scholarly journals Mixing states of Amazon-basin aerosol particles transported over long distances using transmission electron microscopy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouji Adachi ◽  
Naga Oshima ◽  
Zhaoheng Gong ◽  
Suzane de Sá ◽  
Adam P. Bateman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Mixing States

Abstract. The Amazon basin is important for understanding the global climate both because of its carbon cycle and as a laboratory for obtaining basic knowledge of the continental background atmosphere. Aerosol particles play an important role in the climate and weather, and knowledge of their compositions and mixing states is necessary to understand their influence on the climate. For this study, we collected aerosol particles from the Amazon basin during the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign (February to March 2014) at the T3 site, which locates about 70 km from Manaus, and analyzed using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM has better spatial resolution than other instruments, which enables us to analyse the occurrences of components that attach to or are embedded within other particles. Based on the TEM results of more than 10,000 particles from several transport events, this study shows the occurrences of individual particles including compositions, size distributions, number fractions, and possible sources of materials that mix with other particles. Aerosol particles during the wet season were from both natural sources such as the Amazon forest, Saharan desert, Atlantic Ocean, and African biomass burning and anthropogenic sources such as Manaus and local emissions. These particles mix together at an individual particle scale. The number fractions of mineral dust and sea-salt particles increased almost three-fold when long-range transport (LRT) from the African continent occurred. Nearly 20 % of mineral dust and primary biological aerosol particles attached sea salts on their surfaces. Sulfates were also internally mixed with sea-salt and mineral dust particles. The TEM element mapping images showed that several components with sizes of hundreds of nanometres from different sources commonly occur within individual LRT aerosol particles. We conclude that many aerosol particles from natural sources change their compositions by mixing during transport. The compositions and mixing states of these particles after emission result in changes in their hygroscopic and optical properties and should be considered when assessing their effects on climate.

scholarly journals Mixing states of Amazon basin aerosol particles transported over long distances using transmission electron microscopy

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (20) ◽  
pp. 11923-11939
Author(s):  
Kouji Adachi ◽  
Naga Oshima ◽  
Zhaoheng Gong ◽  
Suzane de Sá ◽  
Adam P. Bateman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Amazon Basin ◽  
Mineral Dust ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Sea Salt ◽  
Anthropogenic Sources ◽  
Natural Sources ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Mixing States

Abstract. The Amazon basin is important for understanding the global climate because of its carbon cycle and as a laboratory for obtaining basic knowledge of the continental background atmosphere. Aerosol particles play an important role in the climate and weather, and knowledge of their compositions and mixing states is necessary to understand their influence on the climate. For this study, we collected aerosol particles from the Amazon basin during the Green Ocean Amazon (GoAmazon2014/5) campaign (February to March 2014) at the T3 site, which is located about 70 km from Manaus, and analyzed them using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). TEM has better spatial resolution than other instruments, which enables us to analyze the occurrences of components that attach to or are embedded within other particles. Based on the TEM results of more than 10 000 particles from several transport events, this study shows the occurrences of individual particles including compositions, size distributions, number fractions, and possible sources of materials that mix with other particles. Aerosol particles during the wet season were from both natural sources such as the Amazon forest, Saharan desert, Atlantic Ocean, and African biomass burning and anthropogenic sources such as Manaus and local emissions. These particles mix together at an individual particle scale. The number fractions of mineral dust and sea-salt particles increased almost 3-fold when long-range transport (LRT) from the African continent occurred. Nearly 20 % of mineral dust and primary biological aerosol particles had attached sea salts on their surfaces. Sulfates were also internally mixed with sea-salt and mineral dust particles. The TEM element mapping images showed that several components with sizes of hundreds of nanometers from different sources commonly occur within individual LRT aerosol particles. We conclude that many aerosol particles from natural sources change their compositions by mixing during transport. The compositions and mixing states of these particles after emission result in changes in their hygroscopic and optical properties and should be considered when assessing their effects on climate.

scholarly journals A novel rocket-based in-situ collection technique for mesospheric and stratospheric aerosol particles

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 8161-8187
Author(s):  
W. Reid ◽  
P. Achtert ◽  
N. Ivchenko ◽  
P. Magnusson ◽  
T. Kuremyr ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Particle Number ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Stratospheric Aerosol ◽  
Sounding Rocket ◽  
Height Range ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
In Situ Collection

Abstract. A technique for collecting aerosol particles between altitudes of 85 and 17 km is described. Collection probes are ejected from a sounding rocket allowing for multi-point measurements. Each probe is equipped with 110 collection samples that are 3 mm in diameter. The collection samples are one of three types: standard transmission electron microscopy carbon grids, glass fibre filter paper or silicone gel. Each collection sample is exposed over a 50 m to 5 km height range with a total of 45 separate ranges. Post-flight electron microscopy gives size-resolved information on particle number, shape and elemental composition. Each collection probe is equipped with a suite of sensors to capture the probe's status during the fall. Parachute recovery systems along with GPS-based localization ensure that each probe can be located and recovered for post-flight analysis.

scholarly journals Volume changes upon heating of aerosol particles from biomass burning using transmission electron microscopy

2017 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouji Adachi ◽  
Arthur J. Sedlacek ◽  
Lawrence Kleinman ◽  
Duli Chand ◽  
John M. Hubbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Volume Changes ◽  
Transmission Electron

scholarly journals Size-resolved morphological properties of the high Arctic summer aerosol during ASCOS-2008

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (10) ◽  
pp. 6577-6593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evelyne Hamacher-Barth ◽  
Caroline Leck ◽  
Kjell Jansson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Single Particles ◽  
Gel Particles ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Monovalent Ions ◽  
Aerosol Properties ◽  
Aggregate Particles

Abstract. The representation of aerosol properties and processes in climate models is fraught with large uncertainties. Especially at high northern latitudes a strong underprediction of aerosol concentrations and nucleation events is observed and can only be constrained by in situ observations based on the analysis of individual aerosol particles. To further reduce the uncertainties surrounding aerosol properties and their potential role as cloud condensation nuclei this study provides observational data resolved over size on morphological and chemical properties of aerosol particles collected in the summer high Arctic, north of 80° N. Aerosol particles were imaged with scanning and transmission electron microscopy and further evaluated with digital image analysis. In total, 3909 aerosol particles were imaged and categorized according to morphological similarities into three gross morphological groups: single particles, gel particles, and halo particles. Single particles were observed between 15 and 800 nm in diameter and represent the dominating type of particles (82 %). The majority of particles appeared to be marine gels with a broad Aitken mode peaking at 70 nm and accompanied by a minor fraction of ammonium (bi)sulfate with a maximum at 170 nm in number concentration. Gel particles (11 % of all particles) were observed between 45 and 800 nm with a maximum at 154 nm in diameter. Imaging with transmission electron microscopy allowed further morphological discrimination of gel particles in "aggregate" particles, "aggregate with film" particles, and "mucus-like" particles. Halo particles were observed above 75 nm and appeared to be ammonium (bi)sulfate (59 % of halo particles), gel matter (19 %), or decomposed gel matter (22 %), which were internally mixed with sulfuric acid, methane sulfonic acid, or ammonium (bi)sulfate with a maximum at 161 nm in diameter. Elemental dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analysis of individual particles revealed a prevalence of the monovalent ions Na+/K+ for single particles and aggregate particles and of the divalent ions Ca2+/Mg2+ for aggregate with film particles and mucus-like particles. According to these results and other model studies, we propose a relationship between the availability of Na+/K+ and Ca2+/Mg2+ and the length of the biopolymer molecules participating in the formation of the three-dimensional gel networks.

scholarly journals Size resolved morphological properties of the high Arctic summer aerosol during ASCOS-2008

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Hamacher-Barth ◽  
C. Leck ◽  
K. Jansson
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Transmission Electron Microscopy ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
High Arctic ◽  
Number Concentration ◽  
Morphological Properties ◽  
Single Particles ◽  
Gel Particles ◽  
Transmission Electron ◽  
Aerosol Properties

Abstract. The representation of aerosol properties and processes in climate models is fraught with large uncertainties. Especially at high northern latitudes a strong under-prediction of aerosol concentrations and nucleation events is observed and can only be constrained by in situ observations based on the analysis of individual aerosol particles. To further reduce the uncertainties surrounding aerosol properties and their potential role as cloud condensation nuclei this study provides observational data resolved over size on morphological and chemical properties of aerosol particles collected in the summer high Arctic, north of 80° N. Aerosol particles were imaged with scanning and transmission electron microscopy and further evaluated with digital image analysis. In total 3903 particles were imaged and categorized according to morphological similarities into three gross morphological groups, single particles, gel particles and halo particles. Single particles were observed between 15 nm and 800 nm in diameter and represent the dominating type of particles (82%). The majority of particles appeared to be marine gels with a broad Aitken mode peaking at 70 nm accompanied by a minor fraction of ammonium (bi)sulfate with a maximum in number concentration at 170 nm. Gel particles (11% of all particles) were observed between 45 nm and 800 nm with a maximum in number concentration at 154 nm. Imaging with transmission electron microscopy allowed further morphological discrimination of gel particles in “aggregate” particles, “aggregate with film” particles and “mucus-like” particles.

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