winter in Fairbanks, Alaska
Insight into the size-resolved markers and eco-health significance of microplastics from typical sources in northwest China
Laboratory studies on the optical, physical, and chemical properties of fresh and aged biomass burning aerosols
The importance of burning conditions on the composition of domestic biomass-burning organic aerosol and the impact of atmospheric ageing
Heterogeneous phototransformation of halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: influencing factors, mechanisms and products
Initiation of linoleic acid autoxidation with ozone exposure in levitated aerosol particles
Measurement Report: Seasonal trends and chemical speciation of chromium (III/VI) in different fractions of urban particulate matter – a case study of Radom, Poland
Boosting aerosol surface effects: strongly enhanced cooperative surface propensity of atmospherically relevant organic molecular ions in aqueous solution
Potential contribution to secondary aerosols from benzothiazoles in the atmospheric aqueous phase based on oxidation and oligomerization mechanisms
Molecular insight into aqueous-phase photolysis and photooxidation of water-soluble organic matter emitted from biomass burning and coal combustion
Roles of pH, ionic strength, and sulfate in the aqueous nitrate-mediated photooxidation of green leaf volatiles
The lifetimes and potential change in planetary albedo owing to the oxidation of thin surfactant organic films extracted from atmospheric aerosol by hydroxyl (OH) radicals at the air–water interface of particles
Gas-particle partitioning of m-xylene and naphthalene oxidation products: temperature and NOx influence
Surprisingly Robust Photochemistry in Subarctic Particles During Winter: Evidence from Photooxidants
Exometabolomic exploration of culturable airborne microorganisms from an urban atmosphere
Ozonolysis of primary biomass burning organic aerosol particles: Insights into reactivity and phase state
Measurement Report: Changes in ammonia emissions since the 18th century in south-eastern Europe inferred from an Elbrus (Caucasus, Russia) ice-core record
Atmospheric oxidation of 1,3-butadiene: influence of seed aerosol acidity and relative humidity on SOA composition and the production of air toxic compounds
Formation and composition of organic aerosols from the uptake of glyoxal on natural mineral dust aerosols: a laboratory study
Enhanced sulfate formation in mixed biomass burning and sea-salt interactions mediated by photosensitization: effects of chloride, nitrogen-containing compounds, and atmospheric aging
Photochemical aging of aviation emissions: transformation of chemical and physical properties of exhaust emissions from a laboratory-scale jet engine combustion chamber
Heterogeneous formation and light absorption of secondary organic aerosols from acetone photochemical reactions: remarkably enhancing effects of seeds and ammonia
Experimental observation of the impact of nanostructure on hygroscopicity and reactivity of fatty acid atmospheric aerosol proxies
Technical note: High-resolution analyses of concentrations and sizes of refractory black carbon particles deposited in northwestern Greenland over the past 350 years – Part 1: Continuous flow analysis of the SIGMA-D ice core using the wide-range Single-Particle Soot Photometer and a high-efficiency nebulizer
HOMs and SOA formation from the oxidation of α- and β-phellandrenes by NO3 radicals
Particulate emissions from cooking: emission factors, emission dynamics, and mass spectrometric analysis for different cooking methods
Nocturnal atmospheric synergistic oxidation reduces the formation of low-volatility organic compounds from biogenic emissions
The interplay between aqueous replacement reaction and the phase state of internally mixed organic/ammonium aerosols
Measurement report: The Fifth International Workshop on Ice Nucleation phase 1 (FIN-01): intercomparison of single-particle mass spectrometers
Characterization of the particle size distribution, mineralogy, and Fe mode of occurrence of dust-emitting sediments from the Mojave Desert, California, USA
Measurement report: Effects of transition metal ions on the optical properties of humic-like substances (HULIS) reveal a structural preference – a case study of PM2.5 in Beijing, China
Probing Iceland's dust-emitting sediments: particle size distribution, mineralogy, cohesion, Fe mode of occurrence, and reflectance spectra signatures
Photoenhanced sulfate formation by the heterogeneous uptake of SO2 on non-photoactive mineral dust
Comparison of water-soluble and water-insoluble organic compositions attributing to different light absorption efficiency between residential coal and biomass burning emissions
Suppressed atmospheric chemical aging of cooking organic aerosol particles in wintertime conditions
Formation and loss of light absorbance by phenolic aqueous SOA by ●OH and an organic triplet excited state
Technical Note: A technique to convert NO2 to NO2− with S(IV) and its application to measuring nitrate photolysis
Distribution, chemical, and molecular composition of high and low molecular weight humic-like substances in ambient aerosols
Desorption lifetimes and activation energies influencing gas–surface interactions and multiphase chemical kinetics
Molecular analysis of secondary organic aerosol and brown carbon from the oxidation of indole
Secondary organic aerosol formed by Euro 5 gasoline vehicle emissions: chemical composition and gas-to-particle phase partitioning
Assessment of the contribution of residential waste burning to ambient PM10 concentrations in Hungary and Romania
Source differences in the components and cytotoxicity of PM2.5 from automobile exhaust, coal combustion, and biomass burning contributing to urban aerosol toxicity
Chamber studies of OH + dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl disulfide: insights into the dimethyl sulfide oxidation mechanism
Low-temperature ice nucleation of sea spray and secondary marine aerosols under cirrus cloud conditions
Temperature-dependent aqueous OH kinetics of C2–C10 linear and terpenoid alcohols and diols: new rate coefficients, structure–activity relationship, and atmospheric lifetimes
A possible unaccounted source of nitrogen-containing compound formation in aerosols: amines reacting with secondary ozonides
Kevin Kilchhofer, Markus Ammann, Laura Torrent, Rico K. Y. Cheung, and Peter A. Alpert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8061–8086, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8061-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8061-2025, 2025
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Aerosol particles composed of metal complexes generate radicals as a result of photochemical reactions. The reactive species generated are hazardous to human health. We report microscopy data with particles composed of an organic proxy exposed to UV light. We found that copper influenced the reoxidation and initial iron reduction via photolysis of the complex. New model results suggest that we need to account for decreased photochemical activity and use a copper-induced reoxidation reaction.
