Seasonality of new particle formation in Vienna, Austria – Influence of air mass origin and aerosol chemical composition

Abstract. The role of different chemical compounds, particularly organics, involved in the new particle formation (NPF) and its consequent growth are not fully understood. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the chemistry of aerosol particles during NPF events in an urban subtropical environment. Aerosol chemical composition was measured along with particle number size distribution (PNSD) and several other air quality parameters at five sites across an urban subtropical environment. An Aerodyne compact Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (c-TOF-AMS) and a TSI Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) measured aerosol chemical composition and PNSD, respectively. Five NPF events, with growth rates in the range 3.3–4.6 nm, were detected at two sites. The NPF events happened on relatively warmer days with lower humidity and higher solar radiation. Temporal percent fractions of nitrate, sulphate, ammonium and organics were modelled using the Generalised Additive Model (GAM), with a basis of penalised spline. Percent fractions of organics increased after the NPF events, while the mass fraction of ammonium and sulphate decreased. This uncovered the important role of organics in the growth of newly formed particles. Three organic markers, factors f43, f44 and f57, were calculated and the f44 vs. f43 trends were compared between nucleation and non-nucleation days. f44 vs. f43 followed a different pattern on nucleation days compared to non-nucleation days, whereby f43 decreased for vehicle emission generated particles, while both f44 and f43 decreased for NPF generated particles. It was found for the first time that vehicle generated and newly formed particles cluster in different locations on f44 vs. f43 plot and this finding can be used as a~tool for source apportionment of measured particles.

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Hygroscopic properties and cloud condensation nuclei activity of atmospheric aerosols under the influences of Asian continental outflow and new particle formation at a coastal site in eastern Asia

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-20-5911-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (10) ◽

pp. 5911-5922 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hing Cho Cheung ◽

Charles Chung-Kuang Chou ◽

Celine Siu Lan Lee ◽

Wei-Chen Kuo ◽

Shuenn-Chin Chang

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Number Concentration ◽

Pollution Sources ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Condensation Nuclei ◽

Air Masses ◽

Hygroscopic Properties ◽

Aerosol Hygroscopicity

Abstract. The chemical composition of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the size distribution and number concentration of aerosol particles (NCN), and the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) were measured at the northern tip of Taiwan during an intensive observation experiment from April 2017 to March 2018. The parameters of aerosol hygroscopicity (i.e., activation ratio, activation diameter and kappa of CCN) were retrieved from the measurements. Significant variations were found in the hygroscopicity of aerosols (kappa – κ – of 0.18–0.56, for water vapor supersaturation – SS – of 0.12 %–0.80 %), which were subject to various pollution sources, including aged air pollutants originating in eastern and northern China and transported by the Asian continental outflows and fresh particles emitted from local sources and distributed by land–sea breeze circulations as well as produced by processes of new particle formation (NPF). Cluster analysis was applied to the back trajectories of air masses to investigate their respective source regions. The results showed that aerosols associated with Asian continental outflows were characterized by lower NCN and NCCN values and by higher kappa values of CCN, whereas higher NCN and NCCN values with lower kappa values of CCN were observed in the aerosols associated with local air masses. Besides, it was revealed that the kappa value of CCN exhibited a decrease during the early stage of an event of new particle formation, which turned to an increasing trend over the later period. The distinct features in the hygroscopicity of aerosols were found to be consistent with the characteristics in the chemical composition of PM2.5. This study has depicted a clear seasonal characteristic of hygroscopicity and CCN activity under the influence of a complex mixture of pollutants from different regional and/or local pollution sources. Nevertheless, the mixing state and chemical composition of the aerosols critically influence the aerosol hygroscopicity, and further investigations are necessary to elucidate the atmospheric processing involved in the CCN activation in coastal areas.

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Concentrations and fluxes of aerosol particles during the LAPBIAT measurement campaign at Värriö field station

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-7-3683-2007 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 7 (14) ◽

pp. 3683-3700 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

T. M. Ruuskanen ◽

M. Kaasik ◽

P. P. Aalto ◽

U. Hõrrak ◽

M. Vana ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Kola Peninsula ◽

Aerosol Particle ◽

Aerosol Particles ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Nucleation Event ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Air Ions ◽

Field Station ◽

Air Mass ◽

Measurement Campaign

Abstract. The LAPBIAT measurement campaign took place in the Värriö SMEAR I measurement station located in Eastern Lapland in the spring of 2003 between 26 April and 11 May. In this paper we describe the measurement campaign, concentrations and fluxes of aerosol particles, air ions and trace gases, paying special attention to an aerosol particle formation event broken by a air mass change from a clean Arctic air mass with new particle formation to polluted one approaching from industrial areas of Kola Peninsula, Russia, lacking new particle formation. Aerosol particle number flux measurements show strong downward fluxes during that time. Concentrations of coarse aerosol particles were high for 1–2 days before the nucleation event (i.e. 28–29 April), very low immediately before and during the observed aerosol particle formation event (30 April) and increased moderately from the moment of sudden break of the event. In general particle deposition measurements based on snow samples show the same changes. Measurements of the mobility distribution of air ions showed elevated concentrations of intermediate air ions during the particle formation event. We estimated the growth rates in the nucleation mode size range. For particles <10 nm, the growth rate increases with size on 30 April. Dispersion modelling made with model SILAM support the conclusion that the nucleation event was interrupted by an outbreak of sulphate-rich air mass in the evening of 30 April that originated from the industry at Kola Peninsula, Russia. The results of this campaign highlight the need for detailed research in atmospheric transport of air constituents for understanding the aerosol dynamics.

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Submicron NE Atlantic marine aerosol chemical composition and abundance: Seasonal trends and air mass categorization

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1002/2013jd021330 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 119 (20) ◽

pp. 11,850-11,863 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Jurgita Ovadnevaite ◽

Darius Ceburnis ◽

Stephan Leinert ◽

Manuel Dall'Osto ◽

Manjula Canagaratna ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Marine Aerosol ◽

Ne Atlantic ◽

Air Mass ◽

Seasonal Trends ◽

Aerosol Chemical Composition

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Estimating relationships between air mass origin and chemical composition

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres ◽

10.1029/2000jd900694 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 106 (D5) ◽

pp. 5005-5019 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

John Methven ◽

Mathew Evans ◽

Peter Simmonds ◽

Gerard Spain

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Air Mass ◽

Air Mass Origin

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Characterization of new particle formation events at a background site in Southern Sweden: relation to air mass history

Tellus B ◽

10.1111/j.1600-0889.2008.00345.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 60 (3) ◽

pp. 330-344 ◽

Cited By ~ 56

Author(s):

A. Kristensson ◽

M. Dal Maso ◽

E. Swietlicki ◽

T. Hussein ◽

J. Zhou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Particle Formation ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Southern Sweden ◽

Air Mass ◽

Background Site

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New particle formation in air mass transported between two measurement sites in Northern Finland

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-5-11929-2005 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 5 (6) ◽

pp. 11929-11963 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

M. Komppula ◽

S.-L. Sihto ◽

H. Korhonen ◽

H. Lihavainen ◽

V.-M. Kerminen ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Growth Rates ◽

Particle Growth ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Distribution Data ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Air Mass ◽

Air Masses ◽

Aerosol Dynamics ◽

Almost All ◽

Distinct Features

Abstract. This study covers four years of aerosol number size distribution data from Pallas and Värriö sites 250 km apart from each other in Northern Finland and compares new particle formation events between these sites. In eastern air masses almost all events were observed to start earlier at the eastern station Värriö, whereas in western air masses most of the events were observed to start earlier at the western station Pallas. This demonstrates that particle formation in a certain air mass type depends not only on the diurnal variation of the parameters causing the phenomenon (such as photochemistry) but also on some properties carried by the air mass itself. The correlation in growth rates between the two sites was relatively good, which suggests that the amount of condensable vapour causing the growth must have been at about the same level in both sites. The value of condensation sink was frequently much higher at the downwind station. It seems that secondary particle formation related to biogenic sources dominate in many cases over the particle sinks during the air mass transport between the sites. Two cases of transport from Pallas to Värriö were further analysed with an aerosol dynamics model. The model was able to reproduce the observed nucleation events 250 km down-wind at Värriö but revealed some differences between the two cases. The simulated nucleation rates were in both cases similar but the organic concentration profiles that best reproduced the observations were different in the two cases indicating that divergent formation reactions may dominate under different conditions. The simulations also suggested that organic compounds were the main contributor to new particle growth, which offers a tentative hypothesis to the distinct features of new particles at the two sites: Air masses arriving from Atlantic Ocean typically spent approximately only ten hours over land before arriving at Pallas, and thus the time for the organic vapours to accumulate in the air and to interact with the particles is relatively short. This can lead to low nucleation mode growth rates and even to suppression of detectable particle formation event due to efficient scavenging of newly formed clusters, as was observed in the case studies.

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Measurement report: New particle formation characteristics at an urban and a mountain station in northern China

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-21-17885-2021 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 21 (23) ◽

pp. 17885-17906

Author(s):

Ying Zhou ◽

Simo Hakala ◽

Chao Yan ◽

Yang Gao ◽

Xiaohong Yao ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Formation Rate ◽

Northern China ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Urban Site ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Large Area ◽

Air Mass ◽

Mountain Site ◽

Favorable Conditions

Abstract. Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) events have attracted increasing attention for their contribution to the global aerosol number budget and therefore their effects on climate, air quality and human health. NPF events are regarded as a regional phenomenon, occurring over a large area. Most observations of NPF events in Beijing and its vicinity were conducted in populated areas, whereas observations of NPF events on mountaintops with low anthropogenic emissions are still rare in China. The spatial variation of NPF event intensity has not been investigated in detail by incorporating both urban areas and mountain measurements in Beijing. Here, we provide NPF event characteristics in summer 2018 and 2019 at urban Beijing and a comparison of NPF event characteristics – NPF event frequency, formation rate and growth rate – by comparing an urban Beijing site and a background mountain site separated by ∼80 km from 14 June to 14 July 2019, as well as giving insights into the connection between both locations. During parallel measurements at urban Beijing and mountain background areas, although the median condensation sink during the first 2 h of the common NPF events was around 0.01 s−1 at both sites, there were notable differences in formation rates between the two locations (median of 5.42 cm−3 s−1 at the urban site and 1.13 cm−3 s−1 at the mountain site during the first 2 h of common NPF events). In addition, the growth rates in the 7–15 nm range for common NPF events at the urban site (median of 7.6 nm h−1) were slightly higher than those at the mountain site (median of 6.5 nm h−1). To understand whether the observed events were connected, we compared air mass trajectories as well as meteorological conditions at both stations. Favorable conditions for the occurrence of regional NPF events were largely affected by air mass transport. Overall, our results demonstrate a clear inhomogeneity of regional NPF within a distance of ∼100 km, possibly due to the discretely distributed emission sources.

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The influence of volcano activity on aerosol formation over the Andes

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-4763 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Federico Bianchi ◽

Diego Aliaga ◽

Qiaozhi Zha ◽

Liine Heikkinen ◽

Marcos Andrade ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Sulphuric Acid ◽

Negative Ions ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Amazon Forest ◽

Particle Nucleation ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Aerosol Formation ◽

