Articles | Volume 23, issue 17
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9765-2023
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9765-2023
Opinion
 | Highlight paper
 | 
04 Sep 2023
Opinion | Highlight paper |  | 04 Sep 2023

Opinion: Atmospheric multiphase chemistry – past, present, and future

Jonathan P. D. Abbatt and A. R. Ravishankara

Download

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-334', Anonymous Referee #1, 26 Mar 2023
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-334', Anonymous Referee #2, 03 Apr 2023
  • RC3: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-334', Hartmut Herrmann, 12 Apr 2023
  • AC1: 'Response to reviewers' comments on egusphere-2023-334', Jonathan Abbatt, 28 Jun 2023

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Jonathan Abbatt on behalf of the Authors (28 Jun 2023)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (02 Jul 2023) by Barbara Ervens
RR by Hartmut Herrmann (12 Jul 2023)
ED: Publish as is (17 Jul 2023) by Barbara Ervens
ED: Publish as is (18 Jul 2023) by James Allan (Executive editor)
AR by Jonathan Abbatt on behalf of the Authors (20 Jul 2023)
Download
Executive editor
The role of chemical reactions within the atmospheric multiphase system, i.e. aerosol particles and cloud droplets surrounded by a gas phase, has been recognized for several decades to affect the atmospheric composition. In this article, significant advancements in measurement techniques during the past 20 years are briefly described that led to the identification of thousands of organic compounds and molecular-scale processes within the atmospheric multiphase system. Similarly, the complexity of multiphase chemistry models has been increasing to include in detail the underlying chemical processes and phase transfers between gas, aqueous, and organic phases. The authors propose how complementary techniques, such as machine learning and molecular dynamics, can be used to constrain the resulting model complexity. They also identify chemical parameters to be further constrained in lab and field studies. Overall, the article highlights the need and future directions of increasingly interdisciplinary efforts to characterize the atmospheric multiphase chemistry system and its impacts on climate-chemistry interactions, atmospheric oxidation capacity and human health.
Short summary
With important climate and air quality impacts, atmospheric multiphase chemistry involves gas interactions with aerosol particles and cloud droplets. We summarize the status of the field and discuss potential directions for future growth. We highlight the importance of a molecular-level understanding of the chemistry, along with atmospheric field studies and modeling, and emphasize the necessity for atmospheric multiphase chemists to interact widely with scientists from neighboring disciplines.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint