Articles | Volume 15, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2775-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-2775-2015
Research article
 | 
10 Mar 2015
Research article |  | 10 Mar 2015

A critical evaluation of proxy methods used to estimate the acidity of atmospheric particles

C. J. Hennigan, J. Izumi, A. P. Sullivan, R. J. Weber, and A. Nenes

Related authors

Climatology of aerosol pH and its controlling factors at the Melpitz continental background site in central Europe
Vikram Pratap, Christopher J. Hennigan, Bastian Stieger, Andreas Tilgner, Laurent Poulain, Dominik van Pinxteren, Gerald Spindler, and Hartmut Herrmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-457,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-457, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
pH dependence of brown-carbon optical properties in cloud water
Christopher J. Hennigan, Michael McKee, Vikram Pratap, Bryanna Boegner, Jasper Reno, Lucia Garcia, Madison McLaren, and Sara M. Lance
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14437–14449, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14437-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14437-2023, 2023
Short summary
Urban aerosol chemistry at a land–water transition site during summer – Part 2: Aerosol pH and liquid water content
Michael A. Battaglia Jr., Nicholas Balasus, Katherine Ball, Vanessa Caicedo, Ruben Delgado, Annmarie G. Carlton, and Christopher J. Hennigan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18271–18281, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18271-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18271-2021, 2021
Short summary
Urban aerosol chemistry at a land–water transition site during summer – Part 1: Impact of agricultural and industrial ammonia emissions
Nicholas Balasus, Michael A. Battaglia Jr., Katherine Ball, Vanessa Caicedo, Ruben Delgado, Annmarie G. Carlton, and Christopher J. Hennigan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13051–13065, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13051-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13051-2021, 2021
Short summary
The acidity of atmospheric particles and clouds
Havala O. T. Pye, Athanasios Nenes, Becky Alexander, Andrew P. Ault, Mary C. Barth, Simon L. Clegg, Jeffrey L. Collett Jr., Kathleen M. Fahey, Christopher J. Hennigan, Hartmut Herrmann, Maria Kanakidou, James T. Kelly, I-Ting Ku, V. Faye McNeill, Nicole Riemer, Thomas Schaefer, Guoliang Shi, Andreas Tilgner, John T. Walker, Tao Wang, Rodney Weber, Jia Xing, Rahul A. Zaveri, and Andreas Zuend
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 4809–4888, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4809-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4809-2020, 2020
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Measurement report: Vertically resolved atmospheric properties observed over the Southern Great Plains with the ArcticShark uncrewed aerial system
Fan Mei, Qi Zhang, Damao Zhang, Jerome D. Fast, Gourihar Kulkarni, Mikhail S. Pekour, Christopher R. Niedek, Susanne Glienke, Israel Silber, Beat Schmid, Jason M. Tomlinson, Hardeep S. Mehta, Xena Mansoura, Zezhen Cheng, Gregory W. Vandergrift, Nurun Nahar Lata, Swarup China, and Zihua Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3425–3444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3425-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3425-2025, 2025
Short summary
Non-biogenic sources are an important but overlooked contributor to aerosol isoprene-derived organosulfates during winter in northern China
Ting Yang, Yu Xu, Yu-Chen Wang, Yi-Jia Ma, Hong-Wei Xiao, Hao Xiao, and Hua-Yun Xiao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2967–2978, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2967-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2967-2025, 2025
Short summary
The critical role of aqueous-phase processes in aromatic-derived nitrogen-containing organic aerosol formation in cities with different energy consumption patterns
Yi-Jia Ma, Yu Xu, Ting Yang, Lin Gui, Hong-Wei Xiao, Hao Xiao, and Hua-Yun Xiao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2763–2780, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2763-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2763-2025, 2025
Short summary
Characterization of atmospheric water-soluble brown carbon in the Athabasca oil sands region, Canada
Dane Blanchard, Mark Gordon, Duc Huy Dang, Paul Andrew Makar, and Julian Aherne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2423–2442, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2423-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2423-2025, 2025
Short summary
Sensitivity of aerosol and cloud properties to coupling strength of marine boundary layer clouds over the northwest Atlantic
Kira Zeider, Kayla McCauley, Sanja Dmitrovic, Leong Wai Siu, Yonghoon Choi, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Simon Kirschler, John B. Nowak, Michael A. Shook, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Christiane Voigt, Edward L. Winstead, Luke D. Ziemba, Paquita Zuidema, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2407–2422, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2407-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2407-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Ahrens, L., Harner, T., Shoeib, M., Lane, D. A., and Murphy, J. G.: Improved Characterization of Gas-Particle Partitioning for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in the Atmosphere Using Annular Diffusion Denuder Samplers, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 7199–7206, https://doi.org/10.1021/Es300898s, 2012.
Ansari, A. S. and Pandis, S. N.: An analysis of four models predicting the partitioning of semivolatile inorganic aerosol components, Aerosol. Sci. Tech., 31, 129–153, https://doi.org/10.1080/027868299304200, 1999.
Behera, S., Cheng, J., and Balasubramanian, R.: In situ acidity and pH of size-fractionated aerosols during a recent smoke-haze episode in Southeast Asia, Environ. Geochem. Hlth., 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-014-9660-1, 2014.
Brown, S. S., Thornton, J. A., Keene, W. C., Pszenny, A. A. P., Sive, B. C., Dube, W. P., Wagner, N. L., Young, C. J., Riedel, T. P., Roberts, J. M., VandenBoer, T. C., Bahreini, R., Ozturk, F., Middlebrook, A. M., Kim, S., Hubler, G., and Wolfe, D. E.: Nitrogen, Aerosol Composition, and Halogens on a Tall Tower (NACHTT): Overview of a wintertime air chemistry field study in the front range urban corridor of Colorado, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 8067–8085, https://doi.org/10.1002/Jgrd.50537, 2013.
Budisulistiorini, S. H., Canagaratna, M. R., Croteau, P. L., Marth, W. J., Baumann, K., Edgerton, E. S., Shaw, S. L., Knipping, E. M., Worsnop, D. R., Jayne, J. T., Gold, A., and Surratt, J. D.: Real-Time Continuous Characterization of Secondary Organic Aerosol Derived from Isoprene Epoxydiols in Downtown Atlanta, Georgia, Using the Aerodyne Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor, Environ. Sci. Technol., 47, 5686–5694, https://doi.org/10.1021/Es400023n, 2013.
Download
Short summary
We show that the ion balance and molar ratio methods are unsuitable for use as aerosol pH proxies. Our recommendation is that 1) thermodynamic equilibrium models constrained by both gas and aerosol inputs run in the forward (open) mode, and 2) the phase partitioning of ammonia provides the best predictions of aerosol pH. Given the significance of acidity for numerous chemical processes in the atmosphere, the implications of this study are important and far reaching.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint