Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8575-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8575-2021
Research article
 | 
07 Jun 2021
Research article |  | 07 Jun 2021

The important roles of surface tension and growth rate in the contribution of new particle formation (NPF) to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) number concentration: evidence from field measurements in southern China

Mingfu Cai, Baoling Liang, Qibin Sun, Li Liu, Bin Yuan, Min Shao, Shan Huang, Yuwen Peng, Zelong Wang, Haobo Tan, Fei Li, Hanbin Xu, Duohong Chen, and Jun Zhao

Related authors

Measurement report: Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity in the South China Sea from shipborne observations during the summer and winter of 2021 – seasonal variation and anthropogenic influence
Hengjia Ou, Mingfu Cai, Yongyun Zhang, Xue Ni, Baoling Liang, Qibin Sun, Shixin Mai, Cuizhi Sun, Shengzhen Zhou, Haichao Wang, Jiaren Sun, and Jun Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2495–2513, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2495-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2495-2025, 2025
Short summary
Enhanced daytime secondary aerosol formation driven by gas–particle partitioning in downwind urban plumes
Mingfu Cai, Chenshuo Ye, Bin Yuan, Shan Huang, E Zheng, Suxia Yang, Zelong Wang, Yi Lin, Tiange Li, Weiwei Hu, Wei Chen, Qicong Song, Wei Li, Yuwen Peng, Baoling Liang, Qibin Sun, Jun Zhao, Duohong Chen, Jiaren Sun, Zhiyong Yang, and Min Shao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13065–13079, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13065-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13065-2024, 2024
Short summary
Formation and impacts of nitryl chloride in Pearl River Delta
Haichao Wang, Bin Yuan, E Zheng, Xiaoxiao Zhang, Jie Wang, Keding Lu, Chenshuo Ye, Lei Yang, Shan Huang, Weiwei Hu, Suxia Yang, Yuwen Peng, Jipeng Qi, Sihang Wang, Xianjun He, Yubin Chen, Tiange Li, Wenjie Wang, Yibo Huangfu, Xiaobing Li, Mingfu Cai, Xuemei Wang, and Min Shao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14837–14858, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14837-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14837-2022, 2022
Short summary
Measurement report: Distinct size dependence and diurnal variation in organic aerosol hygroscopicity, volatility, and cloud condensation nuclei activity at a rural site in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region, China
Mingfu Cai, Shan Huang, Baoling Liang, Qibin Sun, Li Liu, Bin Yuan, Min Shao, Weiwei Hu, Wei Chen, Qicong Song, Wei Li, Yuwen Peng, Zelong Wang, Duohong Chen, Haobo Tan, Hanbin Xu, Fei Li, Xuejiao Deng, Tao Deng, Jiaren Sun, and Jun Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8117–8136, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8117-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8117-2022, 2022
Short summary
Offline analysis of the chemical composition and hygroscopicity of submicrometer aerosol at an Asian outflow receptor site and comparison with online measurements
Yange Deng, Hiroaki Fujinari, Hikari Yai, Kojiro Shimada, Yuzo Miyazaki, Eri Tachibana, Dhananjay K. Deshmukh, Kimitaka Kawamura, Tomoki Nakayama, Shiori Tatsuta, Mingfu Cai, Hanbing Xu, Fei Li, Haobo Tan, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, Akinori Takami, Shiro Hatakeyama, and Michihiro Mochida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5515–5533, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5515-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5515-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Source-dependent optical properties and molecular characteristics of atmospheric brown carbon
Jinghao Zhai, Yin Zhang, Pengfei Liu, Yujie Zhang, Antai Zhang, Yaling Zeng, Baohua Cai, Jingyi Zhang, Chunbo Xing, Honglong Yang, Xiaofei Wang, Jianhuai Ye, Chen Wang, Tzung-May Fu, Lei Zhu, Huizhong Shen, Shu Tao, and Xin Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7959–7972, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7959-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7959-2025, 2025
Short summary
Multi-year black carbon observations and modeling close to the largest gas flaring and wildfire regions in the Western Siberian Arctic
Olga B. Popovicheva, Marina A. Chichaeva, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Sabine Eckhardt, Evangelia Diapouli, and Nikolay S. Kasimov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7719–7739, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7719-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7719-2025, 2025
Short summary
Pollution affects Arabian and Saharan dust optical properties in the eastern Mediterranean
Marilena Teri, Josef Gasteiger, Katharina Heimerl, Maximilian Dollner, Manuel Schöberl, Petra Seibert, Anne Tipka, Thomas Müller, Sudharaj Aryasree, Konrad Kandler, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6633–6662, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6633-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6633-2025, 2025
Short summary
Phase matrix characterization of long-range-transported Saharan dust using multiwavelength-polarized polar imaging nephelometry
Elena Bazo, Daniel Pérez-Ramírez, Antonio Valenzuela, J. Vanderlei Martins, Gloria Titos, Alberto Cazorla, Fernando Rejano, Diego Patrón, Arlett Díaz-Zurita, Francisco José García-Izquierdo, David Fuertes, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, and Francisco José Olmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6325–6352, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6325-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6325-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement report: The influence of particle number size distribution and hygroscopicity on the microphysical properties of cloud droplets at a mountain site
Xiaojing Shen, Quan Liu, Junying Sun, Wanlin Kong, Qianli Ma, Bing Qi, Lujie Han, Yangmei Zhang, Linlin Liang, Lei Liu, Shuo Liu, Xinyao Hu, Jiayuan Lu, Aoyuan Yu, Huizheng Che, and Xiaoye Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5711–5725, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5711-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5711-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

An, J., Wang, H., Shen, L., Zhu, B., Zou, J., Gao, J., and Kang, H.: Characteristics of new particle formation events in Nanjing, China: Effect of water-soluble ions, Atmos. Environ., 108, 32–40, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.01.038, 2015. 
Asmi, E., Frey, A., Virkkula, A., Ehn, M., Manninen, H. E., Timonen, H., Tolonen-Kivimäki, O., Aurela, M., Hillamo, R., and Kulmala, M.: Hygroscopicity and chemical composition of Antarctic sub-micrometre aerosol particles and observations of new particle formation, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4253–4271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-4253-2010, 2010. 
Bertram, A. K., Martin, S. T., Hanna, S. J., Smith, M. L., Bodsworth, A., Chen, Q., Kuwata, M., Liu, A., You, Y., and Zorn, S. R.: Predicting the relative humidities of liquid-liquid phase separation, efflorescence, and deliquescence of mixed particles of ammonium sulfate, organic material, and water using the organic-to-sulfate mass ratio of the particle and the oxygen-to-carbon elemental ratio of the organic component, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 10995–11006, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-10995-2011, 2011. 
Boy, M., Kulmala, M., Ruuskanen, T. M., Pihlatie, M., Reissell, A., Aalto, P. P., Keronen, P., Dal Maso, M., Hellen, H., Hakola, H., Jansson, R., Hanke, M., and Arnold, F.: Sulphuric acid closure and contribution to nucleation mode particle growth, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 863–878, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-863-2005, 2005. 
Cai, M., Tan, H., Chan, C. K., Qin, Y., Xu, H., Li, F., Schurman, M. I., Liu, L., and Zhao, J.: The size-resolved cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity and its prediction based on aerosol hygroscopicity and composition in the Pearl Delta River (PRD) region during wintertime 2014, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16419–16437, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16419-2018, 2018. 
Download
Short summary
This study investigated the contribution of new particle formation (NPF) events to the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) and its controlling factors in the Pearl River Delta region. The results show that the surfactant effect can decrease the critical diameter and significantly increase the NCCN during the NPF event. In addition, the growth rate is founded to be the most important controlling factor that affects NCCN for growth of newly-formed particles to the CCN sizes.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint