Articles | Volume 23, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12441-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12441-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Gas–particle partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds when wildfire smoke comes to town
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
Rebecca A. Wernis
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
now at: Picarro, Inc., Santa Clara, CA 95054, USA
Kasper Kristensen
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
now at: Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering, Aarhus University, Finlandsgade 12, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark
Nathan M. Kreisberg
Aerosol Dynamics Inc., Berkeley, California 94710, USA
Philip L. Croteau
Aerodyne Research, Inc., 45 Manning Road, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, USA
Scott C. Herndon
Aerodyne Research, Inc., 45 Manning Road, Billerica, Massachusetts 01821, USA
Arthur W. H. Chan
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E5, Canada
Nga L. Ng
School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
Related authors
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Yutong Liang, Christos Stamatis, Edward C. Fortner, Rebecca A. Wernis, Paul Van Rooy, Francesca Majluf, Tara I. Yacovitch, Conner Daube, Scott C. Herndon, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Kelley C. Barsanti, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9877–9893, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This article reports the measurements of organic compounds emitted from western US wildfires. We identified and quantified 240 particle-phase compounds and 72 gas-phase compounds emitted in wildfire and related the emissions to the modified combustion efficiency. Higher emissions of diterpenoids and monoterpenes were observed, likely due to distillation from unburned heated vegetation. Our results can benefit future source apportionment and modeling studies as well as exposure assessments.
Andrew J. Lindsay, Daniel C. Anderson, Rebecca A. Wernis, Yutong Liang, Allen H. Goldstein, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Ed C. Fortner, Philip L. Croteau, Francesca Majluf, Jordan E. Krechmer, Tara I. Yacovitch, Walter B. Knighton, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4909–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfire smoke dramatically impacts air quality and often has elevated concentrations of ozone. We present measurements of ozone and its precursors at a rural site periodically impacted by wildfire smoke. Measurements of total peroxy radicals, key ozone precursors that have been studied little within wildfires, compare well with chemical box model predictions. Our results indicate no serious issues with using current chemistry mechanisms to model chemistry in aged wildfire plumes.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Yutong Liang, John Jayne, Susanne Hering, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6533–6550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
cTAG is a new scientific instrument that measures concentrations of organic chemicals in the atmosphere. cTAG is the first instrument capable of measuring small, light chemicals as well as heavier chemicals and everything in between on a single detector, every hour. In this work we explain how cTAG works and some of the tests we performed to verify that it works properly and reliably. We also present measurements of alkanes that suggest they have three dominant sources in a Bay Area suburb.
Yutong Liang, Coty N. Jen, Robert J. Weber, Pawel K. Misztal, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5719–5737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This article reports the molecular composition of smoke particles people in SF Bay Area were exposed to during northern California wildfires in Oct. 2017. Major components are sugars, acids, aromatics, and terpenoids. These observations can be used to better understand health impacts of smoke exposure. Tracer compounds indicate which fuels burned, including diterpenoids for softwood and syringyls for hardwood. A statistical analysis reveals a group of secondary compounds formed in daytime aging.
Christoph Dyroff, Michael Moore, Bruce C. Daube, and Scott C. Herndon
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3972, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3972, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a new humidity probe designed for flight to characterize the very dry air at 10–12 km where jet aircraft can form persistent contrail clouds. These clouds trap heat and contribute to warming the planet. The laser-based system precisely measures water molecules in air, enabling accurate predictions of contrail formation to help reduce aviation's climate impact.
John W. Halfacre, Lewis Marden, Marvin D. Shaw, Lucy J. Carpenter, Emily Matthews, Thomas J. Bannan, Hugh Coe, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Tara I. Yacovitch, Patrick R. Veres, Michael A. Robinson, Steven S. Brown, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 3799–3818, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3799-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-3799-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is a reservoir of chlorine atoms and nitrogen oxides, both of which play important roles in atmospheric chemistry. However, all ambient ClNO2 observations so far have been made by a single technique, mass spectrometry, which needs complex calibrations. Here, we present a laser-based method that detects ClNO2 (TD-TILDAS – thermal dissociation–tunable infrared laser direct absorption spectrometry) without the need for complicated calibrations. The results show excellent agreement between these two methods from both laboratory and ambient samples.
Dongwook Kim, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Hongyu Guo, Douglas A. Day, Da Yang, Suresh Dhaniyala, Leah Williams, Philip Croteau, John Jayne, Douglas Worsnop, Rainer Volkamer, and Jose L. Jimenez
Aerosol Research, 3, 371–404, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-371-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-371-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Quantitative real-time aerosol sampling on board aircraft platforms is challenging, especially at higher altitudes. Herein, we present comprehensive analyses of a new aircraft inlet system and tools for aerosol beam diagnostics for aerosol mass spectrometers (AMSs). The beam focusing of aerodynamic lenses and the thermal decomposition on the vaporizer were investigated. The new inlet system can be operated at higher altitudes while sampling aerosols over a broader size range than previous versions.
Erin F. Katz, Caleb M. Arata, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Robert J. Weber, Darian Ng, Michael J. Milazzo, Haley Byrne, Hui Wang, Alex B. Guenther, Camilo Rey-Sanchez, Joshua Apte, Dennis D. Baldocchi, and Allen H. Goldstein
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2682, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2682, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Terpenoids are organic gases that can originate from natural and human-caused sources, and their fast reactions in the atmosphere can cause air pollution. Emissions of organic gases in an urban environment were measured. For some terpenoids, human-caused sources were responsible for about a quarter of the emissions, while others were likely to be entirely from vegetation. The terpenoids contributed substantially to the potential to form secondary pollutants.
James D. A. Butler, Afsara Tasnia, Deep Sengupta, Nathan Kreisberg, Kelley C. Barsanti, Allen H. Goldstein, Chelsea V. Preble, Rebecca A. Sugrue, and Thomas W. Kirchstetter
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2295, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2295, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Prescribed burns are controlled fires used to prevent wildfires. Smoke emissions were measured to characterize emission factors and optical properties of black and brown soot particles. Brown particles were emitted at 7–14 times that of black particles and contributed 82 % of atmospheric absorption by particles for ultraviolet light and 23 % for total solar radiation. These findings will improve inventories and climate models for prescribed burns.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Theobard Habineza, Allen L. Robinson, H. Langley Dewitt, Jimmy Gasore, Philip L. Croteau, and Albert A. Presto
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1700, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1700, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study reports year-long PM1 chemical composition in Eastern Africa using aerosol mass spectrometry. Results show PM is dominated by organic aerosol (73 %), black carbon (16 %), and inorganics (11 %), with BC largely from fossil fuel (59 %) and biomass burning (41 %). Findings highlight the impact of solid fuels and aging vehicles and stress the need for regional mitigation strategies to reduce air pollution-related health risks.
