scholarly journals The composition and variability of atmospheric aerosol over Southeast Asia during 2008

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 1083-1100 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Trivitayanurak ◽  
P. I. Palmer ◽  
M. P. Barkley ◽  
N. H. Robinson ◽  
H. Coe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Dust Aerosol ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Sulphate Aerosol ◽  
Phase Oxidation

Abstract. We use a nested version of the GEOS-Chem global 3-D chemistry transport model to better understand the composition and variation of aerosol over Borneo and the broader Southeast Asian region in conjunction with aircraft and satellite observations. Our focus on Southeast Asia reflects the importance of this region as a source of reactive organic gases and aerosols from natural forests, biomass burning, and food and fuel crops. We particularly focus on July 2008 when the UK BAe-146 research aircraft was deployed over northern Malaysian Borneo as part of the ACES/OP3 measurement campaign. During July 2008 we find using the model that Borneo (defined as Borneo Island and the surrounding Indonesian islands) was a net exporter of primary organic aerosol (42 kT) and black carbon aerosol (11 kT). We find only 13% of volatile organic compound oxidation products partition to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), with Borneo being a net exporter of SOA (15 kT). SOA represents approximately 19% of the total organic aerosol over the region. Sulphate is mainly from aqueous-phase oxidation (68%), with smaller contributions from gas-phase oxidation (15%) and advection into the regions (14%). We find that there is a large source of sea salt, as expected, but this largely deposits within the region; we find that dust aerosol plays only a relatively small role in the aerosol burden. In contrast to coincident surface measurements over Northern Borneo that find a pristine environment with evidence for substantial biogenic SOA formation we find that the free troposphere is influenced by biomass burning aerosol transported from the northwest of the Island and further afield. We find several transport events during July 2008 over Borneo associated with elevated aerosol concentrations, none of which coincide with the aircraft flights. We use MODIS aerosol optical depths (AOD) data and the model to put the July campaign into a longer temporal perspective. We find that Borneo is where the model has the least skill at reproducing the data, where the model has a negative bias of 76% and only captures 14% of the observed variability. This model performance reflects the small-scale island-marine environment and the mix of aerosol species, with the model showing more skill at reproducing observed AOD over larger continental regions such as China where AOD is dominated by one aerosol type. The model shows that AOD over Borneo is approximately evenly split between organic and sulphate aerosol with sea salt representing 10–20% during May–September; we find a similar breakdown over continental Southeast Asia but with less sea salt aerosol and more dust aerosol. In contrast, East China AOD is determined mainly by sulphate aerosol and a seasonal source of dust aerosol, as expected. Realistic sensitivity runs, designed to test our underlying assumptions about emissions and chemistry over Borneo, show that model AOD is most sensitive to isoprene emissions and organic gas-phase partitioning but all fail to improve significantly upon the control model calculation. This emphasises the multi-faceted dimension of the problem and the need for concurrent and coordinated development of BVOC emissions, and BVOC chemistry and organic aerosol formation mechanisms.

scholarly journals The composition and variability of atmospheric aerosol over Southeast Asia during 2008

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 22033-22073 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Trivitayanurak ◽  
P. I. Palmer ◽  
M. P. Barkley ◽  
N. H. Robinson ◽  
H. Coe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Dust Aerosol ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Sulphate Aerosol ◽  
Modis Aod ◽  
Phase Oxidation

Abstract. We use a nested version of the GEOS-Chem global 3-D chemistry transport model to better understand the composition and variation of aerosol over Borneo and the broader Southeast Asian region in conjunction with aircraft and satellite observations. We particularly focus on July 2008 during when the UK BAe-146 research aircraft was deployed over northern Malaysian Borneo as part of the ACES/OP3 measurement campaign. During July 2008 we find using the model that Borneo (defined as Borneo Island and the surrounding Indonesian islands) was a net exporter of primary organic aerosol (42 kT) and black carbon aerosol (11 kT). We find only 13 % of volatile organic compound oxidation products partition to secondary organic aerosol (SOA), with Borneo being a net exporter of SOA (15 kT). SOA represents approximately 19 % of the total organic aerosol over the region. Sulphate is mainly from aqueous-phase oxidation (68 %), with smaller contributions from gas-phase oxidation (15 %) and advection into the regions (14 %). We find that there is a large source of sea salt, as expected, but this largely deposits within the region; we find that dust aerosol plays only a relatively small role in the aerosol burden. In contrast to coincident surface measurements over Northern Borneo that find a pristine environment with evidence for substantial biogenic SOA formation we find that the free troposphere is influenced by biomass burning aerosol transported from the northwest of the Island and further afield. We find several transport events during July 2008 over Borneo associated with elevated aerosol concentrations, none of which coincide with the aircraft flights. We use MODIS aerosol optical depth (AOD) data and the model to put the July campaign into a longer temporal perspective. We find that Borneo is where the model has the least skill at reproducing the data, reflecting the small-scale island-marine environment, with the model showing more skill at reproducing observed AOD over larger regions such as China and other parts of Southeast Asia. The model shows that AOD over Borneo is approximately evenly split between organic and sulphate aerosol with sea salt representing 10–20 % during May to September; there is a similar breakdown over continental Southeast Asia but with less sea salt aerosol and more dust aerosol. In contrast, East China AOD is determined mainly by sulphate aerosol and a seasonal source of dust aerosol, as expected. Realistic sensitivity runs designed to test our underlying assumptions about emissions and chemistry over Borneo constrained by MODIS AOD show that the model is most sensitive to isoprene emissions and organic gas-phase partitioning.

scholarly journals Volatility of secondary organic aerosol during OH radical induced ageing

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (21) ◽  
pp. 11055-11067 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Salo ◽  
M. Hallquist ◽  
Å. M. Jonsson ◽  
H. Saathoff ◽  
K.-H. Naumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Oh Radical ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Volatile Material ◽  
Phase Oxidation ◽  
Gas Phase Oxidation ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Pinic Acid

Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate oxidation of SOA formed from ozonolysis of α-pinene and limonene by hydroxyl radicals. This paper focuses on changes of particle volatility, using a Volatility Tandem DMA (VTDMA) set-up, in order to explain and elucidate the mechanism behind atmospheric ageing of the organic aerosol. The experiments were conducted at the AIDA chamber facility of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe and at the SAPHIR chamber of Forchungzentrum Jülich (FZJ) in Jülich. A fresh SOA was produced from ozonolysis of α-pinene or limonene and then aged by enhanced OH exposure. As an OH radical source in the AIDA-chamber the ozonolysis of tetramethylethylene (TME) was used while in the SAPHIR-chamber the OH was produced by natural light photochemistry. A general feature is that SOA produced from ozonolysis of α-pinene and limonene initially was rather volatile and becomes less volatile with time in the ozonolysis part of the experiment. Inducing OH chemistry or adding a new portion of precursors made the SOA more volatile due to addition of new semi-volatile material to the aged aerosol. The effect of OH chemistry was less pronounced in high concentration and low temperature experiments when lower relative amounts of semi-volatile material were available in the gas phase. Conclusions drawn from the changes in volatility were confirmed by comparison with the measured and modelled chemical composition of the aerosol phase. Three quantified products from the α-pinene oxidation; pinonic acid, pinic acid and methylbutanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA) were used to probe the processes influencing aerosol volatility. A major conclusion from the work is that the OH induced ageing can be attributed to gas phase oxidation of products produced in the primary SOA formation process and that there was no indication on significant bulk or surface reactions. The presented results, thus, strongly emphasise the importance of gas phase oxidation of semi- or intermediate-volatile organic compounds (SVOC and IVOC) for atmospheric aerosol ageing.

scholarly journals Characterization of Organosulfates in Secondary Organic Aerosol Derived from the Photooxidation of Long-Chain Alkanes

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Riva ◽  
T. Da Silva Barbosa ◽  
Y.-H. Lin ◽  
E. A. Stone ◽  
A. Gold ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽  
Urban Aerosol ◽  
Flight Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Phase Oxidation ◽  
Gas Phase Oxidation

Abstract. We report the formation of aliphatic organosulfates (OSs) in secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from the photooxidation of C10 – C12 alkanes. The results complement those from our laboratories reporting the formation of OSs and sulfonates from gas-phase oxidation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Both studies strongly support formation of OSs from gas-phase oxidation of anthropogenic precursors, hypothesized on the basis of recent field studies in which aromatic and aliphatic OSs were detected in fine aerosol collected from several major urban locations. In this study, dodecane, cyclodecane and decalin, considered to be important SOA precursors in urban areas, were photochemically oxidized in an outdoor smog chamber in the presence of either non-acidified or acidified ammonium sulfate seed aerosol. Effects of chemical structure, acidity and relative humidity on OS formation were examined. Aerosols collected from all experiments were characterized by ultra performance liquid chromatography coupled to electrospray ionization high-resolution quadrupole time-of flight mass spectrometry (UPLC/ESI-HR-QTOFMS). Most of the OSs identified could be explained by formation of gaseous epoxide precursors with subsequent acid-catalyzed reactive uptake onto sulfate aerosol. The OSs identified here were also observed and quantified in fine urban aerosol samples collected in Lahore, Pakistan, and Pasadena, USA. Many of the OSs identified from the photooxidation of decalin and cyclodecane are isobars of known monoterpene organosulfates, and thus care must be taken in the analysis of alkane-derived organosulfates in urban aerosol.

