Articles | Volume 15, issue 22
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6807-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6807-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
23 Nov 2022
Research article |
| 23 Nov 2022
| 23 Nov 2022
New method to determine black carbon mass size distribution
Weilun Zhao
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Gang Zhao
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China
Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory, Guangzhou 511458, China
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Nan Ma
Institute for Environmental and Climate Research, Jinan University, Guangzhou 511443, China
Lizi Tang
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Zirui Zhang
State Key Joint Laboratory of Environmental Simulation and Pollution Control, College of Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Chunsheng Zhao
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Related authors
Weilun Zhao, Ying Li, Gang Zhao, Song Guo, Nan Ma, Shuya Hu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14889–14902, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14889-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14889-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Studies have concentrated on particles containing black carbon (BC) smaller than 700 nm because of technical limitations. In this study, BC-containing particles larger than 700 nm (BC>700) were measured, highlighting their importance to total BC mass and absorption. The contribution of BC>700 to the BC direct radiative effect was estimated, highlighting the necessity to consider the whole size range of BC-containing particles in the model estimation of BC radiative effects.
Bishuo He and Chunsheng Zhao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3441, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3441, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Factor-uncertainty analysis helps us understand their impacts on complex systems. Traditional methods have many limitations. This study introduces a new method to measure how each factor contributes to uncertainty. It gains insights into the role of each variable and works for all multi-factor systems. As an application, we analyzed how aerosols affect solar radiation and identified the key factors. These analyses can improve our understanding of the role of aerosols in climate change.
Jia Sun, Markus Hermann, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Wolfram Birmili, Yifan Yang, Thomas Tuch, Harald Flentje, Björn Briel, Ludwig Ries, Cedric Couret, Michael Elsasser, Ralf Sohmer, Klaus Wirtz, Frank Meinhardt, Maik Schütze, Olaf Bath, Bryan Hellack, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Markku Kulmala, Nan Ma, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 10667–10687, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10667-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-10667-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the characteristics of new particle formation (NPF) for various environments from urban background to high Alpine and the impacts of NPF on cloud condensation nuclei and aerosol radiative forcing. NPF features differ between site categories, implying the crucial role of local environmental factors such as the degree of emissions and meteorological conditions. The results also underscore the importance of local environments when assessing the impact of NPF on climate in models.
Ye Kuang, Jiangchuan Tao, Hanbin Xu, Li Liu, Pengfei Liu, Wanyun Xu, Weiqi Xu, Yele Sun, and Chunsheng Zhao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2698, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-2698, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents a novel optical framework to measure supersaturation, a fundamental parameter in cloud physics, by observing the scattering properties of particles that have or have not grown into cloud droplets. The technique offers high-resolution measurements, capturing essential fluctuations in supersaturation necessary for understanding cloud physics.
Naveed Ahmad, Changqing Lin, Alexis K. H. Lau, Jhoon Kim, Tianshu Zhang, Fangqun Yu, Chengcai Li, Ying Li, Jimmy C. H. Fung, and Xiang Qian Lao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9645–9665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9645-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9645-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study developed a nested machine learning model to convert the GEMS NO2 column measurements into ground-level concentrations across China. The model directly incorporates the NO2 mixing height (NMH) into the methodological framework. The study underscores the importance of considering NMH when estimating ground-level NO2 from satellite column measurements and highlights the significant advantages of new-generation geostationary satellites in air quality monitoring.
Jiangchuan Tao, Biao Luo, Weiqi Xu, Gang Zhao, Hanbin Xu, Biao Xue, Miaomiao Zhai, Wanyun Xu, Huarong Zhao, Sanxue Ren, Guangsheng Zhou, Li Liu, Ye Kuang, and Yele Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9131–9154, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9131-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9131-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using simultaneous measurements of DMA–CCNC, H(/V)TDMA, and DMA–SP2, impacts of primary emissions and secondary aerosol formations on changes in aerosol physicochemical properties were comprehensively investigated. It was found that intercomparisons among aerosol mixing-state parameters derived from different techniques can help us gain more insight into aerosol physical properties which, in turn, will aid the investigation of emission characteristics and secondary aerosol formation pathways.
Huiyun Du, Jie Li, Xueshun Chen, Gabriele Curci, Fangqun Yu, Yele Sun, Xu Dao, Song Guo, Zhe Wang, Wenyi Yang, Lianfang Wei, and Zifa Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1432, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-1432, 2024
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Short summary
Short summary
Inadequate consideration of mixing state and coatings on BC hinders aerosol radiation forcing quantification. While core-shell mixing results match observations closely, partial internal mixing and coating are more realistic. The fraction of embedded BC and coating aerosols resolved by a microphysics module were used to constrain the mixing state. This led to a 30~43 % absorption enhancement decrease over Northern China, offering valuable insights for the assessment of BC's radiative effects.
Fei Ye, Jingyi Li, Yaqin Gao, Hongli Wang, Jingyu An, Cheng Huang, Song Guo, Keding Lu, Kangjia Gong, Haowen Zhang, Momei Qin, and Jianlin Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7467–7479, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7467-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7467-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Naphthalene (Nap) and methylnaphthalene (MN) are key precursors of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), yet their sources and sinks are often inadequately represented in air quality models. In this study, we incorporated detailed emissions, gas-phase chemistry, and SOA parameterization of Nap and MN into CMAQ to address this issue. The findings revealed remarkably high SOA formation potentials for these compounds despite their low emissions in the Yangtze River Delta region during summer.
Ming Chu, Xing Wei, Shangfei Hai, Yang Gao, Huiwang Gao, Yujiao Zhu, Biwu Chu, Nan Ma, Juan Hong, Yele Sun, and Xiaohong Yao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6769–6786, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6769-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6769-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We used a 20-bin WRF-Chem model to simulate NPF events in the NCP during a three-week observational period in the summer of 2019. The model was able to reproduce the observations during June 29–July 6, which was characterized by a high frequency of NPF occurrence.
Weilun Zhao, Ying Li, Gang Zhao, Song Guo, Nan Ma, Shuya Hu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14889–14902, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14889-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14889-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Studies have concentrated on particles containing black carbon (BC) smaller than 700 nm because of technical limitations. In this study, BC-containing particles larger than 700 nm (BC>700) were measured, highlighting their importance to total BC mass and absorption. The contribution of BC>700 to the BC direct radiative effect was estimated, highlighting the necessity to consider the whole size range of BC-containing particles in the model estimation of BC radiative effects.
Kai Song, Rongzhi Tang, Jingshun Zhang, Zichao Wan, Yuan Zhang, Kun Hu, Yuanzheng Gong, Daqi Lv, Sihua Lu, Yu Tan, Ruifeng Zhang, Ang Li, Shuyuan Yan, Shichao Yan, Baoming Fan, Wenfei Zhu, Chak K. Chan, Maosheng Yao, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13585–13595, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13585-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13585-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Incense burning is common in Asia, posing threats to human health and air quality. However, less is known about its emissions and health risks. Full-volatility organic species from incense-burning smoke are detected and quantified. Intermediate-volatility volatile organic compounds (IVOCs) are crucial organics accounting for 19.2 % of the total emission factors (EFs) and 40.0 % of the secondary organic aerosol (SOA) estimation, highlighting the importance of incorporating IVOCs into SOA models.
Chupeng Zhang, Shangfei Hai, Yang Gao, Yuhang Wang, Shaoqing Zhang, Lifang Sheng, Bin Zhao, Shuxiao Wang, Jingkun Jiang, Xin Huang, Xiaojing Shen, Junying Sun, Aura Lupascu, Manish Shrivastava, Jerome D. Fast, Wenxuan Cheng, Xiuwen Guo, Ming Chu, Nan Ma, Juan Hong, Qiaoqiao Wang, Xiaohong Yao, and Huiwang Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10713–10730, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10713-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10713-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
New particle formation is an important source of atmospheric particles, exerting critical influences on global climate. Numerical models are vital tools to understanding atmospheric particle evolution, which, however, suffer from large biases in simulating particle numbers. Here we improve the model chemical processes governing particle sizes and compositions. The improved model reveals substantial contributions of newly formed particles to climate through effects on cloud condensation nuclei.
Xiaodong Xie, Jianlin Hu, Momei Qin, Song Guo, Min Hu, Dongsheng Ji, Hongli Wang, Shengrong Lou, Cheng Huang, Chong Liu, Hongliang Zhang, Qi Ying, Hong Liao, and Yuanhang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10563–10578, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10563-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10563-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The atmospheric age of particles reflects how long particles have been formed and suspended in the atmosphere, which is closely associated with the evolution processes of particles. An analysis of the atmospheric age of PM2.5 provides a unique perspective on the evolution processes of different PM2.5 components. The results also shed lights on how to design effective emission control actions under unfavorable meteorological conditions.
Xurong Wang, Qiaoqiao Wang, Maria Prass, Christopher Pöhlker, Daniel Moran-Zuloaga, Paulo Artaxo, Jianwei Gu, Ning Yang, Xiajie Yang, Jiangchuan Tao, Juan Hong, Nan Ma, Yafang Cheng, Hang Su, and Meinrat O. Andreae
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9993–10014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9993-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9993-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, with an optimized particle mass size distribution, we captured observed aerosol optical depth (AOD) and coarse aerosol concentrations over source and/or receptor regions well, demonstrating good performance in simulating export of African dust toward the Amazon Basin. In addition to factors controlling the transatlantic transport of African dust, the study investigated the impact of African dust over the Amazon Basin, including the nutrient inputs associated with dust deposition.
Taomou Zong, Zhijun Wu, Junrui Wang, Kai Bi, Wenxu Fang, Yanrong Yang, Xuena Yu, Zhier Bao, Xiangxinyue Meng, Yuheng Zhang, Song Guo, Yang Chen, Chunshan Liu, Yue Zhang, Shao-Meng Li, and Min Hu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3679–3692, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3679-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3679-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study developed and characterized an indoor chamber system (AIR) to simulate atmospheric multiphase chemistry processes. The AIR chamber can accurately control temperature and relative humidity (RH) over a broad range and simulate diurnal variation of ambient atmospheric RH. The aerosol generation unit can generate organic-coating seed particles with different phase states. The AIR chamber demonstrates high-quality performance in simulating secondary aerosol formation.
Fei Li, Biao Luo, Miaomiao Zhai, Li Liu, Gang Zhao, Hanbing Xu, Tao Deng, Xuejiao Deng, Haobo Tan, Ye Kuang, and Jun Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6545–6558, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6545-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6545-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A field campaign was conducted to study black carbon (BC) mass size distributions and mixing states connected to traffic emissions using a system that combines a differential mobility analyzer and single-particle soot photometer. Results showed that the black carbon content of traffic emissions has a considerable influence on both BC mass size distributions and mixing states, which has crucial implications for accurately representing BC from various sources in regional and climate models.
Najin Kim, Hang Su, Nan Ma, Ulrich Pöschl, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2771–2780, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2771-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2771-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a multiple-charging correction algorithm for a broad-supersaturation scanning cloud condensation nuclei (BS2-CCN) system which can obtain high time-resolution aerosol hygroscopicity and CCN activity. The correction algorithm aims at deriving the activation fraction's true value for each particle size. The meaningful differences between corrected and original κ values (single hygroscopicity parameter) emphasize the correction algorithm's importance for ambient aerosol measurement.
Juan Hong, Min Tang, Qiaoqiao Wang, Nan Ma, Shaowen Zhu, Shaobin Zhang, Xihao Pan, Linhong Xie, Guo Li, Uwe Kuhn, Chao Yan, Jiangchuan Tao, Ye Kuang, Yao He, Wanyun Xu, Runlong Cai, Yaqing Zhou, Zhibin Wang, Guangsheng Zhou, Bin Yuan, Yafang Cheng, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5699–5713, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A comprehensive investigation of the characteristics of new particle formation (NPF) events was conducted at a rural site on the North China Plain (NCP), China, during the wintertime of 2018 by covering the particle number size distribution down to sub–3 nm. Potential mechanisms for NPF under the current environment were explored, followed by a further discussion on the factors governing the occurrence of NPF at this rural site compared with other regions (e.g., urban areas) in the NCP region.
Ting Lei, Hang Su, Nan Ma, Ulrich Pöschl, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4763–4774, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4763-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4763-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the hygroscopic behavior of levoglucosan and D-glucose nanoparticles using a nano-HTDMA. There is a weak size dependence of the hygroscopic growth factor of levoglucosan and D-glucose with diameters down to 20 nm, while a strong size dependence of the hygroscopic growth factor of D-glucose has been clearly observed in the size range 6 to 20 nm. The use of the DKA method leads to good agreement with the hygroscopic growth factor of glucose nanoparticles with diameters down to 6 nm.
Lizi Tang, Min Hu, Dongjie Shang, Xin Fang, Jianjiong Mao, Wanyun Xu, Jiacheng Zhou, Weixiong Zhao, Yaru Wang, Chong Zhang, Yingjie Zhang, Jianlin Hu, Limin Zeng, Chunxiang Ye, Song Guo, and Zhijun Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4343–4359, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4343-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4343-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
There was an evident distinction in the frequency of new particle formation (NPF) events at Nam Co station on the Tibetan Plateau: 15 % in pre-monsoon season and 80 % in monsoon season. The frequent NPF events in monsoon season resulted from the higher frequency of southerly air masses, which brought the organic precursors to participate in the NPF process. It increased the amount of aerosol and CCN compared with those in pre-monsoon season, which may markedly affect earth's radiation balance.
Liang Yuan and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3195–3205, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3195-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3195-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Chemical compositions vary between and within particles due to the complex sources and aging processes, causing particle-to-particle heterogeneity in aerosol hygroscopicity, which is of great importance to aerosol climatic and environmental effects. This study proposes an algorithm to quantify the heterogeneity from in situ measurements, sheds light on the reanalysis of the existing H-TDMA datasets, and could have a large impact on how we use and think about these datasets.
Gang Zhao, Tianyi Tan, Shuya Hu, Zhuofei Du, Dongjie Shang, Zhijun Wu, Song Guo, Jing Zheng, Wenfei Zhu, Mengren Li, Limin Zeng, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10861–10873, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon is the second strongest absorbing component in the atmosphere that exerts warming effects on climate. One critical challenge in quantifying the ambient black carbon's radiative effects is addressing the BC microphysical properties. In this study, the microphysical properties of the aged and fresh BC particles are synthetically analyzed under different atmospheres. The measurement results can be further used in models to help constrain the uncertainties of the BC radiative effects.
Kai Song, Song Guo, Yuanzheng Gong, Daqi Lv, Yuan Zhang, Zichao Wan, Tianyu Li, Wenfei Zhu, Hui Wang, Ying Yu, Rui Tan, Ruizhe Shen, Sihua Lu, Shuangde Li, Yunfa Chen, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9827–9841, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9827-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9827-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Emissions from four typical Chinese domestic cooking and fried chicken using four kinds of oils were investigated to illustrate the impact of cooking style and oil. Of the estimated SOA, 10.2 %–32.0 % could be explained by S/IVOC oxidation. Multiway principal component analysis (MPCA) emphasizes the importance of the unsaturated fatty acid-alkadienal volatile product mechanism (oil autoxidation) accelerated by the cooking and heating procedure.
Jiaxing Sun, Yele Sun, Conghui Xie, Weiqi Xu, Chun Chen, Zhe Wang, Lei Li, Xubing Du, Fugui Huang, Yan Li, Zhijie Li, Xiaole Pan, Nan Ma, Wanyun Xu, Pingqing Fu, and Zifa Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7619–7630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7619-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7619-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We analyzed the chemical composition and mixing state of BC-containing particles at urban and rural sites in winter in the North China Plain and evaluated their impact on light absorption enhancement. BC was dominantly mixed with organic carbon, nitrate, and sulfate, and the mixing state evolved significantly as a function of relative humidity (RH) at both sites. The absorption enhancement depended strongly on coated secondary inorganic aerosol and was up to ~1.3–1.4 during aging processes.
Cuiqi Zhang, Zhijun Wu, Jingchuan Chen, Jie Chen, Lizi Tang, Wenfei Zhu, Xiangyu Pei, Shiyi Chen, Ping Tian, Song Guo, Limin Zeng, Min Hu, and Zamin A. Kanji
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7539–7556, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7539-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7539-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The immersion ice nucleation effectiveness of aerosols from multiple sources in the urban environment remains elusive. In this study, we demonstrate that the immersion ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentration increased dramatically during a dust event in an urban atmosphere. Pollutant aerosols, including inorganic salts formed through secondary transformation (SIA) and black carbon (BC), might not act as effective INPs under mixed-phase cloud conditions.
Shidong Fan and Ying Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7331–7351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7331-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7331-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the mechanisms by which marine-emitted halogens influence the OH radical, which is not considered in air quality forecasting model systems. The atmospheric OH radical has a complicated response to halogen emissions by species through both physical and chemical processes. Over ocean, inorganic iodine is the controlling species and chemistry is more important. Over land, the physics of sea salt aerosols are more important. The mechanism is applicable to other circumstances.
Yuanzheng Gong, Kai Song, Song Guo, Daqi Lv, Yuan Zhang, Zichao Wan, Wenfei Zhu, Hui Wang, Ying Yu, Rui Tan, Ruizhe Shen, Sihua Lu, Shuangde Li, and Yunfa Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-326, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-326, 2022
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Herein we applied thermal desorption comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (TD-GCxGC-MS) for synchronous analysis of gaseous and particulate organics emitted from cooking fumes. With a systematic 4-step qualitative procedure and precise quantitative and semi-quantitative method, 170 and 352 compounds from C2 (acetic acids) – C30 (squalene) occupying 95 % and 90 % of the total ion current for gaseous and particulate samples were identified and quantified.
Haoran Zhang, Nan Li, Keqin Tang, Hong Liao, Chong Shi, Cheng Huang, Hongli Wang, Song Guo, Min Hu, Xinlei Ge, Mindong Chen, Zhenxin Liu, Huan Yu, and Jianlin Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5495–5514, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5495-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5495-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new algorithm with low economic/technique costs to identify primary and secondary components of PM2.5. Our model was shown to be reliable by comparison with different observation datasets. We systematically explored the patterns and changes in the secondary PM2.5 pollution in China at large spatial and time scales. We believe that this method is a promising tool for efficiently estimating primary and secondary PM2.5, and has huge potential for future PM mitigation.
Yun Lin, Yuan Wang, Bowen Pan, Jiaxi Hu, Song Guo, Misti Levy Zamora, Pengfei Tian, Qiong Su, Yuemeng Ji, Jiayun Zhao, Mario Gomez-Hernandez, Min Hu, and Renyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4951–4967, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4951-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4951-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Severe regional haze events, which are characterized by exceedingly high levels of fine particulate matter (PM), occur frequently in many developing countries (such as China and India), with profound implications for human health, weather, and climate. Our work establishes a synthetic view for the dominant regional features during severe haze events, unraveling rapid in situ PM production and inefficient transport, both of which are amplified by atmospheric stagnation.
Jingnan Shi, Juan Hong, Nan Ma, Qingwei Luo, Yao He, Hanbing Xu, Haobo Tan, Qiaoqiao Wang, Jiangchuan Tao, Yaqing Zhou, Shuang Han, Long Peng, Linhong Xie, Guangsheng Zhou, Wanyun Xu, Yele Sun, Yafang Cheng, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4599–4613, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4599-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4599-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we investigated the hygroscopicity of submicron aerosols at a rural site in the North China Plain during the winter of 2018, using a HTDMA and a CV-ToF-ACSM. We observed differences in aerosol hygroscopicity during two distinct episodes with different primary emissions and secondary aerosol formation processes. These results provide an improved understanding of the complex influence of sources and aerosol evolution processes on their hygroscopicity.
Shuang Han, Juan Hong, Qingwei Luo, Hanbing Xu, Haobo Tan, Qiaoqiao Wang, Jiangchuan Tao, Yaqing Zhou, Long Peng, Yao He, Jingnan Shi, Nan Ma, Yafang Cheng, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3985–4004, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3985-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3985-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present the hygroscopicity of 23 organic species with different physicochemical properties using a hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) and compare the results with previous studies. Based on the hygroscopicity parameter κ, the influence of different physicochemical properties that potentially drive hygroscopicity, such as the functionality, water solubility, molar volume, and O : C ratio of organics, are examined separately.
Ying Li, Xiangjun Zhao, Xuejiao Deng, and Jinhui Gao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3861–3873, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3861-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3861-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study finds a new phenomenon of weak wind deepening (WWD) associated with the peripheral circulation of typhoon and gives the influence mechanism of WWD on its contribution to daily variation during sustained ozone episodes. The WWD provides the premise for pollution accumulation in the whole PBL and continued enhancement of ground-level ozone via vertical mixing processes. These findings could benefit the daily daytime ozone forecast in the PRD region and other areas.
Xiajie Yang, Qiaoqiao Wang, Nan Ma, Weiwei Hu, Yang Gao, Zhijiong Huang, Junyu Zheng, Bin Yuan, Ning Yang, Jiangchuan Tao, Juan Hong, Yafang Cheng, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3743–3762, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3743-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3743-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We use the GEOS-Chem model with additional anthropogenic and biomass burning chlorine emissions combined with updated parameterizations for N2O5 ＋ Cl chemistry to investigate the impacts of chlorine chemistry on air quality in China. Our study not only significantly improves the model's performance but also demonstrates the importance of non-sea-salt chlorine sources as well as an appropriate parameterization for N2O5 ＋ Cl chemistry to the impact of chlorine chemistry in China.
Yaqing Zhou, Nan Ma, Qiaoqiao Wang, Zhibin Wang, Chunrong Chen, Jiangchuan Tao, Juan Hong, Long Peng, Yao He, Linhong Xie, Shaowen Zhu, Yuxuan Zhang, Guo Li, Wanyun Xu, Peng Cheng, Uwe Kuhn, Guangsheng Zhou, Pingqing Fu, Qiang Zhang, Hang Su, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 2029–2047, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2029-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-2029-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study characterizes size-resolved particle effective densities and their evolution associated with emissions and aging processes in a rural area of the North China Plain. Particle effective density exhibits a high-frequency bimodal distribution, and two density modes exhibit opposite trends with increasing particle size. SIA and BC mass fractions are key factors of particle effective density, and a value of 0.6 g cm−3 is appropriate to represent BC effective density in bulk particles.
Gang Zhao, Tianyi Tan, Yishu Zhu, Min Hu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18055–18063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18055-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18055-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, the black carbon (BC) mixing state index (χ) is developed to quantify the dispersion of ambient black carbon aerosol mixing states based on binary systems of BC and other non-black carbon components. We demonstrate that the BC light absorption enhancement increases with χ for the same MR, which indicates that χ can be employed as a factor to constrain the light absorption enhancement of ambient BC.
Najin Kim, Yafang Cheng, Nan Ma, Mira L. Pöhlker, Thomas Klimach, Thomas F. Mentel, Ovid O. Krüger, Ulrich Pöschl, and Hang Su
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6991–7005, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6991-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6991-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A broad supersaturation scanning CCN (BS2-CCN) system, in which particles are exposed to a range of supersaturation simultaneously, can measure a broad range of CCN activity distribution with a high time resolution. We describe how the BS2-CCN system can be effectively calibrated and which factors can affect the calibration curve. Intercomparison experiments between typical DMA-CCN and BS2-CCN measurements to evaluate the BS2-CCN system showed high correlation and good agreement.
Zirui Zhang, Wenfei Zhu, Min Hu, Kefan Liu, Hui Wang, Rongzhi Tang, Ruizhe Shen, Ying Yu, Rui Tan, Kai Song, Yuanju Li, Wenbin Zhang, Zhou Zhang, Hongming Xu, Shijin Shuai, Shuangde Li, Yunfa Chen, Jiayun Li, Yuesi Wang, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15221–15237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15221-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15221-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We comprehensively investigated the mass growth potential, oxidation degree, formation pathway, and mass spectra features of typical urban-lifestyle secondary organic aerosols (SOAs) including vehicle SOAs and cooking SOAs. The mass spectra we acquired could provide necessary references to estimate the mass fractions of vehicle and cooking SOAs in the atmosphere, which would greatly decrease the uncertainty in air quality evaluation and health risk assessment in urban areas.
Wenfei Zhu, Song Guo, Zirui Zhang, Hui Wang, Ying Yu, Zheng Chen, Ruizhe Shen, Rui Tan, Kai Song, Kefan Liu, Rongzhi Tang, Yi Liu, Shengrong Lou, Yuanju Li, Wenbin Zhang, Zhou Zhang, Shijin Shuai, Hongming Xu, Shuangde Li, Yunfa Chen, Min Hu, Francesco Canonaco, and Andre S. H. Prévôt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15065–15079, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15065-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15065-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The experiments of primary emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from urban lifestyle sources (cooking and vehicles) were conducted. The mass spectral features of primary organic aerosol (POA) and SOA were characterized by using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer. This work, for the first time, establishes the vehicle and cooking SOA source profiles and can be further used as source constraints in the OA source apportionment in the ambient atmosphere.
Helmi Uusitalo, Jenni Kontkanen, Ilona Ylivinkka, Ekaterina Ezhova, Anastasiia Demakova, Mikhail Arshinov, Boris Denisovich Belan, Denis Davydov, Nan Ma, Tuukka Petäjä, Alfred Wiedensohler, Markku Kulmala, and Tuomo Nieminen
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-530, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2021-530, 2021
Publication in ACP not foreseen
Short summary
Short summary
Characteristics of formation of atmospheric aerosol at four boreal forest sites in Finland and Russian Siberia was analyzed. Our results provide information on the governing processes of atmospheric aerosol formation in the boreal forest area, which a substantial part of the continental biosphere. Aerosol formation was occurring less frequently at Siberian than in Finnish sites, which was affected by the lower particle growth rates and higher loss rates in Siberia.
Jie Qiu, Wangshu Tan, Gang Zhao, Yingli Yu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4879–4891, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4879-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4879-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Considering nephelometers' major problems of a nonideal Lambertian light source and angle truncation, a new correction method based on a machine learning model is proposed. Our method has the advantage of obtaining data with high accuracy while achieving self-correction, which means that researchers can get more accurate scattering coefficients without the need for additional observation data. This method provides a more precise estimation of the aerosol’s direct radiative forcing.
Gang Zhao, Yishu Zhu, Zhijun Wu, Taomou Zong, Jingchuan Chen, Tianyi Tan, Haichao Wang, Xin Fang, Keding Lu, Chunsheng Zhao, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9995–10004, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9995-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
New particle formation is thought to contribute half of the global cloud condensation nuclei. We find that the new particle formation is more likely to happen in the upper boundary layer than that at the ground, which can be partially explained by the aerosol–radiation interaction. Our study emphasizes the influence of aerosol–radiation interaction on the NPF.
Tianyi Tan, Min Hu, Zhuofei Du, Gang Zhao, Dongjie Shang, Jing Zheng, Yanhong Qin, Mengren Li, Yusheng Wu, Limin Zeng, Song Guo, and Zhijun Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8499–8510, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8499-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8499-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Every year in the pre-monsoon season, the black carbon (BC) aerosols originated from biomass burning in southern Asia are easily transported to the Tibetan Plateau (TP) by the convenience of westerly wind. This study reveals that the BC aerosols in the aged biomass burning plumes strongly enhance the total light absorption over the TP, and the aging process during the long-range transport will further strengthen the radiative heating of those BC aerosols.
Kai Song, Song Guo, Haichao Wang, Ying Yu, Hui Wang, Rongzhi Tang, Shiyong Xia, Yuanzheng Gong, Zichao Wan, Daqi Lv, Rui Tan, Wenfei Zhu, Ruizhe Shen, Xin Li, Xuena Yu, Shiyi Chen, Liming Zeng, and Xiaofeng Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7917–7932, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7917-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7917-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrated phenols (NPs) are crucial components of brown carbon. To comprehend the constitutes and sources of NPs in winter of Beijing, their concentrations were measured by a CI-LToF-MS. The secondary formation process was simulated by a box model. NPs were mainly influenced by primary emissions and regional transport. Primary emitted phenol rather than benzene oxidation was crucial in the heavy pollution episode in Beijing. This provides more insight into pollution control strategies of NPs.
Weiqi Xu, Masayuki Takeuchi, Chun Chen, Yanmei Qiu, Conghui Xie, Wanyun Xu, Nan Ma, Douglas R. Worsnop, Nga Lee Ng, and Yele Sun
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3693–3705, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3693-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3693-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here we developed a method for estimation of particulate organic nitrates (pON) from the measurements of a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer coupled with a thermodenuder based on the volatility differences between inorganic nitrate and pON. The results generally had improvements in reducing negative values due to the influences of a high concentration of inorganic nitrate and a constant ratio of NO+ to NO2+ of organic nitrates (RON).
Jiangchuan Tao, Ye Kuang, Nan Ma, Juan Hong, Yele Sun, Wanyun Xu, Yanyan Zhang, Yao He, Qingwei Luo, Linhong Xie, Hang Su, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7409–7427, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7409-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7409-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The mechanism of secondary aerosol (SA) formation can be affected by relative humidity (RH) and has different influences on the particle CCN activity under different RH conditions. In the North China Plain, we find different responses of CCN activity and enhancements of CCN number concentration to SA formation under different RH conditions. In addition, variations of aerosol mixing state due to SA formation contribute some of the largest uncertainties in predicting CCN number concentration.
Weiqi Xu, Chun Chen, Yanmei Qiu, Ying Li, Zhiqiang Zhang, Eleni Karnezi, Spyros N. Pandis, Conghui Xie, Zhijie Li, Jiaxing Sun, Nan Ma, Wanyun Xu, Pingqing Fu, Zifa Wang, Jiang Zhu, Douglas R. Worsnop, Nga Lee Ng, and Yele Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5463–5476, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5463-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5463-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Here aerosol volatility and viscosity at a rural site (Gucheng) and an urban site (Beijing) in the North China Plain (NCP) were investigated in summer and winter. Our results showed that organic aerosol (OA) in winter in the NCP is more volatile than that in summer due to enhanced primary emissions from coal combustion and biomass burning. We also found that OA existed mainly as a solid in winter in Beijing but as semisolids in Beijing in summer and Gucheng in winter.
Rongzhi Tang, Quanyang Lu, Song Guo, Hui Wang, Kai Song, Ying Yu, Rui Tan, Kefan Liu, Ruizhe Shen, Shiyi Chen, Limin Zeng, Spiro D. Jorga, Zhou Zhang, Wenbin Zhang, Shijin Shuai, and Allen L. Robinson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2569–2583, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2569-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2569-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We performed chassis dynamometer experiments to investigate the emissions and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation potential of intermediate volatility organic compounds (IVOCs) from an on-road Chinese gasoline vehicle. High IVOC emission factors (EFs) and distinct volatility distribution were recognized. Our results indicate that vehicular IVOCs contribute significantly to SOA, implying the importance of reducing IVOCs when making air pollution control policies in urban areas of China.
Weilun Zhao, Wangshu Tan, Gang Zhao, Chuanyang Shen, Yingli Yu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1319–1331, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1319-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1319-2021, 2021
Chuanyang Shen, Gang Zhao, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1293–1301, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1293-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1293-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol hygroscopicity measured by the humidified tandem differential mobility analyzer (HTDMA) is affected by multiply charged particles from two aspects: (1) number contribution and (2) the weakening effect. An algorithm is proposed to do the multi-charge correction and applied to a field measurement. Results show that the difference between corrected and measured size-resolved κ can reach 0.05, highlighting that special attention needs to be paid to the multi-charge effect when using HTDMA.
Chuanyang Shen, Gang Zhao, Weilun Zhao, Ping Tian, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1375–1388, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1375-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1375-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Submicron particles larger than 300 nm dominate the aerosol light extinction and mass concentration in the urban environment. Aerosol hygroscopic properties extended to 600 nm were investigated at an urban site. Our results find that there exists a large fraction of a less hygroscopic group above 300 nm, and the hygroscopicity in this size range is enhanced significantly with the development of pollution levels. The hygroscopicity variation contributes greatly to the low visibility.
Christian Mark Garcia Salvador, Rongzhi Tang, Michael Priestley, Linjie Li, Epameinondas Tsiligiannis, Michael Le Breton, Wenfei Zhu, Limin Zeng, Hui Wang, Ying Yu, Min Hu, Song Guo, and Mattias Hallquist
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1389–1406, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1389-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1389-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
High-frequency online measurement of gas- and particle-phase nitro-aromatic compounds (NACs) at a rural site in China, heavily influenced by biomass burning events, enabled the analysis of the production pathway of NACs, including an explanation of strong persistence in the daytime. The contribution of secondary processes was significant, even during the dominant wintertime influence of primary emissions, suggesting the important role of regional secondary chemistry, i.e. photochemical smog.
Chaomin Wang, Bin Yuan, Caihong Wu, Sihang Wang, Jipeng Qi, Baolin Wang, Zelong Wang, Weiwei Hu, Wei Chen, Chenshuo Ye, Wenjie Wang, Yele Sun, Chen Wang, Shan Huang, Wei Song, Xinming Wang, Suxia Yang, Shenyang Zhang, Wanyun Xu, Nan Ma, Zhanyi Zhang, Bin Jiang, Hang Su, Yafang Cheng, Xuemei Wang, and Min Shao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14123–14138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14123-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14123-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We utilized a novel online mass spectrometry method to measure the total concentration of higher alkanes at each carbon number at two different sites in China, allowing us to take into account SOA contributions from all isomers for higher alkanes. We found that higher alkanes account for significant fractions of SOA formation at the two sites. The contributions are comparable to or even higher than single-ring aromatics, the most-recognized SOA precursors in urban air.
Guo Li, Hang Su, Nan Ma, Guangjie Zheng, Uwe Kuhn, Meng Li, Thomas Klimach, Ulrich Pöschl, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6053–6065, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6053-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6053-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol acidity plays an important role in regulating the chemistry, health, and ecological effect of aerosol particles. However, a direct measurement of aerosol pH is very challenging because of its fast transition and equilibrium with adjacent environments. Therefore, most early studies have to use modeled pH, resulting in intensive debates about model uncertainties. Here we developed an optimized approach to measure aerosol pH by using pH-indicator papers combined with RGB-based colorimetry.
Ting Lei, Nan Ma, Juan Hong, Thomas Tuch, Xin Wang, Zhibin Wang, Mira Pöhlker, Maofa Ge, Weigang Wang, Eugene Mikhailov, Thorsten Hoffmann, Ulrich Pöschl, Hang Su, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 5551–5567, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5551-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-5551-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present the design of a nano-hygroscopicity tandem differential mobility analyzer (nano-HTDMA) apparatus that enables high accuracy and precision in hygroscopic growth measurements of aerosol nanoparticles with diameters less than 10 nm. We further introduce comprehensive methods for system calibration and validation of the performance of the system. We then study the size dependence of the deliquescence and the efflorescence of aerosol nanoparticles for sizes down to 6 nm.