Kathleen A. Alden, Paul Bieber, Anna J. Miller, Nicole Link, Benjamin J. Murray, and Nadine Borduas-Dedekind
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6179–6195, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6179-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6179-2025, 2025
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Lignin and Snomax are surface-active macromolecules that show a relationship between increasing concentrations, decreasing surface tension, and increasing ice-nucleating ability. However, this relationship did not hold for agricultural soil extracts collected in the UK and Canada. To explain this difference, we propose that as the complexity of the sample increases, the hydrophobic interfaces in the bulk compete with the air–water interface.
Yuchen Wang, Xiang Zhang, Yuanlong Huang, Yutong Liang, and Nga L. Ng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5215–5231, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5215-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5215-2025, 2025
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This work provides the first fundamental laboratory data to evaluate SOA (secondary organic aerosol) production from styrene and NO3 chemistry. Additionally, the formation mechanisms of aromatic organic nitrates (ONs) are reported, highlighting that previously identified nitroaromatics in ambient field campaigns can be aromatic ONs. Finally, the hydrolysis lifetimes observed for ONs generated from styrene and NO3 oxidation can serve as experimentally constrained parameters for modeling hydrolysis of aromatic ONs in general.
Michael Oluwatoyin Sunday, Laura Marie Dahler Heinlein, Junwei He, Allison Moon, Sukriti Kapur, Ting Fang, Kasey C. Edwards, Fangzhou Guo, Jack Dibb, James H. Flynn III, Becky Alexander, Manabu Shiraiwa, and Cort Anastasio
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5087–5100, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5087-2025, 2025
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Hydrogen peroxide (HOOH) is an important oxidant that forms atmospheric sulfate. We demonstrate that the illumination of brown carbon can rapidly form HOOH within particles, even under the low-sunlight conditions of Fairbanks, Alaska, during winter. This in-particle formation of HOOH is fast enough that it forms sulfate at significant rates. In contrast, the formation of HOOH in the gas phase during the campaign is expected to be negligible because of high NOx levels.
Liyan Liu, Hongmei Xu, Mengyun Yang, Abdullah Akhtar, Jian Sun, and Zhenxing Shen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1821, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1821, 2025
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Atmospheric microplastics and plasticizers can disperse into ecosystem and directly enter the human body, causing multiple adverse effects. The fingerprint markers of microplastics sources are very lacking. We examine the concentration, size distribution, eco-health risks and production of reactive oxygen species of microplastics from five typical sources, especially neglected rural sources. Our results could provide a scientific foundation for developing efficient management strategies.
Zheng Yang, Qiaoqiao Wang, Qiyuan Wang, Nan Ma, Jie Tian, Yaqing Zhou, Ge Xu, Miao Gao, Xiaoxian Zhou, Yang Zhang, Weikang Ran, Ning Yang, Jiangchuan Tao, Juan Hong, Yunfei Wu, Junji Cao, Hang Su, and Yafang Cheng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1020, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1020, 2025
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Our results demonstrate that the reduction in mass absorption efficiency from biomass burning is mainly driven by the decline in the imaginary part, with particle size playing a minor role. And light absorption of oxygenated BrC increases significantly with aging, but hydrocarbon-like BrC decrease over time. These results emphasize the necessity to classify BrC into different groups based on their mass absorption efficiency and atmospheric behavior in climate models.
