References

ACP

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ACP

1680-7324

Copernicus GmbH

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/acp-10-1071-2010

Changes in the production rate of secondary aerosol particles in Central Europe in view of decreasing SO2 emissions between 1996 and 2006

Hamed

¹ Birmili

² Joutsensaari

¹ Mikkonen

¹ Asmi

³ Wehner

² Spindler

² Jaatinen

¹ Wiedensohler

² Korhonen

¹ Lehtinen

K. E. J.

¹ ⁴ Laaksonen

¹ ⁵

Department of Physics and Mathematics, University of Eastern Finland (University of Kuopio), P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland

Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research, Permoserstrasse 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany

Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014 Helsinki, Finland

Finnish Meteorological Institute, Kuopio Unit, P.O. Box 1627, 70210 Kuopio, Finland

Finnish Meteorological Institute, P.O. Box 503, 00101 Helsinki, Finland

02 02 2010

10 3 1071 1091

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In anthropogenically influenced atmospheres, sulphur dioxide (SO2) is the main precursor of gaseous sulphuric acid (H2SO4), which in turn is a main precursor for atmospheric particle nucleation. As a result of socio-economic changes, East Germany has seen a dramatic decrease in anthropogenic SO2 emissions between 1989 and present, as documented by routine air quality measurements in many locations. We have attempted to evaluate the influence of changing SO2 concentrations on the frequency and intensity of new particle formation (NPF) using two different data sets (1996–1997; 2003–2006) of experimental particle number size distributions (diameter range 3–750 nm) from the atmospheric research station Melpitz near Leipzig, Germany. Between the two periods SO2 concentrations decreased by 65% on average, while the frequency of NPF events dropped by 45%. Meanwhile, the average formation rate of 3 nm particles decreased by 68% on average. The trends were statistically significant and therefore suggest a connection between the availability of anthropogenic SO2 and freshly formed new particles. In contrast to the decrease in new particle formation, we found an increase in the mean growth rate of freshly nucleated particles (+22%), suggesting that particle nucleation and subsequent growth into larger sizes are delineated with respect to their precursor species. Using three basic parameters, the condensation sink for H2SO4, the SO2 concentration, and the global radiation intensity, we were able to define the characteristic range of atmospheric conditions under which particle formation events take place at the Melpitz site. While the decrease in the concentrations and formation rates of the new particles was rather evident, no similar decrease was found with respect to the generation of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN; particle diameter >100 nm) as a result of atmospheric nucleation events. On the contrary, the production of CCN following nucleation events appears to have increased by tens of percents. Our aerosol dynamics model simulations suggest that such an increase can be caused by the increased particle growth rate.

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