Articles | Volume 23, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-251-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-251-2023
ACP Letters
 | Highlight paper
 | 
13 Jan 2023
ACP Letters | Highlight paper |  | 13 Jan 2023

Strong particle production and condensational growth in the upper troposphere sustained by biogenic VOCs from the canopy of the Amazon Basin

Yunfan Liu, Hang Su, Siwen Wang, Chao Wei, Wei Tao, Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Bruna A. Holanda, Ovid O. Krüger, Thorsten Hoffmann, Manfred Wendisch, Paulo Artaxo, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, and Yafang Cheng

Related authors

Impact of biomass burning aerosols on radiation, clouds, and precipitation over the Amazon: relative importance of aerosol–cloud and aerosol–radiation interactions
Lixia Liu, Yafang Cheng, Siwen Wang, Chao Wei, Mira L. Pöhlker, Christopher Pöhlker, Paulo Artaxo, Manish Shrivastava, Meinrat O. Andreae, Ulrich Pöschl, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 13283–13301, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13283-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-13283-2020, 2020
Short summary
Aerosol pH and chemical regimes of sulfate formation in aerosol water during winter haze in the North China Plain
Wei Tao, Hang Su, Guangjie Zheng, Jiandong Wang, Chao Wei, Lixia Liu, Nan Ma, Meng Li, Qiang Zhang, Ulrich Pöschl, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11729–11746, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11729-2020,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11729-2020, 2020
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Understanding the long-term trend of organic aerosol and the influences from anthropogenic emission and regional climate change in China
Wenxin Zhang, Yaman Liu, Man Yue, Xinyi Dong, Kan Huang, and Minghuai Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3857–3872, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3857-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3857-2025, 2025
Short summary
Population exposure to outdoor NO2, black carbon, and ultrafine and fine particles over Paris with multi-scale modelling down to the street scale
Soo-Jin Park, Lya Lugon, Oscar Jacquot, Youngseob Kim, Alexia Baudic, Barbara D'Anna, Ludovico Di Antonio, Claudia Di Biagio, Fabrice Dugay, Olivier Favez, Véronique Ghersi, Aline Gratien, Julien Kammer, Jean-Eudes Petit, Olivier Sanchez, Myrto Valari, Jérémy Vigneron, and Karine Sartelet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3363–3387, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3363-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3363-2025, 2025
Short summary
Predicted impacts of heterogeneous chemical pathways on particulate sulfur over Fairbanks (Alaska), the Northern Hemisphere, and the Contiguous United States
Sara L. Farrell, Havala O. T. Pye, Robert Gilliam, George Pouliot, Deanna Huff, Golam Sarwar, William Vizuete, Nicole Briggs, Fengkui Duan, Tao Ma, Shuping Zhang, and Kathleen Fahey
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3287–3312, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3287-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3287-2025, 2025
Short summary
Critical load exceedances for North America and Europe using an ensemble of models and an investigation of causes of environmental impact estimate variability: an AQMEII4 study
Paul A. Makar, Philip Cheung, Christian Hogrefe, Ayodeji Akingunola, Ummugulsum Alyuz, Jesse O. Bash, Michael D. Bell, Roberto Bellasio, Roberto Bianconi, Tim Butler, Hazel Cathcart, Olivia E. Clifton, Alma Hodzic, Ioannis Kioutsioukis, Richard Kranenburg, Aurelia Lupascu, Jason A. Lynch, Kester Momoh, Juan L. Perez-Camanyo, Jonathan Pleim, Young-Hee Ryu, Roberto San Jose, Donna Schwede, Thomas Scheuschner, Mark W. Shephard, Ranjeet S. Sokhi, and Stefano Galmarini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3049–3107, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3049-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3049-2025, 2025
Short summary
Impacts of meteorology and emission reductions on haze pollution during the lockdown in the North China Plain
Lang Liu, Xin Long, Yi Li, Zengliang Zang, Fengwen Wang, Yan Han, Zhier Bao, Yang Chen, Tian Feng, and Jinxin Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1569–1585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1569-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1569-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Andreae, M. O.: Emission of trace gases and aerosols from biomass burning – an updated assessment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8523–8546, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8523-2019, 2019. 
Andreae, M. O. and Andreae, T. W.: The cycle of biogenic sulfur compounds over the Amazon Basin: 1. Dry season, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 93, 1487–1497, https://doi.org/10.1029/JD093iD02p01487, 1988. 
Archer-Nicholls, S., Lowe, D., Utembe, S., Allan, J., Zaveri, R. A., Fast, J. D., Hodnebrog, Ø., Denier van der Gon, H., and McFiggans, G.: Gaseous chemistry and aerosol mechanism developments for version 3.5.1 of the online regional model, WRF-Chem, Geosci. Model Dev., 7, 2557–2579, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-7-2557-2014, 2014. 
Download
Executive editor
Traditionally, the interactions between aerosols, clouds, weather and climate has focused on sulphate aerosols. However, in the last 20 years it has become apparent that secondary organic aerosols are also highly abundant in the troposphere. These could represent a major coupling in the earth system between the biosphere and the atmosphere, and thus climate because forests are known to emit large quantities of biogenic VOCs that are known to produce secondary organic aerosols. However selectively studying their influence on the free troposphere is difficult as it requires in situ measurements aboard scientific aircraft. This study observes the role of biogenic secondary organic aerosols on the abundance of cloud condensation nuclei in the upper troposphere above the Amazon, and compares it with a state-of-the-art predictive model. This further supports the importance of these processes in earth system models and gives confidence that the current level of understanding will produce accurate predictions.
Short summary
The origins of the abundant cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the upper troposphere (UT) of the Amazon remain unclear. With model developments of new secondary organic aerosol schemes and constrained by observation, we show that strong aerosol nucleation and condensation in the UT is triggered by biogenic organics, and organic condensation is key for UT CCN production. This UT CCN-producing mechanism may prevail over broader vegetation canopies and deserves emphasis in aerosol–climate feedback.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint