scholarly journals New index of organic mass enrichment in sea spray aerosols linked with senescent status in marine phytoplankton

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuzo Miyazaki ◽  
Koji Suzuki ◽  
Eri Tachibana ◽  
Youhei Yamashita ◽  
Astrid Müller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Breakdown Product ◽  
Biological Processes ◽  
Marine Aerosol ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Organic Mass ◽  
Western Subarctic Pacific ◽  
Highly Correlated

Abstract Linking the amount of organic matter (OM) in sea spray aerosols (SSAs) to biological processes in ocean surface is essential for understanding marine aerosol formation and their potential to affect cloud formation. To date, chlorophyll (Chl) a concentration has been widely used as a surrogate for surface phytoplankton biomass or productivity to predict the relative abundance of OM in SSAs (OMSSA). Here we show a new index to present OMSSA using concentrations of Chl a and chlorophyllide (Chllide) a, which is a breakdown product of Chl a and has been used as a biomarker of senescent algal cells. The index was compared with submicrometer OMSSA, based on surface seawater and aerosol samples obtained during the pre-bloom in the western subarctic Pacific. Our results showed that the OMSSA was highly correlated with this unique index, suggesting that the OMSSA was closely linked with senescent algal cells and/or cell lysis. Furthermore, the hygroscopicity parameters κ derived from water-extracted SSA samples implied a reduction in the SSA hygroscopicity with increasing senescent status of phytoplankton. The index can represent OMSSA on a timescale of a day during the pre-bloom period, which should be further examined over different oceanic regions.

scholarly journals Secondary Marine Aerosol Plays a Dominant Role over Primary Sea Spray Aerosol in Cloud Formation

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. 2259-2266
Author(s):  
Kathryn J. Mayer ◽  
Xiaofei Wang ◽  
Mitchell V. Santander ◽  
Brock A. Mitts ◽  
Jonathan S. Sauer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dominant Role ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Marine Aerosol ◽  
Sea Spray Aerosol

An Aitken mode aerosol formation event in the high Arctic: evidence for aggregate breakup

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Lawler ◽  
Eric Saltzman ◽  
Linn Karlsson ◽  
Paul Zieger ◽  
Matthew Salter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Transport ◽  
Methanesulfonic Acid ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Surface Energy Budget ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Aerosol Size Distribution ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Aitken Mode

<p>The summertime high Arctic is an extremely low-aerosol region, where even small inputs of particles can have significant impacts on cloud formation and therefore on the surface energy budget. The relative importance of new particle formation from gas phase precursors and primary sea spray production in this region remains uncertain, as does the role of atmospheric transport. We made direct, time-resolved composition measurements of Aitken mode (~20-60 nm diameter) aerosol over the high Arctic pack ice in August-September 2018, including during an intense Aitken mode formation event on August 30-31. The event particles contained both primary sea spray materials (sodium, potassium, and polysaccharide-like organics) and secondary components (non-sea-salt sulfate, methanesulfonic acid, non-sea-salt iodine, and secondary organics), most of which could be quantified on the basis of analytical standards. The composition is consistent with primary sea spray that had been atmospherically processed, and the aerosol size distribution dynamics imply the action of a process by which larger atmospheric particles or aggregates broke up to form smaller particles. Hypotheses to explain the results will be discussed.</p>

scholarly journals Oceanic phytoplankton are a potentially important source of benzenoids to the remote marine atmosphere

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Manon Rocco ◽  
Erin Dunne ◽  
Maija Peltola ◽  
Neill Barr ◽  
Jonathan Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Dimethyl Sulfide ◽  
Laboratory Culture ◽  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Marine Atmosphere ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Incubation Experiments ◽  
Phytoplankton Communities ◽  
Anthropogenic Air Pollutants ◽  
Benzene Toluene

AbstractBenzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes can contribute to hydroxyl reactivity and secondary aerosol formation in the atmosphere. These aromatic hydrocarbons are typically classified as anthropogenic air pollutants, but there is growing evidence of biogenic sources, such as emissions from plants and phytoplankton. Here we use a series of shipborne measurements of the remote marine atmosphere, seawater mesocosm incubation experiments and phytoplankton laboratory cultures to investigate potential marine biogenic sources of these compounds in the oceanic atmosphere. Laboratory culture experiments confirmed marine phytoplankton are a source of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes and in mesocosm experiments their sea-air fluxes varied between seawater samples containing differing phytoplankton communities. These fluxes were of a similar magnitude or greater than the fluxes of dimethyl sulfide, which is considered to be the key reactive organic species in the marine atmosphere. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylenes fluxes were observed to increase under elevated headspace ozone concentration in the mesocosm incubation experiments, indicating that phytoplankton produce these compounds in response to oxidative stress. Our findings suggest that biogenic sources of these gases may be sufficiently strong to influence atmospheric chemistry in some remote ocean regions.

The ice nucleating ability of macromolecules in immersion freezing decreases in the presence of salts: Implications for freezing point depression calculations

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon F. Went ◽  
Jeanette D. Wheeler ◽  
François J. Peaudecerf ◽  
Nadine Borduas-Dedekind
Keyword(s):  
Sea Water ◽  
Freezing Point ◽  
Pure Water ◽  
Salt Content ◽  
Mixed Phase ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Freezing Point Depression ◽  
Immersion Freezing ◽  
Mixed Phase Clouds

<p>Cloud formation represents a large uncertainty in current climate predictions. In particular, ice in mixed-phase clouds requires the presence of ice nucleating particles (INPs) or ice nucleating macromolecules (INMs). An influential population of INPs has been proposed to be organic sea spray aerosols in otherwise pristine ocean air. However, the interactions between INMs present in sea water and their freezing behavior under atmospheric immersion freezing conditions warrants further research to constrain the role of sea spray aerosols on cloud formation. Indeed, salt is known to lower the freezing temperature of water, through a process called freezing point depression (FPD). Yet, current FPD corrections are solely based on the salt content and assume that the INMs’ ice nucleation abilities are identical with and without salt. Thus, we measured the effect of salt content on the ice nucleating ability of INMs, known to be associated with marine phytoplankton, in immersion freezing experiments in the Freezing Ice Nuclei Counter (FINC) (Miller et al., AMTD, 2020). We measured eight INMs, namely taurine, isethionate, xylose, mannitol, dextran, laminarin, and xanthan as INMs in pure water at temperatures relevant for mixed-phase clouds (e.g. 50% activated fraction at temperatures above –23 °C at 10 mM concentration). Subsequently, INMs were analyzed in artificial sea water containing 36 g salt L<sup>-1</sup>. Most INMs, except laminarin and xanthan, showed a loss of ice activity in artificial sea water compared to pure water, even after FPD correction. Based on our results, we hypothesize sea salt has an inhibitory effect on the ice activity of INMs. This effect influences our understanding of how INMs nucleate ice as well as challenges our use of FPD correction and subsequent extrapolation to ice activity under mixed-phase cloud conditions.</p>

scholarly journals Global distribution of the effective aerosol hygroscopicity parameter for CCN activation

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 6301-6339 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. J. Pringle ◽  
H. Tost ◽  
A. Pozzer ◽  
U. Pöschl ◽  
J. Lelieveld
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Layer ◽  
Standard Deviation ◽  
Planetary Boundary Layer ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Regional Distribution ◽  
Cloud Condensation Nucleus ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Aerosol Hygroscopicity

Abstract. In this study we use the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model to simulate global fields of the effective hygroscopicity parameter κ which approximately describes the influence of chemical composition on the cloud condensation nucleus (CCN) activity of aerosol particles. The obtained global mean values of κ at the Earth's surface are 0.27±0.21 for continental and 0.72±0.24 for marine regions (arithmetic mean ± standard deviation). The mean κ values are in good agreement with previous estimates based on observational data, but the model standard deviation for continental regions is higher. Over the continents, the regional distribution appears fairly uniform, with κ values mostly in the range of 0.1–0.4. Lower values over large arid regions and regions of high organic loading lead to reduced continental average values for Africa and South America (0.15–0.17) compared to the other continents (0.21–0.36). Marine regions show greater variability with κ values ranging from 0.9–1.0 in remote regions to 0.4–0.6 in continental outflow regions where the highly hygroscopic sea spray aerosol mixes with less hygroscopic continental aerosol. Marine κ values as low as 0.2–0.3 are simulated in the outflow from the Sahara desert. At the top of the planetary boundary layer the κ values can deviate substantially from those at the surface (up to 30%) – especially in marine and coastal regions. In moving from the surface to the height of the planetary boundary layer, the global average marine κ value reduces by 20%. Thus, surface observations may not always be representative for the altitudes where cloud formation mostly occurs. In a pre-industrial model scenario, the κ values tend to be higher over marine regions and lower over the continents, because the anthropogenic particulate matter is on average less hygroscopic than sea-spray but more hygroscopic than the natural continental background aerosol (dust and organic matter). The influence of industrialisation on aerosol hygroscopicity appears to be less pronounced than the influence on the atmospheric aerosol burden. However, in regions influenced by desert dust the particle hygroscopicity has increased strongly as the mixing of air pollutants with mineral particles typically enhances the Kappa values by a factor of 2–3.

scholarly journals Linking marine phytoplankton emissions, meteorological processes, and downwind particle properties with FLEXPART

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 831-851
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Sanchez ◽  
Bo Zhang ◽  
Hongyu Liu ◽  
Georges Saliba ◽  
Chia-Li Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wind Speed ◽  
Residence Time ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Meteorological Variables ◽  
Bacterial Degradation ◽  
Marine Aerosol ◽  
Air Mass ◽  
Particle Properties ◽  
Aerosol Mass

Abstract. Marine biogenic particle contributions to atmospheric aerosol concentrations are not well understood though they are important for determining cloud optical and cloud-nucleating properties. Here we examine the relationship between marine aerosol measurements (with satellites and model fields of ocean biology) and meteorological variables during the North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES). NAAMES consisted of four field campaigns between November 2015 and April 2018 that aligned with the four major phases of the annual phytoplankton bloom cycle. The FLEXible PARTicle (FLEXPART) Lagrangian particle dispersion model is used to spatiotemporally connect these variables to ship-based aerosol and dimethyl sulfide (DMS) observations. We find that correlations between some aerosol measurements with satellite-measured and modeled variables increase with increasing trajectory length, indicating that biological and meteorological processes over the air mass history are influential for measured particle properties and that using only spatially coincident data would miss correlative connections that are lagged in time. In particular, the marine non-refractory organic aerosol mass correlates with modeled marine net primary production when weighted by 5 d air mass trajectory residence time (r=0.62). This result indicates that non-refractory organic aerosol mass is influenced by biogenic volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that are typically produced through bacterial degradation of dissolved organic matter, zooplankton grazing on marine phytoplankton, and as a by-product of photosynthesis by phytoplankton stocks during advection into the region. This is further supported by the correlation of non-refractory organic mass with 2 d residence-time-weighted chlorophyll a (r=0.39), a proxy for phytoplankton abundance, and 5 d residence-time-weighted downward shortwave forcing (r=0.58), a requirement for photosynthesis. In contrast, DMS (formed through biological processes in the seawater) and primary marine aerosol (PMA) concentrations showed better correlations with explanatory biological and meteorological variables weighted with shorter air mass residence times, which reflects their localized origin as primary emissions. Aerosol submicron number and mass negatively correlate with sea surface wind speed. The negative correlation is attributed to enhanced PMA concentrations under higher wind speed conditions. We hypothesized that the elevated total particle surface area associated with high PMA concentrations leads to enhanced rates of condensation of VOC oxidation products onto PMA. Given the high deposition velocity of PMA relative to submicron aerosol, PMA can limit the accumulation of secondary aerosol mass. This study provides observational evidence for connections between marine aerosols and underlying ocean biology through complex secondary formation processes, emphasizing the need to consider air mass history in future analyses.

Spray Cloud Formation Over Marine Vessels by a Water Breakup Model

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed R. Dehghani ◽  
Greg F. Naterer ◽  
Yuri S. Muzychka
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Solutions ◽  
Reynolds Numbers ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Governing Equations ◽  
Fishing Vessel ◽  
Wave Impact ◽  
Droplet Sizes ◽  
Marine Vessels ◽  
Breakup Model

Water breakup affects the variety of droplet sizes and velocities in a cloud of spray resulting from a sea wave striking a vessel bow. The Weber and Reynolds numbers of droplets are the main parameters for water breakup phenomena. “Stripping breakup” is a faster phenomenon than “bag breakup” and occurs at higher velocities and with larger diameters of droplets. A water breakup model employs droplet trajectories to develop a predictive model for the extent of spray cloud. The governing equations of breakup and trajectories of droplets are solved numerically. Stripping breakup is found as the major phenomenon in the process of the formation of wave-impact sea spray. Bag breakup acts as a complementary phenomenon to the stripping breakup. The extent of the spray as well as wet heights, for a Mediumsized Fishing Vessel (MFV), are obtained by numerical solutions. The results show that bag breakup occurs at higher heights. In addition, there is no breakup when droplets move over the deck.

scholarly journals Interfacial photochemistry of biogenic surfactants: a major source of abiotic volatile organic compounds

2017 ◽  
Vol 200 ◽  
pp. 59-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Brüggemann ◽  
Nathalie Hayeck ◽  
Chloé Bonnineau ◽  
Stéphane Pesce ◽  
Peter A. Alpert ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Peroxy Radical ◽  
Bulk Water ◽  
Biologically Active ◽  
Radiation Budget ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Oh Radicals ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Ambient Conditions ◽  
High Biological Activity

Films of biogenic compounds exposed to the atmosphere are ubiquitously found on the surfaces of cloud droplets, aerosol particles, buildings, plants, soils and the ocean. These air/water interfaces host countless amphiphilic compounds concentrated there with respect to in bulk water, leading to a unique chemical environment. Here, photochemical processes at the air/water interface of biofilm-containing solutions were studied, demonstrating abiotic VOC production from authentic biogenic surfactants under ambient conditions. Using a combination of online-APCI-HRMS and PTR-ToF-MS, unsaturated and functionalized VOCs were identified and quantified, giving emission fluxes comparable to previous field and laboratory observations. Interestingly, VOC fluxes increased with the decay of microbial cells in the samples, indicating that cell lysis due to cell death was the main source for surfactants and VOC production. In particular, irradiation of samples containing solely biofilm cells without matrix components exhibited the strongest VOC production upon irradiation. In agreement with previous studies, LC-MS measurements of the liquid phase suggested the presence of fatty acids and known photosensitizers, possibly inducing the observed VOC productionviaperoxy radical chemistry. Up to now, such VOC emissions were directly accounted to high biological activity in surface waters. However, the results obtained suggest that abiotic photochemistry can lead to similar emissions into the atmosphere, especially in less biologically-active regions. Furthermore, chamber experiments suggest that oxidation (O3/OH radicals) of the photochemically-produced VOCs leads to aerosol formation and growth, possibly affecting atmospheric chemistry and climate-related processes, such as cloud formation or the Earth’s radiation budget.

scholarly journals Aerosol measurements during COPE: composition, size, and sources of CCN and INPs at the interface between marine and terrestrial influences

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (18) ◽  
pp. 11687-11709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan W. Taylor ◽  
Thomas W. Choularton ◽  
Alan M. Blyth ◽  
Michael J. Flynn ◽  
Paul I. Williams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽  
Convective Cloud ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Convective Precipitation ◽  
Cloud Base ◽  
Sea Spray ◽  
Cloud Drop ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
The Uk

Abstract. Heavy rainfall from convective clouds can lead to devastating flash flooding, and observations of aerosols and clouds are required to improve cloud parameterisations used in precipitation forecasts. We present measurements of boundary layer aerosol concentration, size, and composition from a series of research flights performed over the southwest peninsula of the UK during the COnvective Precipitation Experiment (COPE) of summer 2013. We place emphasis on periods of southwesterly winds, which locally are most conducive to convective cloud formation, when marine air from the Atlantic reached the peninsula. Accumulation-mode aerosol mass loadings were typically 2–3 µg m−3 (corrected to standard cubic metres at 1013.25 hPa and 273.15 K), the majority of which was sulfuric acid over the sea, or ammonium sulfate inland, as terrestrial ammonia sources neutralised the aerosol. The cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations in these conditions were  ∼  150–280 cm−3 at 0.1 % and 400–500 cm−3 at 0.9 % supersaturation (SST), which are in good agreement with previous Atlantic measurements, and the cloud drop concentrations at cloud base ranged from 100 to 500 cm−3. The concentration of CCN at 0.1 % SST was well correlated with non-sea-salt sulfate, meaning marine sulfate formation was likely the main source of CCN. Marine organic aerosol (OA) had a similar mass spectrum to previous measurements of sea spray OA and was poorly correlated with CCN. In one case study that was significantly different to the rest, polluted anthropogenic emissions from the southern and central UK advected to the peninsula, with significant enhancements of OA, ammonium nitrate and sulfate, and black carbon. The CCN concentrations here were around 6 times higher than in the clean cases, and the cloud drop number concentrations were 3–4 times higher. Sources of ice-nucleating particles (INPs) were assessed by comparing different parameterisations used to predict INP concentrations, using measured aerosol concentrations as input. The parameterisations based on total aerosol produced INP concentrations that agreed within an order of magnitude with measured first ice concentrations at cloud temperatures as low as −12 °C. Composition-specific parameterisations for mineral dust, fluorescent particles, and sea spray OA were 3–4 orders of magnitude lower than the measured first ice concentrations, meaning a source of INPs was present that was not characterised by our measurements and/or one or more of the composition-specific parameterisations greatly underestimated INPs in this environment.

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