scholarly journals Secondary organic aerosol in the global aerosol – chemical transport model Oslo CTM2

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (21) ◽  
pp. 5675-5694 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. R. Hoyle ◽  
T. Berntsen ◽  
G. Myhre ◽  
I. S. A. Isaksen
Keyword(s):  
Ammonium Sulphate ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Chemical Transport ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Oxidation Products ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Sulphate Aerosol

Abstract. The global chemical transport model Oslo CTM2 has been extended to include the formation, transport and deposition of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Precursor hydrocarbons which are oxidised to form condensible species include both biogenic species such as terpenes and isoprene, as well as species emitted predominantly by anthropogenic activities (toluene, m-xylene, methylbenzene and other aromatics). A model simulation for 2004 gives an annual global SOA production of approximately 55 Tg. Of this total, 2.5 Tg is found to consist of the oxidation products of anthropogenically emitted hydrocarbons, and about 15 Tg is formed by the oxidation products of isoprene. The global production of SOA is increased to about 69 Tg yr−1 by allowing semi-volatile species to partition to ammonium sulphate aerosol. This brings modelled organic aerosol values closer to those observed, however observations in Europe remain significantly underestimated. Allowing SOA to partition into ammonium sulphate aerosol increases the contribution of anthropogenic SOA from about 4.5% to 9.4% of the total production. Total modelled organic aerosol (OA) values are found to represent a lower fraction of the measured values in winter (when primary organic aerosol (POA) is the dominant OA component) than in summer, which may be an indication that estimates of POA emissions are too low. Additionally, for measurement stations where the summer OA values are higher than in winter, the model generally underestimates the increase in summertime OA. In order to correctly model the observed increase in OA in summer, additional SOA sources or formation mechanisms may be necessary. The importance of NO3 as an oxidant of SOA precursors is found to vary regionally, causing up to 50%–60% of the total amount of SOA near the surface in polluted regions and less than 25% in more remote areas, if the yield of condensible oxidation products for β-pinene is used for NO3 oxidation of all terpenes. Reducing the yield for α-pinene and limonene oxidation in line with recent measurements reduces the global fraction of SOA formed from NO3 oxidation products from 27% to about 21%. This study underscores the need for SOA to be represented in a more realistic way in global aerosol models in order to better reproduce observations of organic aerosol burdens in industrialised and biomass burning regions.

scholarly journals Substantial secondary organic aerosol formation in a coniferous forest: observations of both day and night time chemistry

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (20) ◽  
pp. 28005-28035 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. K. Y. Lee ◽  
J. P. D. Abbatt ◽  
W. R. Leaitch ◽  
S.-M. Li ◽  
S. J. Sjostedt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Coniferous Forest ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Nitrates ◽  
Nitrate Radical ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Radical Chemistry ◽  
Phase Oxidation ◽  
Gas Phase Oxidation

Abstract. Substantial biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) formation was investigated in a coniferous forest mountain region at Whistler, British Columbia. A largely biogenic aerosol growth episode was observed, providing a unique opportunity to investigate BSOA formation chemistry in a forested environment with limited influence from anthropogenic emissions. Positive matrix factorization of aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement identified two types of BSOA (BSOA-1 and BSOA-2), which were primarily generated by gas-phase oxidation of monoterpenes and perhaps sesquiterpenes. The temporal variations of BSOA-1 and BSOA-2 can be explained by gas-particle partitioning in response to ambient temperature and the relative importance of different oxidation mechanisms between day and night. While BSOA-1 will arise from gas-phase ozonolysis and nitrate radical chemistry at night, BSOA-2 is less volatile than BSOA-1 and consists of products formed via gas-phase oxidation by the OH radical and ozone during the day. Organic nitrates produced through nitrate radical chemistry can account for 22–33 % of BSOA-1 mass at night. The mass spectra of BSOA-1 and BSOA-2 have higher values of the mass fraction of m/z 91 (f91) compared to the background organic aerosol, and so f91 is used as an indicator of BSOA formation pathways. A comparison between laboratory studies in the literature and our field observations highlights the potential importance of gas-phase formation chemistry of BSOA-2 type materials that may not be captured in smog chamber experiments, perhaps due to the wall loss of gas-phase intermediate products.

