Particle partitioning potential of organic compounds is highest in the Eastern US and driven by anthropogenic water
Item
Title (Dublin Core)
Particle partitioning potential of organic compounds is highest in the Eastern US and driven by anthropogenic water
Description (Dublin Core)
Gas-phase water-soluble organic matter (WSOM<sub>g</sub>) is ubiquitous in the troposphere. In the summertime, the potential for these gases to partition to particle-phase liquid water (H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub>) where they can form secondary organic aerosol (SOA<sub>AQ</sub>) is high in the Eastern US and low elsewhere, with the exception of an area near Los Angeles, CA. This spatial pattern is driven by mass concentrations of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub>, not WSOM<sub>g</sub>. H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub> mass concentrations are predicted to be high in the Eastern US, largely due to sulfate. The ability of sulfate to increase H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub> is well established and routinely included in atmospheric models; however WSOM<sub>g</sub> partitioning to this water and subsequent SOA formation is not. The high mass concentrations of H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub> in the southeast (SE) US but not the Amazon may help explain why biogenic SOA mass concentrations are high in the SE US but low in the Amazon. Furthermore, during the summertime in the Eastern US, the potential for organic gases to partition into liquid water is greater than their potential to partition into organic matter (OM) because concentrations of WSOM<sub>g</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub> are higher than semi-volatile gases and OM. Thus, unless condensed phase yields are substantially different (> ~ order of magnitude), we expect that SOA formed through aqueous-phase pathways (SOA<sub>AQ</sub>) will dominate in the Eastern US. These findings also suggest that H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>ptcl</sub> is largely anthropogenic and provide a previously unrecognized mechanism by which anthropogenic pollutants impact the amount of SOA mass formed from biogenic organic emissions. The previously reported estimate of the controllable fraction of biogenic SOA in the Eastern US (50%) is likely too low.
Creator (Dublin Core)
Carlton, A. G.
Turpin, B. J.
Date (Dublin Core)
2018-01-15
Type (Dublin Core)
Text
Format (Dublin Core)
application/pdf
Identifier (Dublin Core)
10.5194/acp-13-10203-2013
https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/13/10203/2013/
Source (Dublin Core)
eISSN: 1680-7324
Language (Dublin Core)
eng