Wendell W. Walters, Masayuki Takeuchi, Danielle E. Blum, Gamze Eris, David Tanner, Weiqi Xu, Jean Rivera-Rios, Fobang Liu, Tianchang Xu, Greg Huey, Justin B. Min, Rodney Weber, Nga L. Ng, and Meredith G. Hastings
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3860, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3860, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We studied how chemicals released from plants and pollution interact in the atmosphere, affecting air quality and climate. By combining laboratory experiments and chemistry models, we tracked unique chemical fingerprints to understand how nitrogen compounds transform to form particles in the air. Our findings help explain the role of these reactions in pollution and provide tools to improve predictions for cleaner air and better climate policies.
Wendell W. Walters, Masayuki Takeuchi, Nga L. Ng, and Meredith G. Hastings
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 4673–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4673-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-4673-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The study introduces a novel chemical mechanism for explicitly tracking oxygen isotope transfer in oxidized reactive nitrogen and odd oxygen using the Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism, version 2. This model enhances our ability to simulate and compare oxygen isotope compositions of reactive nitrogen, revealing insights into oxidation chemistry. The approach shows promise for improving atmospheric chemistry models and tropospheric oxidation capacity predictions.
Qindan Zhu, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Matthew Coggon, Colin Harkins, Jordan Schnell, Jian He, Havala O. T. Pye, Meng Li, Barry Baker, Zachary Moon, Ravan Ahmadov, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Bryan Place, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Carsten Warneke, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Lu Xu, Kristen Zuraski, Michael A. Robinson, J. Andrew Neuman, Patrick R. Veres, Jeff Peischl, Steven S. Brown, Allen H. Goldstein, Ronald C. Cohen, and Brian C. McDonald
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Mahen Konwar, Benjamin Werden, Edward C. Fortner, Sudarsan Bera, Mercy Varghese, Subharthi Chowdhuri, Kurt Hibert, Philip Croteau, John Jayne, Manjula Canagaratna, Neelam Malap, Sandeep Jayakumar, Shivsai A. Dixit, Palani Murugavel, Duncan Axisa, Darrel Baumgardner, Peter F. DeCarlo, Doug R. Worsnop, and Thara Prabhakaran
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2387–2400, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2387-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2387-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In a warm cloud seeding experiment hygroscopic particles are released to alter cloud processes to induce early raindrops. During the Cloud–Aerosol Interaction and Precipitation Enhancement Experiment, airborne mini aerosol mass spectrometers analyse the particles on which clouds form. The seeded clouds showed higher concentrations of chlorine and potassium, the oxidizing agents of flares. Small cloud droplet concentrations increased, and seeding particles were detected in deep cloud depths.
Audrey J. Dang, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Tyler L. Cargill, Jhao-Hong Chen, Sydney Hornitschek, Remy Hutheesing, Jay R. Turner, and Brent J. Williams
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2067–2087, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) is a new instrument for measuring speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air and has been developed for mapping concentrations from a hybrid car. MOIRA is characterized in the lab and pilot field studies of indoor air in a single-family residence and outdoor air during a mobile deployment. Future applications include indoor, outdoor, and lab measurements to grasp the impact of VOCs on air quality, health, and climate.
Matthew M. Coggon, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Megan S. Claflin, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Lu Xu, Jessica B. Gilman, Julia Marcantonio, Cong Cao, Kelvin Bates, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Aaron Lamplugh, Erin F. Katz, Caleb Arata, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Felix Piel, Francesca Majluf, Donald R. Blake, Armin Wisthaler, Manjula Canagaratna, Brian M. Lerner, Allen H. Goldstein, John E. Mak, and Carsten Warneke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 801–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Mass spectrometry is a tool commonly used to measure air pollutants. This study evaluates measurement artifacts produced in the proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer. We provide methods to correct these biases and better measure compounds that degrade air quality.
Andrew T. Lambe, Bin Bai, Masayuki Takeuchi, Nicole Orwat, Paul M. Zimmerman, Mitchell W. Alton, Nga L. Ng, Andrew Freedman, Megan S. Claflin, Drew R. Gentner, Douglas R. Worsnop, and Pengfei Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13869–13882, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13869-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13869-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new method to generate nitrate radicals (NO3) for atmospheric chemistry applications that works by irradiating mixtures containing ceric ammonium nitrate with a UV light at room temperature. It has several advantages over traditional NO3 sources. We characterized its performance over a range of mixture and reactor conditions as well as other irradiation products. Proof of concept was demonstrated by generating and characterizing oxidation products of the β-pinene + NO3 reaction.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Tara I. Yacovitch, Christoph Dyroff, Joseph R. Roscioli, Conner Daube, J. Barry McManus, and Scott C. Herndon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1915–1921, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ethylene oxide is a toxic, carcinogenic compound used in the medical and bulk sterilization industry. Here we describe a precise and fast laser-based ethylene oxide monitor. We report months-long concentrations at a Massachusetts site, and we show how they suggest a potential emission source 35 km away. This source, and another, is confirmed by driving the instrument downwind of the sites, where concentrations were tens to tens of thousands of times greater than background levels.
John W. Halfacre, Jordan Stewart, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Tara I. Yacovitch, Michael Flynn, Stephen J. Andrews, Steven S. Brown, Patrick R. Veres, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1407–1429, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1407-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1407-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study details a new sampling method for the optical detection of hydrogen chloride (HCl). HCl is an important atmospheric reservoir for chlorine atoms, which can affect nitrogen oxide cycling and the lifetimes of volatile organic compounds and ozone. However, HCl has a high affinity for interacting with surfaces, thereby preventing fast, quantitative measurements. The sampling technique in this study minimizes these surface interactions and provides a high-quality measurement of HCl.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Greg T. Drozd, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14987–15019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14987-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14987-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We measured volatile and intermediate-volatility gases and semivolatile gas- and particle-phase compounds in the atmosphere during an 11 d period in a Bay Area suburb. We separated compounds based on variability in time to arrive at 13 distinct sources. Some compounds emitted from plants are found in greater quantities as fragrance compounds in consumer products. The wide volatility range of these measurements enables the construction of more complete source profiles.
Yutong Liang, Christos Stamatis, Edward C. Fortner, Rebecca A. Wernis, Paul Van Rooy, Francesca Majluf, Tara I. Yacovitch, Conner Daube, Scott C. Herndon, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Kelley C. Barsanti, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9877–9893, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This article reports the measurements of organic compounds emitted from western US wildfires. We identified and quantified 240 particle-phase compounds and 72 gas-phase compounds emitted in wildfire and related the emissions to the modified combustion efficiency. Higher emissions of diterpenoids and monoterpenes were observed, likely due to distillation from unburned heated vegetation. Our results can benefit future source apportionment and modeling studies as well as exposure assessments.
Emily B. Franklin, Lindsay D. Yee, Bernard Aumont, Robert J. Weber, Paul Grigas, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3779–3803, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3779-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3779-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The composition of atmospheric aerosols are extremely complex, containing hundreds of thousands of estimated individual compounds. The majority of these compounds have never been catalogued in widely used databases, making them extremely difficult for atmospheric chemists to identify and analyze. In this work, we present Ch3MS-RF, a machine-learning-based model to enable characterization of complex mixtures and prediction of structure-specific properties of unidentifiable organic compounds.
Andrew J. Lindsay, Daniel C. Anderson, Rebecca A. Wernis, Yutong Liang, Allen H. Goldstein, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Ed C. Fortner, Philip L. Croteau, Francesca Majluf, Jordan E. Krechmer, Tara I. Yacovitch, Walter B. Knighton, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4909–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfire smoke dramatically impacts air quality and often has elevated concentrations of ozone. We present measurements of ozone and its precursors at a rural site periodically impacted by wildfire smoke. Measurements of total peroxy radicals, key ozone precursors that have been studied little within wildfires, compare well with chemical box model predictions. Our results indicate no serious issues with using current chemistry mechanisms to model chemistry in aged wildfire plumes.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Yutong Liang, John Jayne, Susanne Hering, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6533–6550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
cTAG is a new scientific instrument that measures concentrations of organic chemicals in the atmosphere. cTAG is the first instrument capable of measuring small, light chemicals as well as heavier chemicals and everything in between on a single detector, every hour. In this work we explain how cTAG works and some of the tests we performed to verify that it works properly and reliably. We also present measurements of alkanes that suggest they have three dominant sources in a Bay Area suburb.
Benjamin Sumlin, Edward Fortner, Andrew Lambe, Nishit J. Shetty, Conner Daube, Pai Liu, Francesca Majluf, Scott Herndon, and Rajan K. Chakrabarty
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11843–11856, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11843-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11843-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a comparison of the changes to light absorption behavior and chemical composition of wildfire smoke particles from day- and nighttime oxidation processes and discuss the results within the context of previous laboratory findings.
Alexandra J. Boris, Satoshi Takahama, Andrew T. Weakley, Bruno M. Debus, Stephanie L. Shaw, Eric S. Edgerton, Taekyu Joo, Nga L. Ng, and Ann M. Dillner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4355–4374, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4355-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4355-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Infrared spectrometry can be applied in routine monitoring of atmospheric particles to give comprehensive characterization of the organic material by bond rather than species. Using this technique, the concentrations of particle organic material were found to decrease 2011–2016 in the southeastern US, driven by a decline in highly aged material, concurrent with declining anthropogenic emissions. However, an increase was observed in the fraction of more moderately aged organic matter.
Weiqi Xu, Masayuki Takeuchi, Chun Chen, Yanmei Qiu, Conghui Xie, Wanyun Xu, Nan Ma, Douglas R. Worsnop, Nga Lee Ng, and Yele Sun
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3693–3705, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3693-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3693-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we developed a method for estimation of particulate organic nitrates (pON) from the measurements of a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer coupled with a thermodenuder based on the volatility differences between inorganic nitrate and pON. The results generally had improvements in reducing negative values due to the influences of a high concentration of inorganic nitrate and a constant ratio of NO+ to NO2+ of organic nitrates (RON).
Shunyao Wang, Tengyu Liu, Jinmyung Jang, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, and Arthur W. H. Chan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6647–6661, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6647-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6647-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Discrepancies between atmospheric modeling and field observations, especially in highly polluted cities, have highlighted the lack of understanding of sulfate formation mechanisms and kinetics. Here, we directly quantify the reactive uptake coefficient of SO2 onto organic peroxides and study the important governing factors. The SO2 uptake rate was observed to depend on RH, peroxide amount and reactivity, pH, and ionic strength, which provides a framework to better predict sulfate formation.
Dianne Sanchez, Roger Seco, Dasa Gu, Alex Guenther, John Mak, Youngjae Lee, Danbi Kim, Joonyoung Ahn, Don Blake, Scott Herndon, Daun Jeong, John T. Sullivan, Thomas Mcgee, Rokjin Park, and Saewung Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6331–6345, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6331-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6331-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present observations of total reactive gases in a suburban forest observatory in the Seoul metropolitan area. The quantitative comparison with speciated trace gas observations illustrated significant underestimation in atmospheric reactivity from the speciated trace gas observational dataset. We present scientific discussion about potential causes.
Yutong Liang, Coty N. Jen, Robert J. Weber, Pawel K. Misztal, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5719–5737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This article reports the molecular composition of smoke particles people in SF Bay Area were exposed to during northern California wildfires in Oct. 2017. Major components are sugars, acids, aromatics, and terpenoids. These observations can be used to better understand health impacts of smoke exposure. Tracer compounds indicate which fuels burned, including diterpenoids for softwood and syringyls for hardwood. A statistical analysis reveals a group of secondary compounds formed in daytime aging.
Weiqi Xu, Chun Chen, Yanmei Qiu, Ying Li, Zhiqiang Zhang, Eleni Karnezi, Spyros N. Pandis, Conghui Xie, Zhijie Li, Jiaxing Sun, Nan Ma, Wanyun Xu, Pingqing Fu, Zifa Wang, Jiang Zhu, Douglas R. Worsnop, Nga Lee Ng, and Yele Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5463–5476, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5463-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5463-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here aerosol volatility and viscosity at a rural site (Gucheng) and an urban site (Beijing) in the North China Plain (NCP) were investigated in summer and winter. Our results showed that organic aerosol (OA) in winter in the NCP is more volatile than that in summer due to enhanced primary emissions from coal combustion and biomass burning. We also found that OA existed mainly as a solid in winter in Beijing but as semisolids in Beijing in summer and Gucheng in winter.
Manpreet Takhar, Yunchun Li, and Arthur W. H. Chan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5137–5149, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5137-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5137-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Our study highlights the importance of molecular composition in constraining the chemical properties of cooking SOA as well as understanding the contribution of aldehydes in formation of SOA from cooking emissions. We show that fragmentation reactions are key in atmospheric processing of cooking SOA, and aldehydes emitted from cooking emissions contribute substantially to SOA formation. Our study provides a framework to better predict SOA formation in and downwind of urban atmospheres.
Thomas Berkemeier, Masayuki Takeuchi, Gamze Eris, and Nga L. Ng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15513–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15513-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15513-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents how environmental chamber data of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation can be interpreted using kinetic modeling techniques. Utilizing pure and mixed precursor experiments, we show that SOA formation and evaporation can be understood by explicitly treating gas-phase chemistry, gas–particle partitioning, and, notably, particle-phase oligomerization, but some of the non-linear, non-equilibrium effects must be accredited to diffusion limitations in the particle phase.
Yiqi Zheng, Joel A. Thornton, Nga Lee Ng, Hansen Cao, Daven K. Henze, Erin E. McDuffie, Weiwei Hu, Jose L. Jimenez, Eloise A. Marais, Eric Edgerton, and Jingqiu Mao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13091–13107, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13091-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13091-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study aims to address a challenge in biosphere–atmosphere interactions: to what extent can biogenic organic aerosol (OA) be modified through human activities? From three surface network observations, we show OA is weakly dependent on sulfate and aerosol acidity in the summer southeast US, on both long-term trends and monthly variability. The results are in strong contrast to a global model, GEOS-Chem, suggesting the need to revisit the representation of aqueous-phase secondary OA formation.
Jing Cai, Biwu Chu, Lei Yao, Chao Yan, Liine M. Heikkinen, Feixue Zheng, Chang Li, Xiaolong Fan, Shaojun Zhang, Daoyuan Yang, Yonghong Wang, Tom V. Kokkonen, Tommy Chan, Ying Zhou, Lubna Dada, Yongchun Liu, Hong He, Pauli Paasonen, Joni T. Kujansuu, Tuukka Petäjä, Claudia Mohr, Juha Kangasluoma, Federico Bianchi, Yele Sun, Philip L. Croteau, Douglas R. Worsnop, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Wei Du, Markku Kulmala, and Kaspar R. Daellenbach
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12721–12740, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12721-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12721-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
By applying both OA PMF and size PMF at the same urban measurement site in Beijing, similar particle source types, including vehicular emissions, cooking emissions and secondary formation-related sources, were resolved by both frameworks and agreed well. It is also found that in the absence of new particle formation, vehicular and cooking emissions dominate the particle number concentration, while secondary particulate matter governed PM2.5 mass during spring and summer in Beijing.
Anna K. Tobler, Alicja Skiba, Dongyu S. Wang, Philip Croteau, Katarzyna Styszko, Jarosław Nęcki, Urs Baltensperger, Jay G. Slowik, and André S. H. Prévôt
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5293–5301, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5293-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5293-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Some quadrupole aerosol chemical speciation monitors (Q-ACSMs) have had issues with the quantification of particulate chloride, resulting in apparent negative chloride concentrations. We can show that this is due to the different behavior of Cl+ and HCl+, and we present a correction for the more accurate quantification of chloride. The correction can be applied to measurements in environments where the particulate chloride is dominated by NH4Cl.
James F. Hurley, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Braden Stump, Chenyang Bi, Purushottam Kumar, Susanne V. Hering, Pat Keady, and Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 4911–4925, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4911-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-4911-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The chemical composition of aerosols has implications for human and ecosystem health. Current methods for determining chemical composition are expensive and require highly trained personnel. Our method is promising for moderate-cost, low-maintenance measurements of oxygen / carbon ratios, a key chemical parameter, and other elements may also be studied. In this work, we coupled two commonly used detectors to assess O / C ratios in a variety of compounds and mixtures within an acceptable error.
Cited articles
Aiken, A. C., Decarlo, P. F., Kroll, J. H., Worsnop, D. R., Huffman, J. A., Docherty, K. S., Ulbrich, I. M., Mohr, C., Kimmel, J. R., Sueper, D., Sun, Y., Zhang, Q., Trimborn, A., Northway, M., Ziemann, P. J., Canagaratna, M. R., Onasch, T. B., Alfarra, M. R., Prevot, A. S. H., Dommen, J., Duplissy, J., Metzger, A., Baltensperger, U., and Jimenez, J. L.: and ratios of primary, secondary, and ambient organic aerosols with high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometry, Environ. Sci. Technol., 42, 4478–4485, https://doi.org/10.1021/es703009q, 2008.
Asa-Awuku, A., Miracolo, M. A., Kroll, J. H., Robinson, A. L., and Donahue, N. M.: Mixing and phase partitioning of primary and secondary organic aerosols, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L15827, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GL039301, 2009.
Bannan, T. J., Booth, A. M., Jones, B. T., O'Meara, S., Barley, M. H., Riipinen, I., Percival, C. J., and Topping, D.: Measured Saturation Vapor Pressures of Phenolic and Nitro-aromatic Compounds, Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 3922–3928, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b06364, 2017.
Barley, M. H. and McFiggans, G.: The critical assessment of vapour pressure estimation methods for use in modelling the formation of atmospheric organic aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 749–767, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-749-2010, 2010.
Bateman, A. P., Gong, Z., Harder, T. H., de Sá, S. S., Wang, B., Castillo, P., China, S., Liu, Y., O'Brien, R. E., Palm, B. B., Shiu, H.-W., Cirino, G. G., Thalman, R., Adachi, K., Alexander, M. L., Artaxo, P., Bertram, A. K., Buseck, P. R., Gilles, M. K., Jimenez, J. L., Laskin, A., Manzi, A. O., Sedlacek, A., Souza, R. A. F., Wang, J., Zaveri, R., and Martin, S. T.: Anthropogenic influences on the physical state of submicron particulate matter over a tropical forest, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1759–1773, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1759-2017, 2017.
Cappa, C. D., Lovejoy, E. R., and Ravishankara, A. R.: Evidence for liquid-like and nonideal behavior of a mixture of organic aerosol components, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 105, 18687–18691, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802144105, 2008.
Compernolle, S., Ceulemans, K., and Müller, J.-F.: EVAPORATION: a new vapour pressure estimation method for organic molecules including non-additivity and intramolecular interactions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9431–9450, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-9431-2011, 2011.
Dang, C., Bannan, T., Shelley, P., Priestley, M., Worrall, S. D., Waters, J., Coe, H., Percival, C. J., and Topping, D.: The effect of structure and isomerism on the vapor pressures of organic molecules and its potential atmospheric relevance, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 53, 1040–1055, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2019.1628177, 2019.
Dennison, P. E., Brewer, S. C., Arnold, J. D., and Moritz, M. A.: Large wildfire trends in the western United States, 1984–2011, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 2928–2933, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL059576, 2014.
de Sá, S. S., Palm, B. B., Campuzano-Jost, P., Day, D. A., Hu, W., Isaacman-VanWertz, G., Yee, L. D., Brito, J., Carbone, S., Ribeiro, I. O., Cirino, G. G., Liu, Y., Thalman, R., Sedlacek, A., Funk, A., Schumacher, C., Shilling, J. E., Schneider, J., Artaxo, P., Goldstein, A. H., Souza, R. A. F., Wang, J., McKinney, K. A., Barbosa, H., Alexander, M. L., Jimenez, J. L., and Martin, S. T.: Urban influence on the concentration and composition of submicron particulate matter in central Amazonia, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12185–12206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12185-2018, 2018.
Donahue, N. M., Robinson, A. L., Stanier, C. O., and Pandis, S. N.: Coupled partitioning, dilution, and chemical aging of semivolatile organics, Environ. Sci. Technol., 40, 2635–2643, https://doi.org/10.1021/es052297c, 2006.
Donahue, N. M., Epstein, S. A., Pandis, S. N., and Robinson, A. L.: A two-dimensional volatility basis set: 1. organic-aerosol mixing thermodynamics, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 3303–3318, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-3303-2011, 2011.
Donahue, N. M., Kroll, J. H., Pandis, S. N., and Robinson, A. L.: A two-dimensional volatility basis set – Part 2: Diagnostics of organic-aerosol evolution, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 615–634, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-615-2012, 2012.
Eliasl, V. O., Simoneit, B. R. T., Cordeiro, R. C., and Turcq, B.: Evaluating levoglucosan as an indicator of biomass burning in Carajás, amazônia: A comparison to the charcoal record, Geochim. Cosmochim. Ac., 65, 267–272, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0016-7037(00)00522-6, 2001.
Fine, P. M., Cass, G. R., and Simoneit, B. R. T.: Chemical characterization of fine particle emissions from the wood stove combustion of prevalent united states tree species, Environ. Eng. Sci., 21, 705–721, https://doi.org/10.1089/ees.2004.21.705, 2004.
Finewax, Z., De Gouw, J. A., and Ziemann, P. J.: Identification and Quantification of 4-Nitrocatechol Formed from OH and NO3 Radical-Initiated Reactions of Catechol in Air in the Presence of NOx: Implications for Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from Biomass Burning, Environ. Sci. Technol., 52, 1981–1989, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b05864, 2018.
Fredrickson, C. D., Palm, B. B., Lee, B. H., Zhang, X., Orlando, J. J., Tyndall, G. S., Garofalo, L. A., Pothier, M. A., Farmer, D. K., Decker, Z. C. J., Robinson, M. A., Brown, S. S., Murphy, S. M., Shen, Y., Sullivan, A. P., Schobesberger, S., and Thornton, J. A.: Formation and Evolution of Catechol-Derived SOA Mass, Composition, Volatility, and Light Absorption, ACS Earth Sp. Chem., 6, 1067–1079, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.2c00007, 2022.
Gentner, D. R., Isaacman, G., Worton, D. R., Chan, A. W. H., Dallmann, T. R., Davis, L., Liu, S., Day, D. A., Russell, L. M., Wilson, K. R., Weber, R., Guha, A., Harley, R. A., and Goldstein, A. H.: Elucidating secondary organic aerosol from diesel and gasoline vehicles through detailed characterization of organic carbon emissions, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109, 18318–18323, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1212272109, 2012.
Hatch, L. E., Luo, W., Pankow, J. F., Yokelson, R. J., Stockwell, C. E., and Barsanti, K. C.: Identification and quantification of gaseous organic compounds emitted from biomass burning using two-dimensional gas chromatography–time-of-flight mass spectrometry, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 1865–1899, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1865-2015, 2015.
Hennigan, C. J., Sullivan, A. P., Collett, J. L., and Robinson, A. L.: Levoglucosan stability in biomass burning particles exposed to hydroxyl radicals, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L09806, https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL043088, 2010.
Hodshire, A. L., Akherati, A., Alvarado, M. J., Brown-Steiner, B., Jathar, S. H., Jimenez, J. L., Kreidenweis, S. M., Lonsdale, C. R., Onasch, T. B., Ortega, A. M., and Pierce, J. R.: Aging Effects on Biomass Burning Aerosol Mass and Composition: A Critical Review of Field and Laboratory Studies, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 10007–10022, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b02588, 2019.
Idowu, O., Semple, K. T., Ramadass, K., O'Connor, W., Hansbro, P., and Thavamani, P.: Beyond the obvious: Environmental health implications of polar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Environ. Int., 123, 543–557, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENVINT.2018.12.051, 2019.
Iglesias, V., Balch, J. K., and Travis, W. R.: U. S. fires became larger, more frequent, and more widespread in the 2000s, Sci. Adv., 8, eabc0020, https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abc0020, 2022.
Isaacman, G., Kreisberg, N. M., Yee, L. D., Worton, D. R., Chan, A. W. H., Moss, J. A., Hering, S. V., and Goldstein, A. H.: Online derivatization for hourly measurements of gas- and particle-phase semi-volatile oxygenated organic compounds by thermal desorption aerosol gas chromatography (SV-TAG), Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4417–4429, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4417-2014, 2014.
Isaacman-VanWertz, G., Yee, L. D., Kreisberg, N. M., Wernis, R., Moss, J. A., Hering, S. V, De Sá, S. S., Martin, S. T., Alexander, M. L., Palm, B. B., Hu, W., Campuzano-Jost, P., Day, D. A., Jimenez, J. L., Riva, M., Surratt, J. D., Viegas, J., Manzi, A., Edgerton, E., Baumann, K., Souza, R., Artaxo, P., and Goldstein, A. H.: Ambient Gas-Particle Partitioning of Tracers for Biogenic Oxidation, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 9952–9962, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b01674, 2016.
Jen, C. N., Hatch, L. E., Selimovic, V., Yokelson, R. J., Weber, R., Fernandez, A. E., Kreisberg, N. M., Barsanti, K. C., and Goldstein, A. H.: Speciated and total emission factors of particulate organics from burning western US wildland fuels and their dependence on combustion efficiency, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 1013–1026, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-1013-2019, 2019.
Jenkin, M. E., Shallcross, D. E., and Harvey, J. N.: Development and application of a possible mechanism for the generation of cis-pinic acid from the ozonolysis of α- and β-pinene, Atmos. Environ., 34, 2837–2850, https://doi.org/10.1016/S1352-2310(00)00087-X, 2000.
Jimenez, J. L., Canagaratna, M. R., Donahue, N. M., Prevot, A. S. H., Zhang, Q., Kroll, J. H., DeCarlo, P. F., Allan, J. D., Coe, H., Ng, N. L., Aiken, A. C., Docherty, K. S., Ulbrich, I. M., Grieshop, A. P., Robinson, A. L., Duplissy, J., Smith, J. D., Wilson, K. R., Lanz, V. A., Hueglin, C., Sun, Y. L., Tian, J., Laaksonen, A., Raatikainen, T., Rautiainen, J., Vaattovaara, P., Ehn, M., Kulmala, M., Tomlinson, J. M., Collins, D. R., Cubison, M. J., Dunlea, J., Huffman, J. A., Onasch, T. B., Alfarra, M. R., Williams, P. I., Bower, K., Kondo, Y., Schneider, J., Drewnick, F., Borrmann, S., Weimer, S., Demerjian, K., Salcedo, D., Cottrell, L., Griffin, R., Takami, A., Miyoshi, T., Hatakeyama, S., Shimono, A., Sun, J. Y., Zhang, Y. M., Dzepina, K., Kimmel, J. R., Sueper, D., Jayne, J. T., Herndon, S. C., Trimborn, A. M., Williams, L. R., Wood, E. C., Middlebrook, A. M., Kolb, C. E., Baltensperger, U., and Worsnop, D. R.: Evolution of Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere, Science, 326, 1525–1529, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1180353, 2009.
Keyte, I. J., Harrison, R. M., and Lammel, G.: Chemical reactivity and long-range transport potential of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – a review, Chem. Soc. Rev., 42, 9333–9391, https://doi.org/10.1039/c3cs60147a, 2013.
Kim, Y. H., Warren, S. H., Krantz, Q. T., King, C., Jaskot, R., Preston, W. T., George, B. J., Hays, M. D., Landis, M. S., Higuchi, M., Demarini, D. M., and Gilmour, M. I.: Mutagenicity and lung toxicity of smoldering vs. Flaming emissions from various biomass fuels: Implications for health effects from wildland fires, Environ. Health Persp., 126, 017011, https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP2200, 2018.
Kreisberg, N. M., Worton, D. R., Zhao, Y., Isaacman, G., Goldstein, A. H., and Hering, S. V.: Development of an automated high-temperature valveless injection system for online gas chromatography, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 7, 4431–4444, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-7-4431-2014, 2014.
Kristensen, K., Lunderberg, D. M., Liu, Y., Misztal, P. K., Tian, Y., Arata, C., Nazaroff, W. W., and Goldstein, A. H.: Sources and dynamics of semivolatile organic compounds in a single-family residence in northern California, Indoor Air, 29, 645–655, https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12561, 2019.
Li, Y., Day, D. A., Stark, H., Jimenez, J. L., and Shiraiwa, M.: Predictions of the glass transition temperature and viscosity of organic aerosols from volatility distributions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8103–8122, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8103-2020, 2020.
Liang, Y., Jen, C. N., Weber, R. J., Misztal, P. K., and Goldstein, A. H.: Chemical composition of PM2.5 in October 2017 Northern California wildfire plumes, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5719–5737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5719-2021, 2021.
Liang, Y., Stamatis, C., Fortner, E. C., Wernis, R. A., Van Rooy, P., Majluf, F., Yacovitch, T. I., Daube, C., Herndon, S. C., Kreisberg, N. M., Barsanti, K. C., and Goldstein, A. H.: Emissions of organic compounds from western US wildfires and their near-fire transformations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9877–9893, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9877-2022, 2022a.
Liang, Y., Weber, R. J., Misztal, P. K., Jen, C. N., and Goldstein, A. H.: Aging of Volatile Organic Compounds in October 2017 Northern California Wildfire Plumes, Environ. Sci. Technol., 56, 1557–1567, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c05684, 2022b.
Lim, C. Y., Hagan, D. H., Coggon, M. M., Koss, A. R., Sekimoto, K., de Gouw, J., Warneke, C., Cappa, C. D., and Kroll, J. H.: Secondary organic aerosol formation from the laboratory oxidation of biomass burning emissions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12797–12809, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12797-2019, 2019.
Lindsay, A. J., Anderson, D. C., Wernis, R. A., Liang, Y., Goldstein, A. H., Herndon, S. C., Roscioli, J. R., Dyroff, C., Fortner, E. C., Croteau, P. L., Majluf, F., Krechmer, J. E., Yacovitch, T. I., Knighton, W. B., and Wood, E. C.: Ground-based investigation of HOx and ozone chemistry in biomass burning plumes in rural Idaho, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4909–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, 2022.
Liu, C., Zhang, Y., and Weschler, C. J.: Exposure to SVOCs from Inhaled Particles: Impact of Desorption, Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 6220–6228, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b05864, 2017.