Rhianna L. Evans, Daniel J. Bryant, Aristeidis Voliotis, Dawei Hu, Huihui Wu, Sara Aisyah Syafira, Osayomwanbor E. Oghama, Gordon McFiggans, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, and Andrew R. Rickard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4367–4389, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4367-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4367-2025, 2025
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The chemical composition of organic aerosol derived from wood-burning emissions under different burning conditions was characterised. Fresh emissions from flaming and smouldering were largely aromatic in nature, whereas upon aging the aromatic content decreased. This decrease was greater for smouldering due to the loss of toxic polyaromatic species, whereas under flaming conditions highly toxic polyaromatic species were produced. These differences present an important challenge for future policy.
Yueyao Yang, Yahui Liu, Guohua Zhu, Bingcheng Lin, Shanshan Zhang, Xin Li, Fangxi Xu, He Niu, Rong Jin, and Minghui Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3981–3994, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3981-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3981-2025, 2025
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Halogenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (XPAHs) are emerging pollutants. Stability during atmospheric transformation processes is crucial for predicting their environmental fate and assessing the associated risks. Here, we conducted field studies and laboratory simulation experiments to reveal the mechanisms, influencing factors and products for XPAHs' heterogeneous phototransformation. Results revealed that the conversion of XPAHs led to a reduction in environmental risk.
Marcel Müller, Marcel Reichmuth, and Ulrich Karl Krieger
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1238, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1238, 2025
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The initiation of autoxidation by ozonolysis was investigated on levitated linoleic acid droplets using electrodynamic balance–mass spectrometry. Exposing the droplets to ozone for one hour before switching the gas phase to air without ozone led to a shortening of the autoxidation initiation phase in comparison to experiments without ozone exposure. Results were compared to a bulk reaction model to investigate the synergistic effects of ozonolysis and autoxidation.
Monika Łożyńska, Marzena Trojanowska, Artur Molik, and Ryszard Świetlik
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-541, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-541, 2025
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The assessment of chromium occurrence in particulate matter in cities: PM10, PM2.5, PM1 and PM0.25 during the calendar year was presented. The seasonality of both pseudototal chromium content and its valence speciation was examined. Seasonality of changes in Crtot and Cr(VI) concentrations was observed. Maximum in the winter season, most likely due to the greater share of fuel combustion sources. Regardless of the season, the risk levels for Radom residents were within the acceptable risk range.
Harmanjot Kaur, Stephan Thürmer, Shirin Gholami, Bruno Credidio, Florian Trinter, Debora Vasconcelos, Ricardo Marinho, Joel Pinheiro, Hendrik Bluhm, Arnaldo Naves de Brito, Gunnar Öhrwall, Bernd Winter, and Olle Björneholm
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3503–3518, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3503-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3503-2025, 2025
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Understanding the surface composition of aerosols is crucial for advancing climate models. We investigated the interface of single-component and mixed aqueous solutions of atmospherically relevant carboxylic acid and alkyl-ammonium ions using liquid-jet photoelectron spectroscopy. An exponential increase in surface propensity as a function of chain length was found for the single species, and cooperative effects in the mixtures cause a further drastic increase in surface solute concentration.
Qun Zhang, Wei Zhou, Shanshan Tang, Kai Huang, Jie Fu, Zechen Yu, Yunhe Teng, Shuyi Shen, Yang Mei, Xuezhi Yang, Jianjie Fu, and Guibin Jiang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1028, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1028, 2025
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This article comprehensively investigates the aqueous-phase OH oxidation of benzothiazoles (BTs), common rubber additives found in urban air, through laboratory simulation experiments. BTs can rapidly degrade, leading to light absorption, high yields of sulfate, and the formation of highly oxidized and/or oligomerized organic compounds. The results reveal that aqueous-phase BTs can contribute to secondary aerosols, altering the chemical and optical properties of atmospheric particles.
Tao Cao, Cuncun Xu, Hao Chen, Jianzhong Song, Jun Li, Haiyan Song, Bin Jiang, Yin Zhong, and Ping’an Peng
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-561, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-561, 2025
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This study investigated the evolution of biomass and coal combustion-derived WSOM during aqueous photochemical process. The results indicate that photochemical aging induces distinct changes in the optical and molecular properties of WSOM and more pronounced alterations were observed during ·OH photooxidation than direct photolysis. Notably, our results also demostrated that atmospheric photooxidation may represent a significant source of BC-like substances.
Yuting Lyu, Taekyu Joo, Ruihan Ma, Mark Kristan Espejo Cabello, Tianye Zhou, Shun Yeung, Cheuk Ki Wong, Yifang Gu, Yiming Qin, and Theodora Nah
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-570, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-570, 2025
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We investigated the aqueous nitrate-mediated photooxidation of four green leaf volatiles (GLVs). The aqueous reaction medium conditions, dilute cloud/fog vs. concentrated aqueous aerosol conditions, governed the effects that pH, ionic strength, and sulfate have on the GLV degradation rates and aqSOA mass yields. Most notably, reactions initiated by sulfate photolysis have significant effects in aqueous aerosols, but not in cloud/fog droplets.
