Articles | Volume 18, issue 15
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11171-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11171-2018
Research article
 | 
10 Aug 2018
Research article |  | 10 Aug 2018

Differentiating between particle formation and growth events in an urban environment

Buddhi Pushpawela, Rohan Jayaratne, and Lidia Morawska

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Cited articles

Backman, J., Rizzo, L. V., Hakala, J., Nieminen, T., Manninen, H. E., Morais, F., Aalto, P. P., Siivola, E., Carbone, S., Hillamo, R., Artaxo, P., Virkkula, A., Petäjä, T., and Kulmala, M.: On the diurnal cycle of urban aerosols, black carbon and the occurrence of new particle formation events in springtime São Paulo, Brazil, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 11733–11751, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-11733-2012, 2012.
Birmili, W. and Wiedensohler, A.: New particle formation in the continental boundary layer: Meteorological and gas phase parameter influence, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 3325–3328, 2000.
Cheung, H. C., Morawska, L., and Ristovski, Z. D.: Observation of new particle formation in subtropical urban environment, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 3823–3833, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-3823-2011, 2011.
Crilley, L. R., Jayaratne, E. R., Ayoko, G. A., Miljevic, B., Ristovski, Z., and Morawska, L.: Observations on the formation, growth and chemical composition of aerosols in an urban environment, Environ. Sci. Technol., 48, 6588–6596, 2014.
Dos Santos, V. N., Herrmann, E., Manninen, H. E., Hussein, T., Hakala, J., Nieminen, T., Aalto, P. P., Merkel, M., Wiedensohler, A., Kulmala, M., Petäjä, T., and Hämeri, K.: Variability of air ion concentrations in urban Paris, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 13717–13737, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-13717-2015, 2015.
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Short summary
New particle formation (NPF) is a common occurrence in urban environments. Using a 500-day dataset obtained in Brisbane, Australia, we observed that NPF events occurred on 37 % of days and 10 % of nights. However, particle growth occurred on 70 % of nights. We show that when particles are measured by an instrument with a detection limit of 3 nm or above, particle growth events may be easily misidentified as NPF events. This can lead to an overestimation of the occurrence of NPF events.
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