| Volumes and Issues Contents of Issue 6 |
www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/2919/2010/
doi:10.5194/acp-10-2919-2010
© Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
The role of sulphates and organic vapours in growth of newly formed particles in a eucalypt forest
1ILAQH, Queensland University of Technology, P.O. Box 4233, Brisbane QLD, 4001, Australia
2Div. of Atmospheric Sciences and Geophysics, Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 64, 00014, Finland
3Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
4ANCAR/ACD, BAI Group, 3450 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301, USA
*now at: Laboratory for Energy Systems Analysis, Paul Scherrer Institut, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland
**now at: Physic Department, CERN, 1211, Switzerland
Abstract. The influence of biogenic particle formation on climate is a well recognised phenomenon. To understand the mechanisms underlying the biogenic particle formation, determining the chemical composition of the new particles and therefore the species that drive the particle production is of utmost importance. Due to the very small amount of mass involved, indirect approaches are frequently used to infer the composition. We present here the results of such an indirect approach by simultaneously measuring volatile and hygroscopic properties of newly formed particles in a forest environment. It is shown that the particles are composed of both sulphates and organics, with the amount of sulphate component strongly depending on the available gas-phase sulphuric acid, and the organic components having the same volatility and hygroscopicity as photo-oxidation products of a monoterpene such as α-pinene. Our findings agree with a two-step process through nucleation and cluster formation followed by simultaneous growth by condensation of sulphates and organics that take the particles to climatically relevant sizes.
Final Revised Paper (PDF, 537 KB) Discussion Paper (ACPD)
Citation: Ristovski, Z. D., Suni, T., Kulmala, M., Boy, M., Meyer, N. K., Duplissy, J., Turnipseed, A., Morawska, L., and Baltensperger, U.: The role of sulphates and organic vapours in growth of newly formed particles in a eucalypt forest, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 2919-2926, doi:10.5194/acp-10-2919-2010, 2010. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