Rosalie H. Shepherd, Martin D. King, Andrew D. Ward, Edward J. Stuckey, Rebecca J. L. Welbourn, Neil Brough, Adam Milsom, Christian Pfrang, and Thomas Arnold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2569–2588, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2569-2025, 2025
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Thin film formation at the air–water interface from material extracted from atmospheric aerosol was demonstrated, supporting the core–shell morphology. Film thicknesses were approximately 10 Å and 17 Å for urban and remote extracts, respectively. Exposure to gas-phase OH radicals showed fast reactions and short lifetimes of around 1 h. The effect on the Earth's radiative balance indicated that removing half of the film could significantly increase the top-of-atmosphere albedo for urban films.
Marwa Shahin, Julien Kammer, Brice Temime-Roussel, and Barbara D'Anna
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-833, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-833, 2025
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Air pollution and climate change are influenced by tiny airborne particles called aerosols. This study explores how pollutants from urban sources, as m-xylene and naphthalene, form new particles in the atmosphere under different conditions. Using advanced techniques, we show how temperature and nitrogen oxides affect the formation and behaviour of these particles. Our findings will improve our understanding on secondary organic particle and air quality models.
Laura Marie Dahler Heinlein, Junwei He, Michael Oluwatoyin Sunday, Fangzhou Guo, James Campbell, Allison Moon, Sukriti Kapur, Ting Fang, Kasey Edwards, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, Alyssa J. Burns, Jack Dibb, William Simpson, Manabu Shiraiwa, Becky Alexander, Jingqiu Mao, James H. Flynn III, Jochen Stutz, and Cort Anastasio
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-824, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-824, 2025
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High-latitude cities like Fairbanks, Alaska, experience severe wintertime pollution episodes. While conventional wisdom holds that oxidation is slow under these conditions, field measurements find oxidized products in particles. To explore this, we measured oxidants in aqueous extracts of winter particles from Fairbanks. We find high concentrations of oxidants during illumination, indicating that particle photochemistry can be significant even in high latitudes during winter.
Rui Jin, Wei Hu, Peimin Duan, Ming Sheng, Dandan Liu, Ziye Huang, Mutong Niu, Libin Wu, Junjun Deng, and Pingqing Fu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1805–1829, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1805-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1805-2025, 2025
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The metabolic capacity of atmospheric microorganisms after settling into habitats is poorly understood. We studied the molecular composition of exometabolites for cultured typical airborne microbes and traced their metabolic processes. Bacteria and fungi produce highly oxidized exometabolites and have significant variations in metabolism among different strains. These insights are pivotal for assessing the biogeochemical impacts of atmospheric microorganisms following their deposition.
Sophie Bogler, Jun Zhang, Rico K. Y. Cheung, Kun Li, Andre S. H. Prevot, Imad El Haddad, and David M. Bell
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-385, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-385, 2025
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Authentic aerosols emitted from residential wood stoves and open burning processes are only slightly oxidized by ozone in the atmosphere. Under dry conditions the reaction does not proceed to completion, while under high humidity conditions the reactivity proceeds further. These results indicate the reactivity with ozone is likely impacted by aerosol phase state (e.g. aerosol viscosity).
Michel Legrand, Mstislav Vorobyev, Daria Bokuchava, Stanislav Kutuzov, Andreas Plach, Andreas Stohl, Alexandra Khairedinova, Vladimir Mikhalenko, Maria Vinogradova, Sabine Eckhardt, and Susanne Preunkert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1385–1399, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1385-2025, 2025
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Past atmospheric NH3 pollution in south-eastern Europe was reconstructed by analysing ammonium in an ice core drilled at the Mount Elbrus (Caucasus, Russia). The observed 3.5-fold increase in ice concentrations between 1750 and 1990 CE is in good agreement with estimated past dominant ammonia emissions from agriculture, mainly from south European Russia and Türkiye. In contrast to present-day conditions, the ammonium level observed in 1750 CE indicates significant natural emissions at that time.
Mohammed Jaoui, Klara Nestorowicz, Krzysztof J. Rudzinski, Michael Lewandowski, Tadeusz E. Kleindienst, Julio Torres, Ewa Bulska, Witold Danikiewicz, and Rafal Szmigielski
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1401–1432, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1401-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1401-2025, 2025
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Recent research has established the contribution of 1,3-butadiene (13BD) to organic aerosol formation with negative implications for urban air quality. Health effect studies have focused on whole particulate matter, but compounds responsible for adverse health effects remain uncertain. This study provides the effect of relative humidity and seed aerosol acidity on the chemical composition of aerosol formed from 13BD photooxidation.