Liu, X., Day, D. A., Krechmer, J. E., Ziemann, P. J., and Jimenez, J. L.: Determining Activity Coefficients of SOA from Isothermal Evaporation in a Laboratory Chamber, Environ. Sci. Tech. Let., 8, 212–217, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.0c00888, 2021.
Ma, J., Chen, L., Guo, Y., Wu, Q., Yang, M., Wu, M., and Kannan, K.: Phthalate diesters in Airborne PM2.5 and PM10 in a suburban area of Shanghai: Seasonal distribution and risk assessment, Sci. Total Environ., 497–498, 467–474, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.08.012, 2014.
Mahrt, F., Huang, Y., Zaks, J., Devi, A., Peng, L., Ohno, P. E., Qin, Y. M., Martin, S. T., Ammann, M., and Bertram, A. K.: Phase Behavior of Internal Mixtures of Hydrocarbon-like Primary Organic Aerosol and Secondary Aerosol Based on Their Differences in Oxygen-to-Carbon Ratios, Environ. Sci. Technol., 56, 3960–3973, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.1c07691, 2022a.
Mahrt, F., Peng, L., Zaks, J., Huang, Y., Ohno, P. E., Smith, N. R., Gregson, F. K. A., Qin, Y., Faiola, C. L., Martin, S. T., Nizkorodov, S. A., Ammann, M., and Bertram, A. K.: Not all types of secondary organic aerosol mix: two phases observed when mixing different secondary organic aerosol types, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13783–13796, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13783-2022, 2022b.
May, A. A., Saleh, R., Hennigan, C. J., Donahue, N. M., and Robinson, A. L.: Volatility of organic molecular markers used for source apportionment analysis: Measurements and implications for atmospheric lifetime, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 12435–12444, https://doi.org/10.1021/es302276t, 2012.
May, A. A., Levin, E. J. T., Hennigan, C. J., Riipinen, I., Lee, T., Collett, J. L., Jimenez, J. L., Kreidenweis, S. M., and Robinson, A. L.: Gas-particle partitioning of primary organic aerosol emissions: 3. Biomass burning, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 11327–11338, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50828, 2013.
McClure, C. D. and Jaffe, D. A.: US particulate matter air quality improves except in wildfire-prone areas, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 115, 7901–7906, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1804353115, 2018.
Ng, N. L., Herndon, S. C., Trimborn, A., Canagaratna, M. R., Croteau, P. L., Onasch, T. B., Sueper, D., Worsnop, D. R., Zhang, Q., Sun, Y. L., and Jayne, J. T.: An Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM) for Routine Monitoring of the Composition and Mass Concentrations of Ambient Aerosol, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 45, 780–794, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2011.560211, 2011.
Nie, W., Yan, C., Huang, D. D., Wang, Z., Liu, Y., Qiao, X., Guo, Y., Tian, L., Zheng, P., Xu, Z., Li, Y., Xu, Z., Qi, X., Sun, P., Wang, J., Zheng, F., Li, X., Yin, R., Dallenbach, K. R., Bianchi, F., Petäjä, T., Zhang, Y., Wang, M., Schervish, M., Wang, S., Qiao, L., Wang, Q., Zhou, M., Wang, H., Yu, C., Yao, D., Guo, H., Ye, P., Lee, S., Li, Y. J., Liu, Y., Chi, X., Kerminen, V. M., Ehn, M., Donahue, N. M., Wang, T., Huang, C., Kulmala, M., Worsnop, D., Jiang, J., and Ding, A.: Secondary organic aerosol formed by condensing anthropogenic vapours over China's megacities, Nat. Geosci., 15, 255–261, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-022-00922-5, 2022.
O'Meara, S., Booth, A. M., Barley, M. H., Topping, D., and McFiggans, G.: An assessment of vapour pressure estimation methods, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 16, 19453–19469, https://doi.org/10.1039/c4cp00857j, 2014.
Palm, B. B., Peng, Q., Fredrickson, C. D., Lee, B. H., Garofalo, L. A., Pothier, M. A., Kreidenweis, S. M., Farmer, D. K., Pokhrel, R. P., Shen, Y., Murphy, S. M., Permar, W., Hu, L., Campos, T. L., Hall, S. R., Ullmann, K., Zhang, X., Flocke, F., Fischer, E. V., and Thornton, J. A.: Quantification of organic aerosol and brown carbon evolution in fresh wildfire plumes, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 117, 29469–29477, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2012218117, 2020.
Pankow, J. F.: An absorption model of gas/particle partitioning of organic compounds in the atmosphere, Atmos. Environ., 28, 185–188, https://doi.org/10.1016/1352-2310(94)90093-0, 1994.
Pankow, J. F.: A consideration of the role of gas/particle partitioning in the deposition of nicotine and other tobacco smoke compounds in the respiratory tract, Chem. Res. Toxicol., 14, 1465–1481, https://doi.org/10.1021/tx0100901, 2001.
Pankow, J. F. and Asher, W. E.: SIMPOL.1: a simple group contribution method for predicting vapor pressures and enthalpies of vaporization of multifunctional organic compounds, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 8, 2773–2796, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-8-2773-2008, 2008.
Pokhrel, R. P., Gordon, J., Fiddler, M. N., and Bililign, S.: Impact of combustion conditions on physical and morphological properties of biomass burning aerosol, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 55, 80–91, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2020.1822512, 2021.
Saleh, R. and Khlystov, A.: Determination of activity coefficients of semi-volatile organic aerosols using the integrated volume method, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 43, 838–846, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786820902959474, 2009.
Shah, R. U., Robinson, E. S., Gu, P., Robinson, A. L., Apte, J. S., and Presto, A. A.: High-spatial-resolution mapping and source apportionment of aerosol composition in Oakland, California, using mobile aerosol mass spectrometry, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16325–16344, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16325-2018, 2018.
Shiraiwa, M. and Seinfeld, J. H.: Equilibration timescale of atmospheric secondary organic aerosol partitioning, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L24801, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL054008, 2012.
Simoneit, B. R. T.: Biomass burning – A review of organic tracers for smoke from incomplete combustion, Appl. Geochem., 17, 129–162, https://doi.org/10.1016/S0883-2927(01)00061-0, 2002.
