Articles | Volume 20, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3249-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3249-2020
Research article
 | 
18 Mar 2020
Research article |  | 18 Mar 2020

Aerosol pH and liquid water content determine when particulate matter is sensitive to ammonia and nitrate availability

Athanasios Nenes, Spyros N. Pandis, Rodney J. Weber, and Armistead Russell

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Cited articles

Aneja, V. P., Schlesinger, W. H., and Erisman, J. W.: Effects of Agriculture upon the Air Quality and Climate: Research, Policy, and Regulations, Environ. Sci. Technol., 43, 4234–4240, https://doi.org/10.1021/es8024403, 2009. 
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Behera, S. N., Sharma, M., Aneja, V. P., and Balasubramanian, R.: Ammonia in the atmosphere: a review on emission sources, atmospheric chemistry and deposition on terrestrial bodies, Environ. Sci. Pollut. R., 20, 8092–8131, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2051-9, 2013. 
Bellouin, N., Rae, J., Jones, A., Johnson, C., Haywood, J., and Boucher, O.: Aerosol forcing in the Climate Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) simulations by HadGEM2-ES and the role of ammonium nitrate, J. Geophys. Res., 116, D20206, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011jd016074, 2011. 
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Short summary
We show that aerosol acidity (pH) and liquid water content naturally emerge as previously ignored parameters that drive particulate matter formation in the atmosphere, and its sensitivity to emissions of ammonia and nitric acid. The simple framework presented is easily applied to ambient measurements or model output, and it provides the chemical regime of PM sensitivity to ammonia and nitric acid availability.
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