Air Masses ◽

Particle Sizer

A significant fraction (>50%) of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the atmosphere arises from new particle formation (Dunne et al., 2016). While particle nucleation has been observed almost everywhere in the atmosphere, the mechanisms governing this process are still poorly understood and subject of on-going research. For example, it is still largely unknown which components participate in new-particle formation. Laboratory experiments and quantum chemical calculations have identified potential candidates that may play a role, including sulphuric acid, ions, ammonia, amines and highly oxygenated organic molecules (Kirkby et al., 2011; Almeida et al., 2013; Bianchi et al., 2016; Bianchi et al., 2019).Here we present observations of the formation and growth of newly formed particles measured during intense volcano activities.The measurements were conducted at Chacaltaya mountain station (5240 m a.s.l.) in Bolivia. The station is located on top of the Cordillera Real. It has air masses coming from the Amazon forest, La Paz and the Bolivian altiplano.With the Chemical Ionization Atmospheric Pressure interface Time-Of-Light mass spectrometers (CI-APi-TOF) we measured H2SO4, the APi-TOF retrieved the chemical composition of positive and negative ions. Ion and particle size distributions were measured with the NAIS (Neutral cluster and Air Ion Spectrometer) and the SMPS (Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer), respectively. The PSM (Particle Sizer Magnifier) measured particles with a cut off that varied from 1-4 nm. Finally, with the ACSM (Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor) and the FIGAERO (Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols) we retrieved the aerosol chemical composition. Besides this set of instruments, other parameters were measured at the Chacaltaya GAW station.During the intensive measurement campaign, air masses coming directly from volcano eruptions were detected by all our instruments. We were therefore able to determine the gas and particle chemical composition of the air mass. In addition to that, we observed several NPF events triggered by air masses coming from volcanic emissions. With this set of instruments, we were able to retrieve the chemical composition of the vapours leading to the formation of new particles. It was found that all the nucleation event observed during the volcano activity were triggered by sulphuric acid and ammonia. In the presentation we will show more details on the chemical and physical mechanism behind this process.&#160;Almeida, J., et al., (2013) Nature 502, 359-363.Bianchi, F., et al., (2016) Science 6289, 1109-1112.Bianchi, F., et al., (2019) Chemical Review 119, 3472&#8722;3509Dunne et al., (2016) Science 354, 1119-1124.Kirkby, J., et al., (2011) Nature 476, (7361), 429-433.

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Hygroscopic properties and CCN activity of atmospheric aerosols under the influences of Asian continental outflow and new particle formation at a coastal site in East Asia

10.5194/acp-2019-519 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Hing Cho Cheung ◽

Charles C.-K. Chou ◽

Celine S. L. Lee ◽

Wei-Chen Kuo ◽

Shuenn-Chin Chang

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Atmospheric Aerosols ◽

Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽

Northern China ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Number Concentration ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Air Masses ◽

Hygroscopic Properties ◽

Ccn Activity

Abstract. The chemical composition of fine particulate matters (PM2.5), the size distribution and number concentration of aerosol particles (NCN) and the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) were measured at the northern tip of Taiwan Island during a campaign from April 2017 to March 2018. The parameters of aerosol hygroscopicity (i.e. activation ratio, activation diameter and kappa) were retrieved from the measurements. Significant variations were found in the hygroscopicity of aerosols, which were suggested be subject to various pollution sources, including aged air pollutants originating in the eastern/northern China and transported on the Asian continental outflows, fresh particles emitted from local sources and distributed by land-sea breeze circulations as well as produced by new particle formation (NPF) processes. Cluster analysis was applied to the backward trajectories of air masses to investigate their respective source regions. The results showed that the aerosols associated with Asian continental outflows were characterized with higher kappa values, whereas higher NCCN and NCN with lower kappa values were found for aerosols in local air masses. The distinct features in hygroscopicity were consistent with the characteristics in the chemical composition of PM2.5. Moreover, this study revealed that the nucleation mode particles from NPF could have participated in the enhancement of CCN activity, most likely by coagulating with sub-CCN particles, although the freshly produced particles were not favored for CCN activation due to their smaller sizes. Thus, the results of this study suggested that the NPF coupling with coagulation processes can significantly increase the NCCN in atmosphere.

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