scholarly journals Influence of biomass burning from Southeast Asia at a high-altitude mountain receptor site in China

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jing Zheng ◽  
Min Hu ◽  
Zhuofei Du ◽  
Dongjie Shang ◽  
Zhaoheng Gong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Southeast Asia ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Monsoon Season ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Submicron Particles ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Anthropogenic Aerosols ◽  
Back Trajectories ◽  
Average Mass

Abstract. Highly time-resolved in-situ measurements of airborne particles were made at Mt. Yulong (3410 m above sea level) on the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau in China from 20 March to 14 April in 2015. Detailed chemical composition was measured by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer together with other online instruments. Average mass concentration of the submicron particles (PM1) was 5.7 ± 5.4 μg m−3 during the field campaign, ranging from 0.1 μg m−3 up to 33.3 μg m−3. Organic aerosol (OA) was the dominant component in PM1, with a fraction of 68 %. Three OA factors, i.e., biomass-burning organic aerosol (BBOA), biomass-burning-influenced oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA-BB) and oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA), were resolved using positive matrix factorization analysis. The two oxygenated OA factors accounted for 87 % of the total OA mass. Three biomass burning events were identified by examining the enhancement of black carbon concentrations and the f60 (the ratio of the signal at m/z 60 from the mass spectrum to the total signal of OA). Back trajectories of air masses and satellite fire map data were integrated to identify the biomass burning locations and pollutants transport. The western air mass from Southeast Asia with active biomass burning activities transported large amount of air pollutants, resulting in elevated organic concentrations up to 4-fold higher than that of the background condition. This study at Mt. Yulong characterizes the tropospheric background aerosols of the Tibetan Plateau during pre-monsoon season, and provides clear evidence that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau is affected by transport of anthropogenic aerosols from Southeast Asia.

scholarly journals Volatility of secondary organic aerosol during OH radical induced ageing

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 19507-19543
Author(s):  
K. Salo ◽  
M. Hallquist ◽  
Å. M. Jonsson ◽  
H. Saathoff ◽  
K.-H. Naumann ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Oh Radical ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Volatile Material ◽  
Volatile Organic ◽  
Phase Oxidation ◽  
Gas Phase Oxidation ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Pinic Acid

Abstract. The aim of this study was to investigate oxidation of SOA formed from ozonolysis of α-pinene and limonene by hydroxyl radicals. This paper focuses on changes of particle volatility, using a Volatility Tandem DMA (VTDMA) set-up, in order to explain and elucidate the mechanism behind atmospheric ageing of the organic aerosol. The experiments were conducted at the AIDA chamber facility of KIT in Karlsruhe and at the SAPHIR chamber of FZJ in Jülich. A fresh SOA was produced from ozonolysis of α-pinene or limonene and then aged by enhanced OH exposure. As an OH-radical source in the AIDA-chamber the ozonolysis of tetramethylethylene (TME) was used while in the SAPHIR-chamber the OH was produced by natural light photochemistry. A general feature is that SOA produced from ozonolysis of α-pinene and limonene initially were rather volatile and becomes less volatile with time in the ozonolysis part of the experiment. Inducing OH chemistry or adding a new portion of precursors made the SOA more volatile due to addition of new semi-volatile material to the aged aerosol. The effect of OH chemistry was less pronounced in high concentration and low temperature experiments when lower relative amounts of semi-volatile material were available in the gas phase. Conclusions drawn from the changes in volatility were confirmed by comparison with the measured and modelled chemical composition of the aerosol phase. Three quantified products from the α-pinene oxidation; pinonic acid, pinic acid and methylbutanetricarboxylic acid (MBTCA) were used to probe the processes influencing aerosol volatility. A major conclusion from the work is that the OH induced ageing can be attributed to gas phase oxidation of products produced in the primary SOA formation process and that there was no indication on significant bulk or surface reactions. The presented results, thus, strongly emphasise the importance of gas phase oxidation of semi- or intermediate-volatile organic compounds (SVOC and IVOC) for atmospheric aerosol ageing processing.