Francesco Battaglia, Paola Formenti, Chiara Giorio, Mathieu Cazaunau, Edouard Pangui, Antonin Bergé, Aline Gratien, Thomas Bertin, Joël F. de Brito, Manolis N. Romanias, Vincent Michoud, Clarissa Baldo, Servanne Chevaillier, Gaël Noyalet, Philippe Decorse, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, and Jean-François Doussin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4073, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4073, 2025
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This paper presents an experimental investigation of the interactions between glyoxal, an important volatile organic compound, and mineral dust particles of size and composition typical of natural conditions. We show that their interactions modifies in a definitive way the concentrations of the gas phase and the properties of the dust, which could have important implications of the atmospheric composition and the Earth's climate.
Rongzhi Tang, Jialiang Ma, Ruifeng Zhang, Weizhen Cui, Yuanyuan Qin, Yangxi Chu, Yiming Qin, Alexander L. Vogel, and Chak K. Chan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 425–439, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-425-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-425-2025, 2025
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This study provides laboratory evidence that the photosensitizers in biomass burning extracts can enhance sulfate formation in NaCl particles, primarily by triggering the formation of secondary oxidants under light and air conditions, with a lower contribution of direct photosensitization via triplets.
Anni Hartikainen, Mika Ihalainen, Deeksha Shukla, Marius Rohkamp, Arya Mukherjee, Quanfu He, Sandra Piel, Aki Virkkula, Delun Li, Tuukka Kokkola, Seongho Jeong, Hanna Koponen, Uwe Etzien, Anusmita Das, Krista Luoma, Lukas Schwalb, Thomas Gröger, Alexandre Barth, Martin Sklorz, Thorsten Streibel, Hendryk Czech, Benedikt Gündling, Markus Kalberer, Bert Buchholz, Andreas Hupfer, Thomas Adam, Thorsten Hohaus, Johan Øvrevik, Ralf Zimmermann, and Olli Sippula
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3836, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3836, 2025
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Photochemical reactions altered the properties of kerosene-operated jet engine burner exhaust emissions, which were studied in laboratory using an oxidation flow reactor. Particle mass increased 300-fold as particles and gases became more oxidized. Light absorption increased, but the total direct radiative forcing efficiency was estimated to shift from positive to negative. The results highlight the importance of considering secondary aerosol formation when assessing the impacts of aviation.
Si Zhang, Yining Gao, Xinbei Xu, Luyao Chen, Can Wu, Zheng Li, Rongjie Li, Binyu Xiao, Xiaodi Liu, Rui Li, Fan Zhang, and Gehui Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 14177–14190, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-14177-2024, 2024
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Secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) from acetone photooxidation in the presence of various seeds were studied to illustrate SOA formation kinetics under ammonia-rich conditions. The oxidation mechanism of acetone was investigated using an observation-based model incorporating a Master Chemical Mechanism model. A higher SOA yield of acetone was observed compared to methylglyoxal due to an enhanced uptake of the small photooxidation products of acetone.
Adam Milsom, Adam M. Squires, Ben Laurence, Ben Wōden, Andrew J. Smith, Andrew D. Ward, and Christian Pfrang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13571–13586, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13571-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13571-2024, 2024
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We followed nano-structural changes in mixtures found in urban organic aerosol emissions (oleic acid, sodium oleate and fructose) during humidity change and ozone exposure. We demonstrate that self-assembly of fatty acid nanostructures can impact water uptake and chemical reactivity, affecting atmospheric lifetimes, urban air quality (preventing harmful emissions from degradation and enabling their long-range transport) and climate (affecting cloud formation), with implications for human health.
Kumiko Goto-Azuma, Remi Dallmayr, Yoshimi Ogawa-Tsukagawa, Nobuhiro Moteki, Tatsuhiro Mori, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, Makoto Koike, Motohiro Hirabayashi, Jun Ogata, Kyotaro Kitamura, Kenji Kawamura, Koji Fujita, Sumito Matoba, Naoko Nagatsuka, Akane Tsushima, Kaori Fukuda, and Teruo Aoki
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12985–13000, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12985-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12985-2024, 2024
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We developed a continuous flow analysis system to analyze an ice core from northwestern Greenland and coupled it with an improved refractory black carbon (rBC) measurement technique. This allowed accurate high-resolution analyses of size distributions and concentrations of rBC particles with diameters of 70 nm–4 μm for the past 350 years. Our results provide crucial insights into rBC's climatic effects. We also found previous ice core studies substantially underestimated rBC mass concentrations.
Sergio Harb, Manuela Cirtog, Stéphanie Alage, Christopher Cantrell, Mathieu Cazaunau, Vincent Michoud, Edouard Pangui, Antonin Bergé, Chiara Giorio, Francesco Battaglia, and Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3419, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3419, 2024
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We investigated the reactions of α- and β-phellandrenes (from vegetation emissions) with NO3 radicals, a major nighttime oxidant from human activities. Using lab-based simulations, we examined these reactions and measured particle formation and by-products. Our findings reveal that α- and β-phellandrenes are efficient particle sources and enhance our understanding of biogenic-anthropogenic interactions and their contributions to atmospheric changes affecting climate and health.
Julia Pikmann, Frank Drewnick, Friederike Fachinger, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12295–12321, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12295-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12295-2024, 2024
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Cooking activities can contribute substantially to indoor and ambient aerosol. We performed a comprehensive study with laboratory measurements cooking 19 different dishes and ambient measurements at two Christmas markets measuring various particle properties and trace gases of emissions in real time. Similar emission characteristics were observed for dishes with the same preparation method, mainly due to similar cooking temperature and use of oil, with barbecuing as an especially strong source.
Han Zang, Zekun Luo, Chenxi Li, Ziyue Li, Dandan Huang, and Yue Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11701–11716, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11701-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11701-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric organics are subject to synergistic oxidation by different oxidants, yet the mechanisms of such processes are poorly understood. Here, using direct measurements and kinetic modeling, we probe the nocturnal synergistic-oxidation mechanism of α-pinene by O3 and NO3 radicals and in particular the fate of peroxy radical intermediates of different origins, which will deepen our understanding of the monoterpene oxidation chemistry and its contribution to atmospheric particle formation.
Hui Yang, Fengfeng Dong, Li Xia, Qishen Huang, Shufeng Pang, and Yunhong Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11619–11635, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11619-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11619-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric secondary aerosols, composed of organic and inorganic components, undergo complex reactions that impact their phase state. Using molecular spectroscopy, we showed that ammonium-promoted aqueous replacement reaction, unique to these aerosols, is closely linked to phase behavior. The interplay between reactions and aerosol phase state can cause atypical phase transition and irreversible changes in aerosol composition during hygroscopic cycles, further impacting atmospheric processes.
Xiaoli Shen, David M. Bell, Hugh Coe, Naruki Hiranuma, Fabian Mahrt, Nicholas A. Marsden, Claudia Mohr, Daniel M. Murphy, Harald Saathoff, Johannes Schneider, Jacqueline Wilson, Maria A. Zawadowicz, Alla Zelenyuk, Paul J. DeMott, Ottmar Möhler, and Daniel J. Cziczo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10869–10891, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10869-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10869-2024, 2024
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Single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) is commonly used to measure the chemical composition and mixing state of aerosol particles. Intercomparison of SPMS instruments was conducted. All instruments reported similar size ranges and common spectral features. The instrument-specific detection efficiency was found to be more dependent on particle size than type. All differentiated secondary organic aerosol, soot, and soil dust but had difficulties differentiating among minerals and dusts.
Adolfo González-Romero, Cristina González-Flórez, Agnesh Panta, Jesús Yus-Díez, Patricia Córdoba, Andres Alastuey, Natalia Moreno, Melani Hernández-Chiriboga, Konrad Kandler, Martina Klose, Roger N. Clark, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Rebecca N. Greenberger, Abigail M. Keebler, Phil Brodrick, Robert Green, Paul Ginoux, Xavier Querol, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9155–9176, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9155-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9155-2024, 2024
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In this research, we studied the dust-emitting properties of crusts and aeolian ripples from the Mojave Desert. These properties are key to understanding the effect of dust upon climate. We found two different playa lakes according to the groundwater regime, which implies differences in crusts' cohesion state and mineralogy, which can affect the dust emission potential and properties. We also compare them with Moroccan Sahara crusts and Icelandic top sediments.
Juanjuan Qin, Leiming Zhang, Yuanyuan Qin, Shaoxuan Shi, Jingnan Li, Zhao Shu, Yuwei Gao, Ting Qi, Jihua Tan, and Xinming Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7575–7589, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7575-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7575-2024, 2024
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The present research unveiled that acidity dominates while transition metal ions harmonize with the light absorption properties of humic-like substances (HULIS). Cu2+ has quenching effects on HULIS by complexation, hydrogen substitution, or electrostatic adsorption, with aromatic structures of HULIS. Such effects are less pronounced if from Mn2+, Ni2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+. Oxidized HULIS might contain electron-donating groups, whereas N-containing compounds might contain electron-withdrawing groups.
Adolfo González-Romero, Cristina González-Flórez, Agnesh Panta, Jesús Yus-Díez, Patricia Córdoba, Andres Alastuey, Natalia Moreno, Konrad Kandler, Martina Klose, Roger N. Clark, Bethany L. Ehlmann, Rebecca N. Greenberger, Abigail M. Keebler, Phil Brodrick, Robert O. Green, Xavier Querol, and Carlos Pérez García-Pando
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6883–6910, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6883-2024, 2024
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The knowledge of properties from dust emitted in high latitudes such as in Iceland is scarce. This study focuses on the particle size, mineralogy, cohesion, and iron mode of occurrence and reflectance spectra of dust-emitting sediments. Icelandic top sediments have lower cohesion state, coarser particle size, distinctive mineralogy, and 3-fold bulk Fe content, with a large presence of magnetite compared to Saharan crusts.
Wangjin Yang, Jiawei Ma, Hongxing Yang, Fu Li, and Chong Han
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6757–6768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6757-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6757-2024, 2024
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We provide evidence that light enhances the conversion of SO2 to sulfates on non-photoactive mineral dust, where triplet states of SO2 (3SO2) can act as a pivotal trigger to generate sulfates. Photochemical sulfate formation depends on H2O, O2, and basicity of mineral dust. The SO2 photochemistry on non-photoactive mineral dust contributes to sulfates, highlighting previously unknown pathways to better explain the missing sources of atmospheric sulfates.
Lu Zhang, Jin Li, Yaojie Li, Xinlei Liu, Zhihan Luo, Guofeng Shen, and Shu Tao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6323–6337, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6323-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6323-2024, 2024
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Brown carbon (BrC) is related to radiative forcing and climate change. The BrC fraction from residential coal and biomass burning emissions, which were the major source of BrC, was characterized at the molecular level. The CHOS aromatic compounds explained higher light absorption efficiencies of biomass burning emissions compared to coal. The unique formulas of coal combustion aerosols were characterized by higher unsaturated compounds, and such information could be used for source appointment.
Wenli Liu, Longkun He, Yingjun Liu, Keren Liao, Qi Chen, and Mikinori Kuwata
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5625–5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5625-2024, 2024
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Cooking is a major source of particles in urban areas. Previous studies demonstrated that the chemical lifetimes of cooking organic aerosols (COAs) were much shorter (~minutes) than the values reported by field observations (~hours). We conducted laboratory experiments to resolve the discrepancy by considering suppressed reactivity under low temperature. The parameterized k2–T relationships and observed surface temperature data were used to estimate the chemical lifetimes of COA particles.
Stephanie Arciva, Lan Ma, Camille Mavis, Chrystal Guzman, and Cort Anastasio
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4473–4485, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4473-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4473-2024, 2024
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We measured changes in light absorption during the aqueous oxidation of six phenols with hydroxyl radical (●OH) or an organic triplet excited state (3C*). All the phenols formed light-absorbing secondary brown carbon (BrC), which then decayed with continued oxidation. Extrapolation to ambient conditions suggest ●OH is the dominant sink of secondary phenolic BrC in fog/cloud drops, while 3C* controls the lifetime of this light absorption in particle water.
Aaron Lieberman, Julietta Picco, Murat Onder, and Cort Anastasio
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4411–4419, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4411-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4411-2024, 2024
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We developed a method that uses aqueous S(IV) to quantitatively convert NO2 to NO2−, which allows both species to be quantified using the Griess method. As an example of the utility of the method, we quantified both photolysis channels of nitrate, with and without a scavenger for hydroxyl radical (·OH). The results show that without a scavenger, ·OH reacts with nitrite to form nitrogen dioxide, suppressing the apparent quantum yield of NO2− and enhancing that of NO2.
Xingjun Fan, Ao Cheng, Xufang Yu, Tao Cao, Dan Chen, Wenchao Ji, Yongbing Cai, Fande Meng, Jianzhong Song, and Ping'an Peng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3769–3783, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3769-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3769-2024, 2024
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Molecular-level characteristics of high molecular weight (HMW) and low MW (LMW) humic-like substances (HULIS) were comprehensively investigated, where HMW HULIS had larger chromophores and larger molecular size than LMW HULIS and exhibited higher aromaticity and humification. Electrospray ionization high-resolution mass spectrometry revealed more aromatic molecules in HMW HULIS. HMW HULIS had more CHON compounds, while LMW HULIS had more CHO compounds.
Daniel A. Knopf, Markus Ammann, Thomas Berkemeier, Ulrich Pöschl, and Manabu Shiraiwa
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3445–3528, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3445-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3445-2024, 2024
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The initial step of interfacial and multiphase chemical processes involves adsorption and desorption of gas species. This study demonstrates the role of desorption energy governing the residence time of the gas species at the environmental interface. A parameterization is formulated that enables the prediction of desorption energy based on the molecular weight, polarizability, and oxygen-to-carbon ratio of the desorbing chemical species. Its application to gas–particle interactions is discussed.
Feng Jiang, Kyla Siemens, Claudia Linke, Yanxia Li, Yiwei Gong, Thomas Leisner, Alexander Laskin, and Harald Saathoff
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2639–2649, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2639-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2639-2024, 2024
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We investigated the optical properties, chemical composition, and formation mechanisms of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and brown carbon (BrC) from the oxidation of indole with and without NO2 in the Aerosol Interaction and Dynamics in the Atmosphere (AIDA) simulation chamber. This work is one of the very few to link the optical properties and chemical composition of indole SOA with and without NO2 by simulation chamber experiments.
Evangelia Kostenidou, Baptiste Marques, Brice Temime-Roussel, Yao Liu, Boris Vansevenant, Karine Sartelet, and Barbara D'Anna
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2705–2729, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2705-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2705-2024, 2024
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Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from gasoline vehicles can be a significant source of particulate matter in urban areas. Here the chemical composition of secondary volatile organic compounds and SOA produced by photo-oxidation of Euro 5 gasoline vehicle emissions was studied. The volatility of the SOA formed was calculated. Except for the temperature and the concentration of the aerosol, additional parameters may play a role in the gas-to-particle partitioning.
András Hoffer, Aida Meiramova, Ádám Tóth, Beatrix Jancsek-Turóczi, Gyula Kiss, Ágnes Rostási, Erika Andrea Levei, Luminita Marmureanu, Attila Machon, and András Gelencsér
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1659–1671, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1659-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1659-2024, 2024
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Specific tracer compounds identified previously in controlled test burnings of different waste types in the laboratory were detected and quantified in ambient PM10 samples collected in five Hungarian and four Romanian settlements. Back-of-the-envelope calculations based on the relative emission factors of individual tracers suggested that the contribution of solid waste burning particulate emissions to ambient PM10 mass concentrations may be as high as a few percent.
Xiao-San Luo, Weijie Huang, Guofeng Shen, Yuting Pang, Mingwei Tang, Weijun Li, Zhen Zhao, Hanhan Li, Yaqian Wei, Longjiao Xie, and Tariq Mehmood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1345–1360, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1345-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1345-2024, 2024
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PM2.5 are air pollutants threatening health globally, but they are a mixture of chemical compositions from many sources and result in unequal toxicity. Which composition from which source of PM2.5 as the most hazardous object is a question hindering effective pollution control policy-making. With chemical and toxicity experiments, we found automobile exhaust and coal combustion to be priority emissions with higher toxic compositions for precise air pollution control, ensuring public health.
Matthew B. Goss and Jesse H. Kroll
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1299–1314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1299-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1299-2024, 2024
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The chemistry driving dimethyl sulfide (DMS) oxidation and subsequent sulfate particle formation in the atmosphere is poorly constrained. We oxidized two related compounds (dimethyl sulfoxide and dimethyl disulfide) in the laboratory under varied NOx conditions and measured the gas- and particle-phase products. These results demonstrate that both the OH addition and OH abstraction pathways for DMS oxidation contribute to particle formation via mechanisms that do not involve the SO2 intermediate.
Ryan J. Patnaude, Kathryn A. Moore, Russell J. Perkins, Thomas C. J. Hill, Paul J. DeMott, and Sonia M. Kreidenweis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 911–928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-911-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-911-2024, 2024
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In this study we examined the effect of atmospheric aging on sea spray aerosols (SSAs) to form ice and how newly formed secondary marine aerosols (SMAs) may freeze at cirrus temperatures (< −38 °C). Results show that SSAs freeze at different relative humidities (RHs) depending on the temperature and that the ice-nucleating ability of SSA was not hindered by atmospheric aging. SMAs are shown to freeze at high RHs and are likely inefficient at forming ice at cirrus temperatures.
Bartłomiej Witkowski, Priyanka Jain, Beata Wileńska, and Tomasz Gierczak
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 663–688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-663-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-663-2024, 2024
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This article reports the results of the kinetic measurements for the aqueous oxidation of the 29 aliphatic alcohols by hydroxyl radical (OH) at different temperatures. The data acquired and the literature data were used to optimize a model for predicting the aqueous OH reactivity of alcohols and carboxylic acids and to estimate the atmospheric lifetimes of five terpenoic alcohols. The kinetic data provided new insights into the mechanism of aqueous oxidation of aliphatic molecules by the OH.
Junting Qiu, Xinlin Shen, Jiangyao Chen, Guiying Li, and Taicheng An
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 155–166, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-155-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-155-2024, 2024
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We studied reactions of secondary ozonides (SOZs) with amines. SOZs formed from ozonolysis of β-caryophyllene and α-humulene are found to be reactive to ethylamine and methylamine. Products from SOZs with various conformations reacting with the same amine had different functional groups. Our findings indicate that interaction of SOZs with amines in the atmosphere is very complicated, which is potentially a hitherto unrecognized source of N-containing compound formation.
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