Boundary layer new particle formation over East Antarctic sea   ice – possible Hg-driven nucleation?

Humphries, R. S.; Schofield, R.; Keywood, M. D.; Ward, J.; Pierce, J. R.; Gionfriddo, C. M.; Tate, M. T.; Krabbenhoft, D. P.; Galbally, I. E.; Molloy, S. B.; Klekociuk, A. R.; Johnston, P. V.; Kreher, K.; Thomas, A. J.; Robinson, A. D.; Harris, N. R. P.; Johnson, R.; Wilson, S. R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13339-2015

Articles | Volume 15, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13339-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13339-2015

© Author(s) 2015. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 23

Research article

|

02 Dec 2015

Research article |

| 02 Dec 2015

Boundary layer new particle formation over East Antarctic sea ice – possible Hg-driven nucleation?

R. S. Humphries, R. Schofield, M. D. Keywood, J. Ward, J. R. Pierce, C. M. Gionfriddo, M. T. Tate, D. P. Krabbenhoft, I. E. Galbally, S. B. Molloy, A. R. Klekociuk, P. V. Johnston, K. Kreher, A. J. Thomas, A. D. Robinson, N. R. P. Harris, R. Johnson, and S. R. Wilson

Data sets

Aurora Australis Voyage VMS 2012/13 Track and Underway Data (SIPEX II) Reeve, J. https://doi.org/10.4225/15/546580A408D97

In-situ total aerosol number using condensation particle counters as observed during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Humphries, R Wilson, S Keywood, M Ward, J Schofield, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/5342423241BE4

In-situ atmospheric ozone measurements observed during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Galbally, I Molloy, S Klekociuk, A Humphries, R Schofield, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/53266BE438281

In-situ Halocarbon trace-gas concentrations measured by the µDirac GC-ECD during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Robinson, A Harris, N Humphries, R Kreher, K Johnston, P Thomas, A Schofield, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/53266BB82B3A3

Gaseous elemental mercury measurements of boundary layer air made by a Tekran 2537 during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Gionfriddo, C Tate, M Krabbenhoft, D Moreau, J Schofield, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/53266BDA687FC

Trace-gas profiles of the boundary layer from Multi-Axis Differential Optical Spectroscopy MAX-DOAS collected during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Schofield, R Kreher, K Johnston, P Thomas, A Humphries, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/53266BD1D37E6

Hysplit atmospheric back-trajectories at 10m, 500m, 1000m, 1500m, 2000m, 2500m, 3000m, 3500m, 4000m collected during the SIPEX II voyage of the Aurora Australis, 2012 Klekociuk, A Schofield, R https://doi.org/10.4225/15/532F83302FF88

Short summary

An atmospheric new particle formation event that was observed in the pristine East Antarctic pack ice during a springtime voyage in 2012 is characterised in terms of formation and growth rates. Known nucleation mechanisms (e.g. those involving sulfate, iodine and organics) were unable to explain observations; however, correlations with total gaseous mercury were found, leading to the suggestion of a possible mercury-driven nucleation mechanism not previously described.