scholarly journals The SOA/VOC/NO<sub>x</sub> system: an explicit model of secondary organic aerosol formation

2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (21) ◽  
pp. 5599-5610 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Camredon ◽  
B. Aumont ◽  
J. Lee-Taylor ◽  
S. Madronich
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
First Principles ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Aerosol Formation ◽  
Explicit Model ◽  
Phase Oxidation ◽  
Gas Phase Oxidation ◽  
Atmospherically Relevant

Abstract. Our current understanding of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation is limited by our knowledge of gaseous secondary organics involved in gas/particle partitioning. The objective of this study is to explore (i) the potential for products of multiple oxidation steps contributing to SOA, and (ii) the evolution of the SOA/VOC/NOx system. We developed an explicit model based on the coupling of detailed gas-phase oxidation schemes with a thermodynamic condensation module. Such a model allows prediction of SOA mass and speciation on the basis of first principles. The SOA/VOC/NOx system is studied for the oxidation of 1-octene under atmospherically relevant concentrations. In this study, gaseous oxidation of octene is simulated to lead to SOA formation. Contributors to SOA formation are shown to be formed via multiple oxidation steps of the parent hydrocarbon. The behaviour of the SOA/VOC/NOx system simulated using the explicit model agrees with general tendencies observed during laboratory chamber experiments. This explicit modelling of SOA formation appears as a useful exploratory tool to (i) support interpretations of SOA formation observed in laboratory chamber experiments, (ii) give some insights on SOA formation under atmospherically relevant conditions and (iii) investigate implications for the regional/global lifetimes of the SOA.

scholarly journals Modelling winter organic aerosol at the European scale with CAMx: evaluation and source apportionment with a VBS parameterization based on novel wood burning smog chamber experiments og

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giancarlo Ciarelli ◽  
Sebnem Aksoyoglu ◽  
Imad El Haddad ◽  
Emily A. Bruns ◽  
Monica Crippa ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Source Apportionment ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Basis Set ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Smog Chamber ◽  
Air Quality Model ◽  
Quality Model ◽  
Residential Combustion ◽  
Wood Burning

Abstract. We evaluated a modified VBS (Volatility Basis Set) scheme to treat biomass burning-like organic aerosol (BBOA) implemented in CAMx (Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions). The updated scheme was parameterized with novel wood combustion smog chamber experiments using a hybrid VBS framework that accounts for a mixture of wood burning organic aerosol precursors and their further functionalization and fragmentation in the atmosphere. The new scheme was evaluated for one of the winter EMEP intensive campaigns (February-March 2009) against aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements performed at 11 sites in Europe. We found a considerable improvement for the modelled organic aerosol (OA) mass compared to our previous model application with the mean fractional bias (MFB) reduced from −61 % to −29 %. We performed model-based source apportionment studies and compared results against positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis performed on OA AMS data. Both model and observations suggest that OA was mainly of secondary origin at almost all sites. Modelled secondary organic aerosol (SOA) contributions to total OA varied from 32 to 88 % (with an average contribution of 62 %) and absolute concentrations were generally under-predicted. Modelled primary hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) and primary biomass burning-like aerosol (BBOA) fractions contributed to a lesser extent (HOA from 3 to 30 %, and BBOA from 1 to 39 %) with average contributions of 13 and 25 %, respectively. Modelled BBOA fractions was found to represent 12 to 64 % of the total residential heating related OA, with increasing contributions at stations located in the northern part of the domain. Source apportionment studies were performed to assess the contribution of residential and non-residential combustion precursors to the total SOA. Non-residential combustion and transportation precursors contributed about 30–40 % to SOA formation (with increasing contributions at urban and near industrialized sites) whereas residential combustion (mainly related to wood burning) contributed to a larger extent, around 60–70 %. Contributions to OA from residential combustion precursors in different volatility ranges were also assessed: our results indicate that residential combustion gas-phase precursors in the semi-volatile range contributed from 6 to 30 %, with higher contributions predicted at stations located in the southern part of the domain. On the other hand, higher volatility residential combustion precursors contributed from 15 to 38 % with no specific gradient among the stations. The new retrieved parameterization, although leading to a better agreement between model and observations, still under-predicts the SOA fraction suggesting remaining uncertainties in the new scheme or that other sources and/or formation mechanisms need to be elucidated.

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