Stark, H., Yatavelli, R. L. N., Thompson, S. L., Kang, H., Krechmer, J. E., Kimmel, J. R., Palm, B. B., Hu, W., Hayes, P. L., Day, D. A., Campuzano-Jost, P., Canagaratna, M. R., Jayne, J. T., Worsnop, D. R., and Jimenez, J. L.: Impact of Thermal Decomposition on Thermal Desorption Instruments: Advantage of Thermogram Analysis for Quantifying Volatility Distributions of Organic Species, Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 8491–8500, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b00160, 2017.
Tuet, W. Y., Chen, Y., Fok, S., Champion, J. A., and Ng, N. L.: Inflammatory responses to secondary organic aerosols (SOA) generated from biogenic and anthropogenic precursors, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 11423–11440, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-11423-2017, 2017.
Tuet, W. Y., Liu, F., De Oliveira Alves, N., Fok, S., Artaxo, P., Vasconcellos, P., Champion, J. A., and Ng, N. L.: Chemical Oxidative Potential and Cellular Oxidative Stress from Open Biomass Burning Aerosol, Environ. Sci. Tech. Let., 6, 126–132, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.9b00060, 2019.
US EPA: Estimation Programs Interface SuiteTM for Microsoft® Windows, https://www.epa.gov/tsca-screening-tools/epi-suitetm-estimation-program-interface
(last access: 28 September 2023), 2012.
Wania, F., Awonaike, B., and Goss, K. U.: Comment on “measured Saturation Vapor Pressures of Phenolic and Nitro-Aromatic Compounds,” Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 7742–7743, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.7b02079, 2017.
Wernis, R. A., Kreisberg, N. M., Weber, R. J., Liang, Y., Jayne, J., Hering, S., and Goldstein, A. H.: Development of an in situ dual-channel thermal desorption gas chromatography instrument for consistent quantification of volatile, intermediate-volatility and semivolatile organic compounds, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6533–6550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, 2021.
Wong, J. P. S., Tsagkaraki, M., Tsiodra, I., Mihalopoulos, N., Violaki, K., Kanakidou, M., Sciare, J., Nenes, A., and Weber, R. J.: Effects of Atmospheric Processing on the Oxidative Potential of Biomass Burning Organic Aerosols, Environ. Sci. Technol., 53, 6747–6756, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.9b01034, 2019.
Xie, M., Hannigan, M. P., and Barsanti, K. C.: Gas/Particle Partitioning of 2-Methyltetrols and Levoglucosan at an Urban Site in Denver, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 2835–2842, https://doi.org/10.1021/es405356n, 2014.
Yacovitch, T. I., Onasch, T. B., Croteau, P. L., Lindsay, A. J., Wood, E. C., and Cross, E. S.: Aerodyne ARI-GROUND Data, https://doi.org/10.26023/TTD7-CXHA-DS0E, 2022.
Ye, J., Gordon, C. A., and Chan, A. W. H.: Enhancement in Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in the Presence of Preexisting Organic Particle, Environ. Sci. Technol., 50, 3572–3579, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b05512, 2016.
Ye, J., Van Rooy, P., Adam, C. H., Jeong, C. H., Urch, B., Cocker, D. R., Evans, G. J., and Chan, A. W. H.: Predicting Secondary Organic Aerosol Enhancement in the Presence of Atmospherically Relevant Organic Particles, ACS Earth Space Chem., 2, 1035–1046, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsearthspacechem.8b00093, 2018.
Yee, L. D., Isaacman-VanWertz, G., Wernis, R. A., Kreisberg, N. M., Glasius, M., Riva, M., Surratt, J. D., de Sá, S. S., Martin, S. T., Alexander, M. L., Palm, B. B., Hu, W., Campuzano-Jost, P., Day, D. A., Jimenez, J. L., Liu, Y., Misztal, P. K., Artaxo, P., Viegas, J., Manzi, A., de Souza, R. A. F., Edgerton, E. S., Baumann, K., and Goldstein, A. H.: Natural and Anthropogenically Influenced Isoprene Oxidation in Southeastern United States and Central Amazon, Environ. Sci. Technol., 54, 5980–5991, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.0c00805, 2020.
Zelenyuk, A., Imre, D., Beránek, J., Abramson, E., Wilson, J., and Shrivastava, M.: Synergy between secondary organic aerosols and long-range transport of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Environ. Sci. Technol., 46, 12459–12466, https://doi.org/10.1021/es302743z, 2012.
Zhao, Y., Kreisberg, N. M., Worton, D. R., Isaacman, G., Weber, R. J., Liu, S., Day, D. A., Russell, L. M., Markovic, M. Z., Vandenboer, T. C., Murphy, J. G., Hering, S. V, and Goldstein, A. H.: Insights into secondary organic aerosol formation mechanisms from measured gas/particle partitioning of specific organic tracer compounds, Environ. Sci. Technol., 47, 3781–3787, https://doi.org/10.1021/es304587x, 2013a.
Zhao, Y., Kreisberg, N. M., Worton, D. R., Teng, A. P., Hering, S. V., and Goldstein, A. H.: Development of an in situ thermal desorption gas chromatography instrument for quantifying atmospheric semi-volatile organic compounds, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 47, 258–266, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2012.747673, 2013b.
Zhou, S., Collier, S., Jaffe, D. A., Briggs, N. L., Hee, J., Sedlacek III, A. J., Kleinman, L., Onasch, T. B., and Zhang, Q.: Regional influence of wildfires on aerosol chemistry in the western US and insights into atmospheric aging of biomass burning organic aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2477–2493, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2477-2017, 2017.
Zuend, A., Marcolli, C., Booth, A. M., Lienhard, D. M., Soonsin, V., Krieger, U. K., Topping, D. O., McFiggans, G., Peter, T., and Seinfeld, J. H.: New and extended parameterization of the thermodynamic model AIOMFAC: calculation of activity coefficients for organic-inorganic mixtures containing carboxyl, hydroxyl, carbonyl, ether, ester, alkenyl, alkyl, and aromatic functional groups, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 9155–9206, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-9155-2011, 2011.
Short summary
We measured the gas–particle partitioning behaviors of biomass burning markers and examined the effect of wildfire organic aerosol on the partitioning of semivolatile organic compounds. Most compounds measured are less volatile than model predictions. Wildfire aerosol enhanced the condensation of polar compounds and caused some nonpolar (e.g., polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) compounds to partition into the gas phase, thus affecting their lifetimes in the atmosphere and the mode of exposure.
We measured the gas–particle partitioning behaviors of biomass burning markers and examined the...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint