Sensitivity of Summertime Convection to Aerosol Loading and Properties in the United Arab Emirates

The Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model is used to investigate convection–aerosol interactions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for a summertime convective event. Both an idealized and climatological aerosol distributions are considered. The convection on 14 August 2013 was triggered by the low-level convergence of the cyclonic circulation associated with the Arabian Heat Low (AHL) and the daytime sea-breeze circulation. Numerical experiments reveal a high sensitivity to aerosol properties. In particular, replacing 20% of the rural aerosols by carbonaceous particles has a comparable impact on the surface radiative fluxes to increasing the aerosol loading by a factor of 10. In both cases, the UAE-averaged net shortwave flux is reduced by ~90 W m−2 while the net longwave flux increases by ~51 W m−2. However, when the aerosol composition is changed, WRF generates 20% more precipitation than when the aerosol loading is increased, due to a broader and weaker AHL. The surface downward and upward shortwave and upward longwave radiation fluxes are found to scale linearly with the aerosol loading. An increase in the amount of aerosols also leads to drier conditions and a delay in the onset of convection due to changes in the AHL.

Influence of Upslope Fog on Hygroscopicity and Chemical Composition of Aerosols at a Forest Site in Taiwan

<p>This study investigated the influence of upslope fog formation on the chemical composition and single hygroscopicity parameter (κ) of rural aerosols. The compositions were monitored using a mini compact time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (mini-C-ToF-AMS), and a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) from Dec. 1st to Dec. 24th, 2018 at the Xitou forest site (23.40°N, 120.47°E, 1,178 m asl) in Taiwan. Ambient wet aerosol particles were collected by a 13-stage nano-MOUDI II impactor (micro-orifice uniform deposit impactors) and analyzed using a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer with an attenuated total reflectance accessory (FTIR-ATR). The single hygroscopicity parameter (κ) of aerosols derived from the comparison of AMS pToF size distribution using the κ-Köhler equation and FTIR-ATR measurement. The moderate correlation (r = 0.73) between the oxidized oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) and CO evidenced the upstream anthropogenic emission transport by sea/land breezes. The decreasing (aerosol mass)/CO ratio with decreasing visibility trends during in-fog periods at two dense foggy events indicated that the fog activation scavenging mechanism dominated the aerosol particle removal. The inconsistency of online real-time AMS and offline FTIR-ATR measurement for submicrometer particles indicated that the evaporation loss of HNO<sub>3</sub> or NH<sub>4</sub>NO<sub>3</sub> particles during MOUDI filter sampling could lead to the unavailable κ retrieval for nitrate-containing particles at non-foggy daytime and the discrepancy of aerosol acidity. Similar κ ranges of organic carboxylic acid group particles (0.1 < κ<sub>p-org</sub> < 0.3), ammonium-containing, and sulfate-containing particles (0.2 < κ<sub>p-NH4 </sub>or κ<sub>p-SO4</sub>< 0.5) but ambiguous nitrate-containing particles (0.4 < κ<sub>p-NO3</sub> < 0.6 or 0.6 < κ<sub>p-NO3 </sub>< 0.8) were observed at foggy daytime, suggesting that ammonium sulfate and organic carboxylic acid compounds were more likely internal mixture particles with similar hygroscopicity and physicochemical mixing state influenced by upslope fog. However, the distinct κ ranges of sulfate-containing particles (0.5 < κ<sub>p-SO4 </sub>< 0.7 or 0.6 < κ<sub>p-SO4 </sub>< 0.8) and organic carboxylic acid group particles (0.1 < κ<sub>p-org</sub> < 0.2) revealed the different chemical and physical properties of external mixture particles at non-foggy daytime.</p><p> </p><p> </p>

Ultratrace speciation of nitrogen compounds in aerosols collected on silicon wafer surfaces by means of TXRF-NEXAFS

Total reflection X-ray fluorescence analysis (TXRF) using monochromatized undulator radiation in the PTB radiometry laboratory at the synchrotron radiation facility BESSY II has been employed to investigate the chemical state of nitrogen compounds in aerosols. The aerosol samples of different size fractions were deposited on silicon wafer surfaces in a May impactor. Using a thin window Si(Li) detector, TXRF detection limits for nitrogen are in the upper fg and lower pg range. Taking advantage of the tunability of monochromatized undulator radiation, the near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) could be combined with TXRF analysis, allowing for the speciation of the aerosols at the nitrogen K absorption edge. Such low detection limits enable an analysis of aerosol samples taken in 10 min with acceptable accuracy. Applicability of the technique to real aerosol samples has been used to compare nitrogen oxidation state in suburban and rural aerosols