Wei Tao, Hang Su, Guangjie Zheng, Jiandong Wang, Chao Wei, Lixia Liu, Nan Ma, Meng Li, Qiang Zhang, Ulrich Pöschl, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11729–11746, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11729-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11729-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We simulated the thermodynamic and multiphase reactions in aerosol water during a wintertime haze event over the North China Plain. It was found that aerosol pH exhibited a strong spatiotemporal variability, and multiple oxidation pathways were predominant for particulate sulfate formation in different locations. Sensitivity tests further showed that ammonia, crustal particles, and dissolved transition metal ions were important factors for multiphase chemistry during haze episodes.
Jinhui Gao, Ying Li, Bin Zhu, Bo Hu, Lili Wang, and Fangwen Bao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 10831–10844, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10831-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-10831-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Light extinction of aerosols can decease surface ozone mainly via reducing photochemical production of ozone. However, it also leads to high levels of ozone aloft being entrained down to the surface which partly counteracts the reduction in surface ozone. The impact of aerosols is more sensitive to local ozone, which suggests that while controlling the levels of aerosols, controlling the local ozone precursors is an effective way to suppress the increase of ozone over China at present.
Jia Sun, Wolfram Birmili, Markus Hermann, Thomas Tuch, Kay Weinhold, Maik Merkel, Fabian Rasch, Thomas Müller, Alexander Schladitz, Susanne Bastian, Gunter Löschau, Josef Cyrys, Jianwei Gu, Harald Flentje, Björn Briel, Christoph Asbach, Heinz Kaminski, Ludwig Ries, Ralf Sohmer, Holger Gerwig, Klaus Wirtz, Frank Meinhardt, Andreas Schwerin, Olaf Bath, Nan Ma, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7049–7068, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7049-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7049-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
To evaluate the effectiveness of emission mitigation policies, we evaluated the trends of the size-resolved particle number concentrations and equivalent black carbon mass concentration at 16 observational sites for various environments in Germany (2009–2018). Overall, significant decrease trends are found for most of the parameters and sites. This study suggests that a combination of emission mitigation policies can effectively improve the air quality on large spatial scales such as in Germany.
Jian Zhang, Lei Liu, Liang Xu, Qiuhan Lin, Hujia Zhao, Zhibin Wang, Song Guo, Min Hu, Dantong Liu, Zongbo Shi, Dao Huang, and Weijun Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 5355–5372, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5355-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-5355-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Northeast China faces severe air pollution in regional haze in wintertime. In this study, we revealed a contrasting formation mechanism of two typical haze events: Haze-I was induced by adverse meteorological conditions together with residential coal burning emissions; Haze-II was caused by agricultural biomass waste burning. In particular, we observed large numbers of tar balls as the primary brown carbon in northeast China.
Bruna A. Holanda, Mira L. Pöhlker, David Walter, Jorge Saturno, Matthias Sörgel, Jeannine Ditas, Florian Ditas, Christiane Schulz, Marco Aurélio Franco, Qiaoqiao Wang, Tobias Donth, Paulo Artaxo, Henrique M. J. Barbosa, Stephan Borrmann, Ramon Braga, Joel Brito, Yafang Cheng, Maximilian Dollner, Johannes W. Kaiser, Thomas Klimach, Christoph Knote, Ovid O. Krüger, Daniel Fütterer, Jošt V. Lavrič, Nan Ma, Luiz A. T. Machado, Jing Ming, Fernando G. Morais, Hauke Paulsen, Daniel Sauer, Hans Schlager, Johannes Schneider, Hang Su, Bernadett Weinzierl, Adrian Walser, Manfred Wendisch, Helmut Ziereis, Martin Zöger, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae, and Christopher Pöhlker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 4757–4785, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4757-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4757-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning smoke from African savanna and grassland is transported across the South Atlantic Ocean in defined layers within the free troposphere. The combination of in situ aircraft and ground-based measurements aided by satellite observations showed that these layers are transported into the Amazon Basin during the early dry season. The influx of aged smoke, enriched in black carbon and cloud condensation nuclei, has important implications for the Amazonian aerosol and cloud cycling.
Quan Liu, Dantong Liu, Qian Gao, Ping Tian, Fei Wang, Delong Zhao, Kai Bi, Yangzhou Wu, Shuo Ding, Kang Hu, Jiale Zhang, Deping Ding, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3931–3944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3931-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3931-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present a series of aircraft-based in situ measurements of aerosol chemical components and size distributions over the North China Plain, and the hygroscopicity is derived from aerosol chemical composition. These results reveal the vertical characteristics of aerosol hygroscopicity, and we investigated their impacts on optical properties and activation under different moisture and pollution conditions over this polluted region.
Ping Tian, Dantong Liu, Delong Zhao, Chenjie Yu, Quan Liu, Mengyu Huang, Zhaoze Deng, Liang Ran, Yunfei Wu, Shuo Ding, Kang Hu, Gang Zhao, Chunsheng Zhao, and Deping Ding
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2603–2622, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2603-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2603-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
This study paints a full picture of the evolution of vertical characteristics of aerosol optical properties and shortwave heating impacts of carbonaceous aerosols during different stages of pollution events over the Beijing region and highlights the increased contribution of brown carbon absorption, especially at higher levels, during pollution.
Yu Wang, Ying Chen, Zhijun Wu, Dongjie Shang, Yuxuan Bian, Zhuofei Du, Sebastian H. Schmitt, Rong Su, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Patrick Schlag, Thorsten Hohaus, Aristeidis Voliotis, Keding Lu, Limin Zeng, Chunsheng Zhao, M. Rami Alfarra, Gordon McFiggans, Alfred Wiedensohler, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Yuanhang Zhang, and Min Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 2161–2175, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2161-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-2161-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Severe haze events, with high particulate nitrate (pNO3−) burden, frequently prevail in Beijing. In this study, we demonstrate a mutual-promotion effect between aerosol water uptake and pNO3− formation backed up by theoretical calculations and field observations throughout a typical pNO3−-dominated haze event in Beijing wintertime. This self-amplified mutual-promotion effect between aerosol water content and particulate nitrate can rapidly deteriorate air quality and degrade visibility.
Ye Kuang, Yao He, Wanyun Xu, Pusheng Zhao, Yafang Cheng, Gang Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, Nan Ma, Hang Su, Yanyan Zhang, Jiayin Sun, Peng Cheng, Wenda Yang, Shaobin Zhang, Cheng Wu, Yele Sun, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 865–880, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-865-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-865-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A new method was developed to calculate hygroscopicity parameter κ of organic aerosols (κOA) based on aerosol light-scattering measurements and bulk aerosol chemical-composition measurements. Derived high-time-resolution κOA varied in a wide range (near 0 to 0.25), and the organic aerosol oxidation degree significantly impacts variations in κOA. Distinct diurnal variation in κOA is found, and its relationship with oxygenated organic aerosol is discussed.
Misti Levy Zamora, Jianfei Peng, Min Hu, Song Guo, Wilmarie Marrero-Ortiz, Dongjie Shang, Jing Zheng, Zhuofei Du, Zhijun Wu, and Renyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 14329–14338, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14329-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-14329-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Severe haze formation in Beijing during wintertime is attributed to explosive secondary aerosol formation including particle nucleation and subsequent particle growth. Organic matter is responsible for producing nucleation mode particles, while secondary organic and inorganic components jointly contribute to the high aerosol mass during haze episodes. High levels of gaseous precursors and stagnant air mass are responsible for fast secondary aerosol formation.
Gang Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, Ye Kuang, Chuanyang Shen, Yingli Yu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13175–13188, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13175-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13175-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Characteristics of the black carbon size distribution (BCMSD) are studied by using our developed measurement system. Results show that the BCMSDs have two modes and the mean peak diameters are 150 nm and 503 nm, respectively. The coarser mode varies significantly under different pollution conditions, which gives rise to significant variation in aerosol bulk optical properties. Our study reveals that the BCMSD as well as the mixing state in estimating aerosol radiative forcing matters.
Gang Zhao, Tianyi Tan, Weilun Zhao, Song Guo, Ping Tian, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 12875–12885, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12875-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-12875-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Traditionally, the real part of the refractive index (RRI) of ambient aerosols is calculated by their chemical components. In this study, we demonstrate that the RRI is highly related to effective density rather than chemical components using field measurements. For the first time, a parameterization scheme for ambient aerosol RRI using effective density is proposed. This simple scheme is more reliable and ready to use in the calculation of aerosol optics and radiation.
Meng Li, Hang Su, Guo Li, Nan Ma, Ulrich Pöschl, and Yafang Cheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10981–11011, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10981-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10981-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosols and the ground provide two kinds of surfaces for multiphase reactions in the planetary boundary layer. However, the relative importance of these two surfaces for gas uptake has not been quantified. We compare the uptake fluxes of aerosols and the ground surface for reactive trace gases under various conditions. More studies regarding O3 uptake on liquid organic aerosols and H2O2 uptakes on various aerosols are needed considering their potential important roles in atmospheric chemistry.
Wanyun Xu, Ye Kuang, Chunsheng Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, Gang Zhao, Yuxuan Bian, Wen Yang, Yingli Yu, Chuanyang Shen, Linlin Liang, Gen Zhang, Weili Lin, and Xiaobin Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10557–10570, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10557-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10557-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The study of HONO, the primary source of OH radicals, is crucial for atmospheric photochemistry and heterogeneous chemistry. Heterogeneous NO2 conversion was shown to be one of the missing sources of HONO on the North China Plain, but the reaction path is still under debate. In this work, evidence was found that NH3 was the key factor that promoted the hydrolysis of NO2, leading to the explosive growth of HONO and nitrate, suggesting that NH3 emission control measures are urgently needed.
Wangshu Tan, Gang Zhao, Yingli Yu, Chengcai Li, Jian Li, Ling Kang, Tong Zhu, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3825–3839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3825-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3825-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A new method to retrieve CCN number concentrations using multiwavelength Raman lidars is proposed. The method implements hygroscopic enhancements of backscatter and extinction with relative humidity to represent particle hygroscopicity. The retrieved CCN number concentrations are in good agreement with theoretical calculated values. Sensitivity tests indicate that retrieval error in CCN arises mostly from uncertainties in extinction coefficients and RH profiles.
Gang Zhao, Weilun Zhao, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 3541–3550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3541-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-3541-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
A new method is proposed to retrieve the size-resolved real part of the refractive index (RRI). The main principle of deriving the RRI is measuring the scattering intensity by a single-particle soot photometer of a size-selected aerosol. This method is validated by a series of calibration experiments using the components of the known RI. The retrieved size-resolved RRI covers a wide range, from 200 nm to 450 nm, with uncertainty of less than 0.02.
Yujue Wang, Min Hu, Yuchen Wang, Jing Zheng, Dongjie Shang, Yudong Yang, Ying Liu, Xiao Li, Rongzhi Tang, Wenfei Zhu, Zhuofei Du, Yusheng Wu, Song Guo, Zhijun Wu, Shengrong Lou, Mattias Hallquist, and Jian Zhen Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7649–7665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7649-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7649-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Nitro-aromatic compounds (NACs), an important fraction in brown carbon, were comprehensively characterized in Beijing. The oxidation of anthropogenic VOCs represented more dominant sources of NACs than biomass burning. A transition of NO2 from low- to high-NOx regimes was observed. The contribution of aqueous-phase pathways to NAC formation increased at elevated RH. This work highlights secondary formation of NACs and influence factors in high NOx–anthropogenic VOC-dominated urban atmospheres.
Guo Li, Yafang Cheng, Uwe Kuhn, Rongjuan Xu, Yudong Yang, Hannah Meusel, Zhibin Wang, Nan Ma, Yusheng Wu, Meng Li, Jonathan Williams, Thorsten Hoffmann, Markus Ammann, Ulrich Pöschl, Min Shao, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2209–2232, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2209-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2209-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
VOCs play a key role in atmospheric chemistry. Emission and deposition on soil have been suggested as important sources and sinks of atmospheric trace gases. The exchange characteristics and heterogeneous chemistry of VOCs on soil, however, are not well understood. We used a newly designed differential coated-wall flow tube system to investigate the long-term variability of bidirectional air–soil exchange of 13 VOCs at ambient air conditions of an urban background site in Beijing.
Dongjie Shang, Min Hu, Jing Zheng, Yanhong Qin, Zhuofei Du, Mengren Li, Jingyao Fang, Jianfei Peng, Yusheng Wu, Sihua Lu, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15687–15703, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15687-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15687-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning (BB) activities have a great impact on the particle number size distribution in the upper troposphere of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), which could affect regional and global climate. We found that the cloud condensation nuclei concentration was 2–8 times higher during BB influenced periods than during clean periods on the TP. An unexpectedly low new particle formation frequency was found in clean atmosphere on the TP, due to low concentrations of anthropogenic precursors, i.e., SO2.
Michael Le Breton, Åsa M. Hallquist, Ravi Kant Pathak, David Simpson, Yujue Wang, John Johansson, Jing Zheng, Yudong Yang, Dongjie Shang, Haichao Wang, Qianyun Liu, Chak Chan, Tao Wang, Thomas J. Bannan, Michael Priestley, Carl J. Percival, Dudley E. Shallcross, Keding Lu, Song Guo, Min Hu, and Mattias Hallquist
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13013–13030, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13013-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13013-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We apply state-of-the-art chemical characterization to determine the chloride radical production in Beijing via measurement of inorganic halogens at a semi-rural site. The high concentration of inorganic halogens, namely nitryl chloride, enables the production of chlorinated volatile organic compounds which are measured in both the gas and particle phases simultaneously. This enables the secondary production of aerosols via chlorine oxidation to be directly observed in ambient air.
Jorge Saturno, Bruna A. Holanda, Christopher Pöhlker, Florian Ditas, Qiaoqiao Wang, Daniel Moran-Zuloaga, Joel Brito, Samara Carbone, Yafang Cheng, Xuguang Chi, Jeannine Ditas, Thorsten Hoffmann, Isabella Hrabe de Angelis, Tobias Könemann, Jošt V. Lavrič, Nan Ma, Jing Ming, Hauke Paulsen, Mira L. Pöhlker, Luciana V. Rizzo, Patrick Schlag, Hang Su, David Walter, Stefan Wolff, Yuxuan Zhang, Paulo Artaxo, Ulrich Pöschl, and Meinrat O. Andreae
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 12817–12843, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12817-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-12817-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning emits light-absorbing aerosol particles that warm the atmosphere. One of them is the primarily emitted black carbon, which strongly absorbs radiation in the visible and UV spectral regions. Another one is the so-called brown carbon, a fraction of organic aerosol particles that are able to absorb radiation, especially in the UV spectral region. The contribution of both kinds of aerosol particles to light absorption over the Amazon rainforest is studied in this paper.
Yujue Wang, Min Hu, Song Guo, Yuchen Wang, Jing Zheng, Yudong Yang, Wenfei Zhu, Rongzhi Tang, Xiao Li, Ying Liu, Michael Le Breton, Zhuofei Du, Dongjie Shang, Yusheng Wu, Zhijun Wu, Yu Song, Shengrong Lou, Mattias Hallquist, and Jianzhen Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10693–10713, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10693-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10693-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The overall characteristics and concentrations of organosulfates (OSs) and nitrooxy-OSs (NOSs) were determined in summer in Beijing. This study provided direct observational evidence that OSs form via acid-catalyzed aqueous-phase reactions in the presence of acidic sulfate aerosols, and monoterpene NOSs form via nighttime NO3 oxidation. Using OSs and NOSs as examples, this work highlights the formation pathways of SOA via anthropogenic–biogenic interactions and organic–inorganic reactions.
Michael Le Breton, Yujue Wang, Åsa M. Hallquist, Ravi Kant Pathak, Jing Zheng, Yudong Yang, Dongjie Shang, Marianne Glasius, Thomas J. Bannan, Qianyun Liu, Chak K. Chan, Carl J. Percival, Wenfei Zhu, Shengrong Lou, David Topping, Yuchen Wang, Jianzhen Yu, Keding Lu, Song Guo, Min Hu, and Mattias Hallquist
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 10355–10371, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10355-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-10355-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper utilizes a chemical ionisation mass spectrometer measuring gas and particle-phase organosulfates (OS) simultaneously during a field campaign in Beijing, China, and highlights how high time frequency online measurements enable a detailed analysis of dominant production mechanisms. We find that high aerosol acidity, organic precursor concentration and relative humidity promote the production of OS. The thermogram desorption reveals the potential for semi-volatile gas-phase OS.
Haichao Wang, Keding Lu, Song Guo, Zhijun Wu, Dongjie Shang, Zhaofeng Tan, Yujue Wang, Michael Le Breton, Shengrong Lou, Mingjin Tang, Yusheng Wu, Wenfei Zhu, Jing Zheng, Limin Zeng, Mattias Hallquist, Min Hu, and Yuanhang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9705–9721, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9705-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9705-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
N2O5, ClNO2, and particulate nitrate were measured simultaneously in Beijing, China, in 2016. The elevated N2O5 uptake coefficient and ClNO2 yield were determined, which suggest fast N2O5 uptake in Beijing. We highlight that the NO3 oxidation in nocturnal VOC degradation is efficient, with fast formation of organic nitrates. More studies are needed to investigate NO3–N2O5 chemistry and its contribution to secondary organic aerosol formation.
Gang Zhao, Chunsheng Zhao, Ye Kuang, Yuxuan Bian, Jiangchuan Tao, Chuanyang Shen, and Yingli Yu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 9049–9060, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9049-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9049-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The aerosol asymmetry factor (g) is one of the most important factors for assessing direct aerosol radiative forcing (DARF) and remote sensing. So far, few studies have focused on the measurements and parameterization of g. Our study shows that relative humidity has significant impacts on g and DARF due to aerosol hygroscopic growth. For the first time, a novel method based on measurements from the humidified nephelometer system is proposed to calculate g accurately with high time resolution.
Ye Kuang, Chun Sheng Zhao, Gang Zhao, Jiang Chuan Tao, Wanyun Xu, Nan Ma, and Yu Xuan Bian
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 2967–2982, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2967-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-2967-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol water has become an important topic recently because of its implications for multiphase secondary aerosol formation during severe haze events in Asia. This is a timely paper on this topic; a novel method is proposed to calculate ambient aerosol liquid water contents based only on measurements of a three-wavelength humidified nephelometer system. The advantage of this method is that this technique can provide continuous measurements of the changing ambient conditions.
Rongzhi Tang, Zepeng Wu, Xiao Li, Yujue Wang, Dongjie Shang, Yao Xiao, Mengren Li, Limin Zeng, Zhijun Wu, Mattias Hallquist, Min Hu, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4055–4068, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4055-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4055-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We used CMB and the tracer yield method to apportion organic sources in Beijing. Vehicular emissions served as the dominant source, and the contributions of all the other primary sources decreased. One interesting result is that in contrast to the SOA from other regions in the world where biogenic SOA was dominant, anthropogenic SOA was the major contributor to SOA, implying that deducting anthropogenic VOC emissions is an efficient way to reduce SOA in Beijing.
Jing Li, Chengcai Li, and Chunsheng Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3289–3298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3289-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3289-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Our study investigates the long-term trends of extreme aerosol pollution in China over the past ~ 30 years. In the 1980s, an overall positive trend is found throughout China with the extreme trend exceeding the mean trend, except for Northwest China and the North China Plain. In the 1990s, the extreme trends continued to dominate in the south while they yield to the mean trend in the north. After 2000, the extreme trend became weaker than the mean trend overall.
Jiangchuan Tao, Chunsheng Zhao, Ye Kuang, Gang Zhao, Chuanyang Shen, Yingli Yu, Yuxuan Bian, and Wanyun Xu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 895–906, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-895-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-895-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Existing chamber technologies for direct measurements of number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) are sophisticated and expensive. In this paper, a new method is proposed to calculate NCCN based only on measurements of a humidified nephelometer system which have accounted for influences of both aerosol size and aerosol hygroscopicity on NCCN calculation. This new method makes NCCN measurements more convenient and is capable of obtaining NCCN at lower supersaturations.
Gang Zhao, Chunsheng Zhao, Ye Kuang, Jiangchuan Tao, Wangshu Tan, Yuxuan Bian, Jing Li, and Chengcai Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12133–12143, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12133-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12133-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, influences of aerosol hygroscopic growth on the lidar ratio are studied. Results indicate that both the magnitude and vertical structures of the retrieved aerosol extinction coefficient (σext) profile from lidar signals are significantly biased. This study proposes a feasible method for reducing the bias of retrieving the σext profile and this method can be implemented in operational retrieval of the aerosol σext profile and for pollution monitoring.
Jianfei Peng, Min Hu, Zhuofei Du, Yinhui Wang, Jing Zheng, Wenbin Zhang, Yudong Yang, Yanhong Qin, Rong Zheng, Yao Xiao, Yusheng Wu, Sihua Lu, Zhijun Wu, Song Guo, Hongjun Mao, and Shijin Shuai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10743–10752, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10743-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10743-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Through an environmental chamber approach, we find that a small increase in aromatic content in gasoline fuel will result in a large enhancement in the secondary organic aerosol formation from vehicle exhaust. The higher emissions of both monocyclic and polycyclic aromatic organic compounds from the high-aromatic fuel played an essential role. Our findings highlight the importance of more stringent regulation of gasoline aromatic content for air quality in urban areas.
Qingfeng Guo, Min Hu, Song Guo, Zhijun Wu, Jianfei Peng, and Yusheng Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10395–10403, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10395-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10395-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
To characterize primary emissions over the eastern coast of China, a series of field campaigns were conducted. The high loadings of both BC and CO implied severe anthropogenic pollution over the areas. The slopes between BC and CO at different areas revealed the vehicular emission as the common source and the distinct fuel structures between North and South China. The comparisons of slopes and correlation coefficient among these areas can indicate the aging extent of BC at the macroscopic level.
Jianfei Peng, Min Hu, Song Guo, Zhuofei Du, Dongjie Shang, Jing Zheng, Jun Zheng, Limin Zeng, Min Shao, Yusheng Wu, Don Collins, and Renyi Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 10333–10348, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10333-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-10333-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Rapid growth of BC particles was observed in Beijing using a new outdoor chamber, with an average growth rate of 26 ± 11 nm h−1. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) accounted for more than 90 % of the coating mass. The hygroscopic growth factor of BC particles increased to 1.06–1.08 upon ageing. The κ (kappa) values for BC particles were calculated as only 0.035, indicating that initial photochemical ageing of BC particles does not appreciably alter the particle hygroscopicity in Beijing.
Wei Hu, Min Hu, Wei-Wei Hu, Jing Zheng, Chen Chen, Yusheng Wu, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 9979–10000, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9979-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-9979-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Seasonal changes in chemical compositions, sources, and evolution for submicron aerosols in the megacity Beijing were investigated based on high-resolution AMS measurements. Carbonaceous fraction (OA+BC) constituted over 50 % of PM1 in autumn due to primary emissions, while SNA contributed 60 % to PM1 in other seasons. Secondary components (OOA+SNA) contributed ~ 60–80 % to PM1, suggesting that secondary formation played an important role in PM pollution. OA was in a relatively high oxidation state.
Yuxuan Bian, Chunsheng Zhao, Wanyun Xu, Gang Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, and Ye Kuang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 2313–2322, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2313-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-2313-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Aerosol phase function is crucial for understanding the climate effects of aerosols. So far, there is a lack of instruments for measuring the aerosol phase function directly and accurately in laboratory studies and in situ measurements. A novel portable instrument with high angular range and resolution named
charge-coupled device-laser aerosol detective system(CCD-LADS) has been developed and validated for the measurement of the phase function of ambient aerosols in this study.
Jing Zheng, Min Hu, Zhuofei Du, Dongjie Shang, Zhaoheng Gong, Yanhong Qin, Jingyao Fang, Fangting Gu, Mengren Li, Jianfei Peng, Jie Li, Yuqia Zhang, Xiaofeng Huang, Lingyan He, Yusheng Wu, and Song Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6853–6864, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6853-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6853-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
By monitoring aerosol properties as a function of high-resolution chemical composition, this study sheds light on the evolution processes of particles in the Tibetan Plateau background environment during the pre-monsoon season. A positive matrix factorization analysis integrated with a mesoscale meteorological model clearly shows that the southeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau was affected by air pollutants transported from active biomass burning areas in South Asia.
Ye Kuang, Chunsheng Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, Yuxuan Bian, Nan Ma, and Gang Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6651–6662, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6651-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6651-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
A novel approach is proposed in this research to derive the aerosol hygroscopicity parameter based only on measurements from a humidified nephelometer system without any additional information about particle number size distribution and black carbon. New findings in this research can bridge the gap between κ-Köhler theory and the aerosol light-scattering enhancement factor and will make the humidified nephelometer system more convenient when it comes to aerosol hygroscopicity research.
Zhibin Wang, Yafang Cheng, Nan Ma, Eugene Mikhailov, Ulrich Pöschl, and Hang Su
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-253, 2017
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
Ying Chen, Yafang Cheng, Nan Ma, Ralf Wolke, Stephan Nordmann, Stephanie Schüttauf, Liang Ran, Birgit Wehner, Wolfram Birmili, Hugo A. C. Denier van der Gon, Qing Mu, Stefan Barthel, Gerald Spindler, Bastian Stieger, Konrad Müller, Guang-Jie Zheng, Ulrich Pöschl, Hang Su, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12081–12097, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12081-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12081-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Sea salt aerosol (SSA) is important for primary and secondary aerosols on a global scale. During 10–20 September 2013, the SSA mass concentration was overestimated by a factor of 8–20 over central Europe by WRF-Chem model, stem from the uncertainty of its emission scheme. This could facilitate the coarse-mode nitrate formation (~ 140 % but inhibit the fine-mode nitrate formation (~−20 %). A special long-range transport mechanism could broaden this influence of SSA to a larger downwind region.
Nan Ma, Chunsheng Zhao, Jiangchuan Tao, Zhijun Wu, Simonas Kecorius, Zhibin Wang, Johannes Größ, Hongjian Liu, Yuxuan Bian, Ye Kuang, Monique Teich, Gerald Spindler, Konrad Müller, Dominik van Pinxteren, Hartmut Herrmann, Min Hu, and Alfred Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 8593–8607, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8593-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-8593-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
New particle formation (NPF) is one of main sources of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the atmosphere. Based on in situ measurements, we found that CCN activity of newly formed particles largely differs in different NPF events. It is therefore difficult to find a simple parameterization of CCN activity for NPF events. Using a fixed size-resolved activation ratio curve or critical diameter is very likely to result in large biases up to 50 % in the calculated NCCN during NPF events.
Y. Kuang, C. S. Zhao, J. C. Tao, and N. Ma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5761–5772, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5761-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5761-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, it is found that the diurnal variations of single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry factor (g) for ambient aerosol are both evident and far different from those of dry state aerosol in the North China Plain (NCP. The diurnal changes of SSA and g have significant impacts on the estimation of daily average direct aerosol radiative effect (DARE) at the top of the atmosphere. In addition, several suggestions are proposed to improve the accurate prediction of DARE in the NCP.
J. Huang, H. Liu, J. H. Crawford, C. Chan, D. B. Considine, Y. Zhang, X. Zheng, C. Zhao, V. Thouret, S. J. Oltmans, S. C. Liu, D. B. A. Jones, S. D. Steenrod, and M. R. Damon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5161–5179, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5161-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5161-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
High ozone concentrations (up to 94.7ppbv) were frequently observed at an altitude of ~1.5--2km over Beijing during April--May 2005. Ozone due to Asian anthropogenic pollution made major contributions to the observed ozone enhancements. These enhancements typically occurred under southerly wind and warmer conditions. An earlier onset of the Asian summer monsoon would cause more ozone enhancement events in the lower troposphere over the North China Plain in late spring and early summer.
J. C. Tao, C. S. Zhao, N. Ma, and P. F. Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 12055–12067, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12055-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-12055-2014, 2014
G. Q. Fu, W. Y. Xu, R. F. Yang, J. B. Li, and C. S. Zhao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 11949–11958, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11949-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-11949-2014, 2014
J. F. Peng, M. Hu, Z. B. Wang, X. F. Huang, P. Kumar, Z. J. Wu, S. Guo, D. L. Yue, D. J. Shang, Z. Zheng, and L. Y. He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 10249–10265, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10249-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-10249-2014, 2014
J. Chen, C. S. Zhao, N. Ma, and P. Yan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 8105–8118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8105-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-8105-2014, 2014
W. Y. Xu, C. S. Zhao, L. Ran, W. L. Lin, P. Yan, and X. B. Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7757–7768, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7757-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7757-2014, 2014
Y. X. Bian, C. S. Zhao, N. Ma, J. Chen, and W. Y. Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6417–6426, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6417-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6417-2014, 2014
N. Ma, W. Birmili, T. Müller, T. Tuch, Y. F. Cheng, W. Y. Xu, C. S. Zhao, and A. Wiedensohler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6241–6259, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6241-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6241-2014, 2014
H. J. Liu, C. S. Zhao, B. Nekat, N. Ma, A. Wiedensohler, D. van Pinxteren, G. Spindler, K. Müller, and H. Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2525–2539, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2525-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2525-2014, 2014
S. Guo, M. Hu, Q. Guo, X. Zhang, J. J. Schauer, and R. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8303–8314, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8303-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8303-2013, 2013
Z. Z. Deng, C. S. Zhao, N. Ma, L. Ran, G. Q. Zhou, D. R. Lu, and X. J. Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 6227–6237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6227-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-6227-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Aerosols | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
Deriving the hygroscopicity of ambient particles using low-cost optical particle counters
Performance evaluation of an online monitor based on X-ray fluorescence for detecting elemental concentrations in ambient particulate matter
Simulations of the collection of mesospheric dust particles with a rocket instrument
Characterisation of particle single-scattering albedo with a modified airborne dual-wavelength CAPS monitor
Use of an uncrewed aerial system to investigate aerosol direct and indirect radiative forcing effects in the marine atmosphere
Characterization of the airborne aerosol inlet and transport system used during the A-LIFE aircraft field experiment
Large-scale automated emission measurement of individual vehicles with point sampling
Development of a cascade impactor optimized for size-fractionated analysis of aerosol metal content by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (TXRF)
Modular Multiplatform Compatible Air Measurement System (MoMuCAMS): a new modular platform for boundary layer aerosol and trace gas vertical measurements in extreme environments
Two new multirotor uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) for glaciogenic cloud seeding and aerosol measurements within the CLOUDLAB project
Real-time pollen identification using holographic imaging and fluorescence measurements
Assessing potential indicators of aerosol wet scavenging during long-range transport
Next-generation ice-nucleating particle sampling on board aircraft: characterization of the High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA)
Development and characterization of the Portable Ice Nucleation Chamber 2 (PINCii)
The four-wavelength Photoacoustic Aerosol Absorption Spectrometer (PAAS-4λ)
Improved counting statistics of an ultrafine differential mobility particle size spectrometer system
Performance evaluation of the Alphasense OPC-N3 and Plantower PMS5003 sensor in measuring dust events in the Salt Lake Valley, Utah
Source apportionment of black carbon and combustion-related CO2 for the determination of source-specific emission factors
CAMP: an instrumented platform for balloon-borne aerosol particle studies in the lower atmosphere
The realization of autonomous, aircraft-based, real-time aerosol mass spectrometry in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
A study on the performance of low-cost sensors for source apportionment at an urban background site
A dual-wavelength photothermal aerosol absorption monitor: design, calibration and performance
A high-transmission axial ion mobility classifier for mass–mobility measurements of atmospheric ions
Design, characterization, and first field deployment of a novel aircraft-based aerosol mass spectrometer combining the laser ablation and flash vaporization techniques
An instrument for direct measurement of emissions: cooling tower example
The Aerosol Research Observation Station (AEROS)
Laser imaging nephelometer for aircraft deployment
A new method to quantify particulate sodium and potassium salts (nitrate, chloride, and sulfate) by thermal desorption aerosol mass spectrometry
Evaluating the PurpleAir monitor as an aerosol light scattering instrument
Undersizing of aged African biomass burning aerosol by an ultra-high-sensitivity aerosol spectrometer
Evaluation methods for low-cost particulate matter sensors
Simulation-aided characterization of a versatile water-based condensation particle counter for atmospheric airborne research
Development of an in situ dual-channel thermal desorption gas chromatography instrument for consistent quantification of volatile, intermediate-volatility and semivolatile organic compounds
Assessment of online water-soluble brown carbon measuring systems for aircraft sampling
Characterizing the performance of a POPS miniaturized optical particle counter when operated on a quadcopter drone
A low-cost monitor for simultaneous measurement of fine particulate matter and aerosol optical depth – Part 3: Automation and design improvements
Rapid measurement of RH-dependent aerosol hygroscopic growth using a humidity-controlled fast integrated mobility spectrometer (HFIMS)
Detection of ship plumes from residual fuel operation in emission control areas using single-particle mass spectrometry
Highly time-resolved characterization of carbonaceous aerosols using a two-wavelength Sunset thermal–optical carbon analyzer
Captive Aerosol Growth and Evolution (CAGE) chamber system to investigate particle growth due to secondary aerosol formation
Design and characterization of a new oxidation flow reactor for laboratory and long-term ambient studies
A reel-down instrument system for profile measurements of water vapor, temperature, clouds, and aerosol beneath constant-altitude scientific balloons
Airborne extractive electrospray mass spectrometry measurements of the chemical composition of organic aerosol
A semicontinuous study on the ecotoxicity of atmospheric particles using a versatile aerosol concentration enrichment system (VACES): development and field characterization
A novel rocket-borne ion mass spectrometer with large mass range: instrument description and first-flight results
Detailed characterization of the CAPS single-scattering albedo monitor (CAPS PMssa) as a field-deployable instrument for measuring aerosol light absorption with the extinction-minus-scattering method
New in situ aerosol hyperspectral optical measurements over 300–700 nm – Part 1: Spectral Aerosol Extinction (SpEx) instrument field validation during the KORUS-OC cruise
New in situ aerosol hyperspectral optical measurements over 300–700 nm – Part 2: Extinction, total absorption, water- and methanol-soluble absorption observed during the KORUS-OC cruise
Continuous online monitoring of ice-nucleating particles: development of the automated Horizontal Ice Nucleation Chamber (HINC-Auto)
Evaluation of optical particulate matter sensors under realistic conditions of strong and mild urban pollution
Wei-Chieh Huang, Hui-Ming Hung, Ching-Wei Chu, Wei-Chun Hwang, and Shih-Chun Candice Lung
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6073–6084, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6073-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6073-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates aerosol properties crucial for health, cloud formation, and climate impact. Employing a low-cost sensor system, we assess hygroscopicity of particulate matter (PM) and the ability to influence cloud formation to improve the reported PM concentrations from low-cost sensors. The study introduces an alternate methodology for assessing aerosol hygroscopicity, offering insights into atmospheric science, air quality, and cloud dynamics.
Ivonne Trebs, Céline Lett, Andreas Krein, Erika Matsumoto Kawaguchi, and Jürgen Junk
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-134, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-134, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
This study explores the effectiveness of the Horiba PX-375 monitor for analyzing the elemental composition of airborne particulate matter (PM). Understanding this composition of PM is important for identifying its sources, assessing potential health risks, and developing strategies to reduce air pollution. The PX-375 monitor proved to be a valuable tool for ongoing air quality monitoring studies and could be particularly useful as pollution levels and sources change in the future.
Adrien Pineau, Henriette Trollvik, Herman Greaker, Sveinung Olsen, Yngve Eilertsen, and Ingrid Mann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3843–3861, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3843-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3843-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The mesosphere, part of the upper atmosphere, contains small solid dust particles, mostly made up of material from interplanetary space. We are preparing an experiment to collect such particles during a rocket flight. A new instrument has been designed and numerical simulations have been performed to investigate the airflow nearby as well as its dust collection efficiency. The collected dust particles will be further analyzed in the laboratory in order to study their chemical composition.
Chenjie Yu, Edouard Pangui, Kevin Tu, Mathieu Cazaunau, Maxime Feingesicht, Landsheere Xavier, Thierry Bourrianne, Vincent Michoud, Christopher Cantrell, Timothy B. Onasch, Andrew Freedman, and Paola Formenti
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3419–3437, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3419-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3419-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To meet the requirements for measuring aerosol optical properties on airborne platforms and conducting dual-wavelength measurements, we introduced A2S2, an airborne dual-wavelength cavity-attenuated phase-shift single monitor. This study reports the results in the laboratory and an aircraft campaign over Paris and its surrounding regions. The results demonstrate A2S2's reliability in measuring aerosol optical properties at both wavelengths and its suitability for future aircraft campaigns.
Patricia K. Quinn, Timothy S. Bates, Derek J. Coffman, James E. Johnson, and Lucia M. Upchurch
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3157–3170, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3157-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3157-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
An uncrewed aerial observing system has been developed for the measurement of vertical profiles of aerosol and cloud properties that affect Earth's radiation balance. The system was successfully deployed from a ship and from a coastal site and flown autonomously up to 3050 m and for 4.5 h. These results indicate the potential of the observing system to make routine, operational flights from ships and land to characterize aerosol interactions with radiation and clouds.
Manuel Schöberl, Maximilian Dollner, Josef Gasteiger, Petra Seibert, Anne Tipka, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2761–2776, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2761-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2761-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Transporting a representative aerosol sample to instrumentation inside a research aircraft remains a challenge due to losses or enhancements of particles in the aerosol sampling system. Here, we present sampling efficiencies and the cutoff diameter for the DLR Falcon aerosol sampling system as a function of true airspeed by comparing the in-cabin and the out-cabin particle number size distributions observed during the A-LIFE aircraft mission.
Markus Knoll, Martin Penz, Hannes Juchem, Christina Schmidt, Denis Pöhler, and Alexander Bergmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2481–2505, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2481-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2481-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Exhaust emissions from combustion-based vehicles are negatively affecting human health and our environment. In particular, a small share (< 20 %) of poorly maintained or tampered vehicles are responsible for the majority (60 %–90 %) of traffic-related emissions. The emissions from vehicles are currently not properly monitored during their lifetime. We present a roadside measurement technique, called
point sampling, which can be used to monitor vehicle emissions throughout their life cycle.
Claudio Crazzolara and Andreas Held
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2183–2194, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2183-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2183-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper describes the development of a collection device that can be used to collect airborne dust particles classified according to their size. This collection device is optimized for a special analysis method based on X-ray fluorescence so that particles can be collected from the air and analyzed with high sensitivity. This enables the determination of the content of heavy metals in the airborne particle fraction, which are of health-relevant significance.
Roman Pohorsky, Andrea Baccarini, Julie Tolu, Lenny H. E. Winkel, and Julia Schmale
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 731–754, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-731-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-731-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This manuscript presents a new tethered-balloon-based platform for in situ vertical measurements of aerosols and trace gases in the lower atmosphere of polar and alpine regions. The system can host various instrumental setups to target different research questions and features new instruments, in particular a miniaturized scanning electrical mobility spectrometer, deployed for the first time in a tethered balloon.
Anna J. Miller, Fabiola Ramelli, Christopher Fuchs, Nadja Omanovic, Robert Spirig, Huiying Zhang, Ulrike Lohmann, Zamin A. Kanji, and Jan Henneberger
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 601–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-601-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-601-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a method for aerosol and cloud research using two uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs). The UAVs have a propeller heating mechanism that allows flights in icing conditions, which has so far been a limitation for cloud research with UAVs. One UAV burns seeding flares, producing a plume of particles that causes ice formation in supercooled clouds. The second UAV measures aerosol size distributions and is used for measuring the seeding plume or for characterizing the boundary layer.
Sophie Erb, Elias Graf, Yanick Zeder, Simone Lionetti, Alexis Berne, Bernard Clot, Gian Lieberherr, Fiona Tummon, Pascal Wullschleger, and Benoît Crouzy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 441–451, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-441-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-441-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we focus on an automatic bioaerosol measurement instrument and investigate the impact of using its fluorescence measurement for pollen identification. The fluorescence signal is used together with a pair of images from the same instrument to identify single pollen grains via neural networks. We test whether considering fluorescence as a supplementary input improves the pollen identification performance by comparing three different neural networks.
Miguel Ricardo A. Hilario, Avelino F. Arellano, Ali Behrangi, Ewan C. Crosbie, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Michael A. Shook, Luke D. Ziemba, and Armin Sorooshian
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 37–55, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-37-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-37-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Wet scavenging strongly influences aerosol lifetime and interactions but is a large uncertainty in global models. We present a method to identify meteorological variables relevant for estimating wet scavenging. During long-range transport over the tropical western Pacific, relative humidity and the frequency of humid conditions are better predictors of scavenging than precipitation. This method can be applied to other regions, and our findings can inform scavenging parameterizations in models.
Sarah Grawe, Conrad Jentzsch, Jonas Schaefer, Heike Wex, Stephan Mertes, and Frank Stratmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4551–4570, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4551-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4551-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Measurements of ice-nucleating particle (INP) concentrations are valuable for the simulation of cloud properties. In recent years, filter sampling in combination with offline INP measurements has become increasingly popular. However, most sampling is ground-based, and the vertical transport of INPs is not well quantified. The High-volume flow aERosol particle filter sAmpler (HERA) for applications on board aircraft was developed to expand the sparse dataset of INP concentrations at cloud level.
Dimitri Castarède, Zoé Brasseur, Yusheng Wu, Zamin A. Kanji, Markus Hartmann, Lauri Ahonen, Merete Bilde, Markku Kulmala, Tuukka Petäjä, Jan B. C. Pettersson, Berko Sierau, Olaf Stetzer, Frank Stratmann, Birgitta Svenningsson, Erik Swietlicki, Quynh Thu Nguyen, Jonathan Duplissy, and Erik S. Thomson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3881–3899, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3881-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3881-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Clouds play a key role in Earth’s climate by influencing the surface energy budget. Certain types of atmospheric aerosols, called ice-nucleating particles (INPs), induce the formation of ice in clouds and, thus, often initiate precipitation formation. The Portable Ice Nucleation Chamber 2 (PINCii) is a new instrument developed to study ice formation and to conduct ambient measurements of INPs, allowing us to investigate the sources and properties of the atmospheric aerosols that can act as INPs.
Franz Martin Schnaiter, Claudia Linke, Eija Asmi, Henri Servomaa, Antti-Pekka Hyvärinen, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Emma Järvinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2753–2769, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2753-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2753-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Light-absorbing particles from combustion processes are important contributors to climate warming. Their highly variable spectral light absorption properties need to be monitored in the field. Commonly used methods show measurement artefacts that are difficult to correct. We introduce a new instrument that is based on the photoacoustic effect. Long-term operation in the Finnish Arctic demonstrates the applicability of the new instrument for unattended light absorption monitoring.
Dominik Stolzenburg, Tiia Laurila, Pasi Aalto, Joonas Vanhanen, Tuukka Petäjä, and Juha Kangasluoma
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2471–2483, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2471-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2471-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Size-distribution measurements of ultrafine particles are of special interest as they can be used to estimate the atmospheric significance of new particle formation, a process which is thought to influence the global climate. Here we show that improved counting statistics in size-distribution measurements through the usage of higher sampling flows can significantly reduce the uncertainties in such calculations.
Kamaljeet Kaur and Kerry E. Kelly
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2455–2470, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2455-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2455-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We evaluated the AlphaSense OPC-N3 and PMS5003 compared to federal equivalent method (FEM) PM10 measurements in the Salt Lake Valley during five dust events. Before correction, the OPC-N3 agreed well, but the PMS PM10 measurements correlated poorly with the FEM. After correcting the PMS with a PM2.5 / PM10 ratio-based factor, the PMS PM10 correlations improved significantly. This suggests the possibility of better resolved spatial estimates of PM10 using PMS measurements and PM2.5 / PM10 ratios.
Balint Alfoldy, Asta Gregorič, Matic Ivančič, Irena Ježek, and Martin Rigler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 135–152, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-135-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-135-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric concentrations and source apportionment (SA) of black carbon (BC) and CO2 were determined in an urban environment during a heating season. BC particles were attributed to two major sources: traffic and heating. The BC SA was implemented by an Aethalometer model used for the SA of CO2 supposing that the source-specific CO2 components are correlated with the corresponding BC. Source-specific emission factors were determined as a ratio of corresponding BC and CO2 components.
Christian Pilz, Sebastian Düsing, Birgit Wehner, Thomas Müller, Holger Siebert, Jens Voigtländer, and Michael Lonardi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6889–6905, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6889-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Tethered balloon observations are highly valuable for aerosol studies in the lowest part of the atmosphere. This study presents a newly developed platform called CAMP with four aerosol instruments for balloon-borne measurements in the Arctic. Laboratory characterizations and evaluations of the instruments and results of a first field deployment are shown. A case study highlights CAMP's capabilities and the importance of airborne aerosol studies for interpretation of ground-based observations.
Antonis Dragoneas, Sergej Molleker, Oliver Appel, Andreas Hünig, Thomas Böttger, Markus Hermann, Frank Drewnick, Johannes Schneider, Ralf Weigel, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5719–5742, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5719-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5719-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The ERICA is a specially designed aerosol particle mass spectrometer for in situ, real-time chemical composition analysis of aerosols. It can operate completely autonomously, in the absence of an instrument operator. Its design has enabled its operation under harsh conditions, like those experienced in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, aboard unpressurized high-altitude research aircraft. The instrument has successfully participated in several aircraft operations around the world.
Dimitrios Bousiotis, David C. S. Beddows, Ajit Singh, Molly Haugen, Sebastián Diez, Pete M. Edwards, Adam Boies, Roy M. Harrison, and Francis D. Pope
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4047–4061, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4047-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4047-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In the last decade, low-cost sensors have revolutionised the field of air quality monitoring. This paper extends the ability of low-cost sensors to not only measure air pollution, but also to understand where the pollution comes from. This "source apportionment" is a critical step in air quality management to allow for the mitigation of air pollution. The techniques developed in this paper have the potential for great impact in both research and industrial applications.
Luka Drinovec, Uroš Jagodič, Luka Pirker, Miha Škarabot, Mario Kurtjak, Kristijan Vidović, Luca Ferrero, Bradley Visser, Jannis Röhrbein, Ernest Weingartner, Daniel M. Kalbermatter, Konstantina Vasilatou, Tobias Bühlmann, Celine Pascale, Thomas Müller, Alfred Wiedensohler, and Griša Močnik
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3805–3825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3805-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3805-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A new photothermal interferometer (PTAAM-2λ) for artefact-free determination of the aerosol absorption coefficient at two wavelengths is presented. The instrument is calibrated with NO2 and polydisperse nigrosin, resulting in very low uncertainties of the absorption coefficients: 4 % at 532 nm and 6 % at 1064 nm. The instrument’s performance makes the PTAAM-2λ a strong candidate for reference measurements of the aerosol absorption coefficient.
Markus Leiminger, Lukas Fischer, Sophia Brilke, Julian Resch, Paul Martin Winkler, Armin Hansel, and Gerhard Steiner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 3705–3720, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3705-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-3705-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an axial ion mobility classifier coupled to an atmospheric-pressure interface time-of-flight (APi-TOF) mass spectrometer to measure size-segregated atmospheric ions. We characterize the performance of the novel instrument with bipolar-electrospray-generated ion mobility standards and compare the results with CFD simulations and a simplified numerical particle-tracking model. Ultimately, we report first mass–mobility measurements of atmospheric ions in Innsbruck, Austria.
Andreas Hünig, Oliver Appel, Antonis Dragoneas, Sergej Molleker, Hans-Christian Clemen, Frank Helleis, Thomas Klimach, Franziska Köllner, Thomas Böttger, Frank Drewnick, Johannes Schneider, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2889–2921, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2889-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2889-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We have serially combined the two well-established methods for in situ real-time measurement of fine particle chemical composition, the single-particle laser ablation method and the flash evaporation with electron impact ionization method, into a novel instrument. Here we present the design; instrument characteristics, as derived from laboratory and field measurements; and results from the first field deployment during the 2017 StratoClim aircraft campaign.
Christopher D. Wallis, Mason D. Leandro, Patrick Y. Chuang, and Anthony S. Wexler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2547–2556, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2547-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2547-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Measuring emissions from stacks requires techniques to address a broad range of conditions and measurement challenges. Here we describe an instrument package held by a crane above a stack to characterize both wet droplet and dried aerosol emissions from cooling tower spray drift in situ. The instrument package characterizes the velocity, size distribution, and concentration of the wet droplet emissions and the mass concentration and elemental composition of the dried PM2.5 and PM10 emissions.
Karin Ardon-Dryer, Mary C. Kelley, Xia Xueting, and Yuval Dryer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 2345–2360, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2345-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-2345-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The Aerosol Research Observation Station (AEROS) located in West Texas was designed to continuously measure atmospheric particles, including different particulate matter sizes, total particle number concentration, and size distribution. This article provides a description of AEROS as well as an intercomparison of the different instruments using laboratory and atmospheric particles, showing similar concentration as well to distinguish between various pollution events (natural vs. anthropogenic).
Adam T. Ahern, Frank Erdesz, Nicholas L. Wagner, Charles A. Brock, Ming Lyu, Kyra Slovacek, Richard H. Moore, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, and Daniel M. Murphy
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 1093–1105, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1093-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-1093-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Particles in the atmosphere play a significant role in climate change by scattering light back into space, reducing the amount of energy available to be absorbed by greenhouse gases. We built a new instrument to measure what direction light is scattered by particles, e.g., wildfire smoke. This is important because, depending on the angle of the sun, some particles scatter light into space (cooling the planet), but some light is also scattered towards the Earth (not cooling the planet).
Yuya Kobayashi and Nobuyuki Takegawa
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 833–844, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-833-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-833-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We propose a new method to quantify particulate sodium and potassium salts (nitrate, chloride, and sulfate) by using a refractory aerosol thermal desorption mass spectrometer (rTDMS). The combination of a graphite particle collector and a carbon dioxide laser enables high desorption temperature. Laboratory experiments showed that major ion signals originating from sodium or potassium salts were clearly detected, associated with the increase in the desorption temperature by laser heating.
James R. Ouimette, William C. Malm, Bret A. Schichtel, Patrick J. Sheridan, Elisabeth Andrews, John A. Ogren, and W. Patrick Arnott
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 655–676, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-655-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-655-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We show that the low-cost PurpleAir sensor can be characterized as a cell-reciprocal nephelometer. At two very different locations (Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii and the Table Mountain rural site in Colorado), the PurpleAir measurements are highly correlated with the submicrometer aerosol scattering coefficient measured by a research-grade integrating nephelometer. These results imply that, with care, PurpleAir data may be used to evaluate climate and air quality models.
Steven G. Howell, Steffen Freitag, Amie Dobracki, Nikolai Smirnow, and Arthur J. Sedlacek III
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7381–7404, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7381-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7381-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Small particles in the air have important effects on visibility, clouds, and human health. For the ORACLES project we got a new particle sizing instrument that is fast, works over the most important particle sizes, and avoids some of the issues that plague other optical particle sizers. Unfortunately it sees some particles much smaller than they really are, likely because they heat up and evaporate. We show a crude correction and speculate why these particles heat up much more than expected.
Jeffrey K. Bean
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7369–7379, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7369-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7369-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding and improving the quality of data generated from low-cost air quality sensors are crucial steps in using these sensors. This work investigates how averaging time, choice of reference instrument, and the observation of higher pollutant concentrations can impact the perceived performance of low-cost sensors in an evaluation. The influence of these factors should be considered when comparing one sensor to another or determining if a sensor can produce data that fit a specific need.
Fan Mei, Steven Spielman, Susanne Hering, Jian Wang, Mikhail S. Pekour, Gregory Lewis, Beat Schmid, Jason Tomlinson, and Maynard Havlicek
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 7329–7340, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7329-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-7329-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study focuses on understanding a versatile water-based condensation particle counter (vWCPC 3789) performance under various ambient pressure conditions (500–1000 hPa). A vWCPC has the advantage of avoiding health and safety concerns. However, its performance characterization under low pressure is rare but crucial for ensuring successful airborne deployment. This paper provides advanced knowledge of operating a vWCPC 3789 to capture the spatial variations of atmospheric aerosols.
Rebecca A. Wernis, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Robert J. Weber, Yutong Liang, John Jayne, Susanne Hering, and Allen H. Goldstein
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6533–6550, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6533-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
cTAG is a new scientific instrument that measures concentrations of organic chemicals in the atmosphere. cTAG is the first instrument capable of measuring small, light chemicals as well as heavier chemicals and everything in between on a single detector, every hour. In this work we explain how cTAG works and some of the tests we performed to verify that it works properly and reliably. We also present measurements of alkanes that suggest they have three dominant sources in a Bay Area suburb.
Linghan Zeng, Amy P. Sullivan, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Jack Dibb, Eric Scheuer, Teresa L. Campos, Joseph M. Katich, Ezra Levin, Michael A. Robinson, and Rodney J. Weber
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6357–6378, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6357-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6357-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Three online systems for measuring water-soluble brown carbon are compared. A mist chamber and two different particle-into-liquid samplers were deployed on separate research aircraft targeting wildfires and followed a similar detection method using a long-path liquid waveguide with a spectrometer to measure the light absorption from 300 to 700 nm. Detection limits, signal hysteresis and other sampling issues are compared, and further improvements of these liquid-based systems are provided.
Zixia Liu, Martin Osborne, Karen Anderson, Jamie D. Shutler, Andy Wilson, Justin Langridge, Steve H. L. Yim, Hugh Coe, Suresh Babu, Sreedharan K. Satheesh, Paquita Zuidema, Tao Huang, Jack C. H. Cheng, and James Haywood
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6101–6118, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6101-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6101-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper first validates the performance of an advanced aerosol observation instrument POPS against a reference instrument and examines any biases introduced by operating it on a quadcopter drone. The results show the POPS performs relatively well on the ground. The impact of the UAV rotors on the POPS is small at low wind speeds, but when operating under higher wind speeds, larger discrepancies occur. It appears that the POPS measures sub-micron aerosol particles more accurately on the UAV.
Eric A. Wendt, Casey Quinn, Christian L'Orange, Daniel D. Miller-Lionberg, Bonne Ford, Jeffrey R. Pierce, John Mehaffy, Michael Cheeseman, Shantanu H. Jathar, David H. Hagan, Zoey Rosen, Marilee Long, and John Volckens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6023–6038, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6023-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6023-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Fine particulate matter air pollution is one of the leading contributors to adverse health outcomes on the planet. Here, we describe the design and validation of a low-cost, compact, and autonomous instrument capable of measuring particulate matter levels directly, via mass sampling, and optically, via mass and sunlight extinction measurements. We demonstrate the instrument's accuracy relative to reference measurements and its potential for community-level sampling.
Jiaoshi Zhang, Steven Spielman, Yang Wang, Guangjie Zheng, Xianda Gong, Susanne Hering, and Jian Wang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5625–5635, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5625-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5625-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we present a newly developed instrument, the humidity-controlled fast integrated mobility spectrometer (HFIMS), for fast measurements of aerosol hygroscopic growth. The HFIMS can measure the distributions of particle hygroscopic growth factors at six diameters from 35 to 265 nm under five RH levels from 20 to 85 % within 25 min. The HFIMS significantly advances our capability of characterizing the hygroscopic growth of atmospheric aerosols over a wide range of relative humidities.
Johannes Passig, Julian Schade, Robert Irsig, Lei Li, Xue Li, Zhen Zhou, Thomas Adam, and Ralf Zimmermann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4171–4185, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4171-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4171-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ships are major sources of air pollution; however, monitoring of ship emissions outside harbours is a challenging task. We optimized single-particle mass spectrometry (SPMS) for the detection of bunker fuel emissions and demonstrate the detection of individual ship plumes from more than 10 km in distance. The approach works independently of background air pollution and also when ships use exhaust-cleaning scrubbers. We discuss the potential and limits of SPMS-based monitoring of ship plumes.
Mengying Bao, Yan-Lin Zhang, Fang Cao, Yu-Chi Lin, Yuhang Wang, Xiaoyan Liu, Wenqi Zhang, Meiyi Fan, Feng Xie, Robert Cary, Joshua Dixon, and Lihua Zhou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4053–4068, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4053-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4053-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We introduce a two-wavelength method for brown C measurements with a modified Sunset carbon analyzer. We defined the enhanced concentrations and gave the possibility of providing an indicator of brown C. Compared with the strong local sources of organic and elemental C, we found that differences in EC mainly originated from regional transport. Biomass burning emissions significantly contributed to high differences in EC concentrations during the heavy biomass burning periods.
Candice L. Sirmollo, Don R. Collins, Jordan M. McCormick, Cassandra F. Milan, Matthew H. Erickson, James H. Flynn, Rebecca J. Sheesley, Sascha Usenko, Henry W. Wallace, Alexander A. T. Bui, Robert J. Griffin, Matthew Tezak, Sean M. Kinahan, and Joshua L. Santarpia
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3351–3370, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3351-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3351-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The newly developed portable 1 m3 CAGE chamber systems were characterized using data acquired during a 2-month field study in 2016 in a forested area north of Houston, TX, USA. Concentrations of several oxidant and organic compounds measured in the chamber were found to closely agree with those calculated with a zero-dimensional model. By tracking the modes of injected monodisperse particles, a pattern change was observed for hourly averaged growth rates between late summer and early fall.
Ningjin Xu and Don R. Collins
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2891–2906, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2891-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2891-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) are frequently used to study atmospheric chemistry and aerosol formation by accelerating by up to 10 000 times the reactions that can take hours, days, or even weeks in the atmosphere. Here we present the design and evaluation of a new all-Teflon OFR. The computational, laboratory, and field use data we present demonstrate that the PFA OFR is suitable for a range of applications, including the study of rapidly changing ambient concentrations.
Lars E. Kalnajs, Sean M. Davis, J. Douglas Goetz, Terry Deshler, Sergey Khaykin, Alex St. Clair, Albert Hertzog, Jerome Bordereau, and Alexey Lykov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 2635–2648, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2635-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-2635-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work introduces a novel instrument system for high-resolution atmospheric profiling, which lowers and retracts a suspended instrument package beneath drifting long-duration balloons. During a 100 d circumtropical flight, the instrument collected over a hundred 2 km profiles of temperature, water vapor, clouds, and aerosol at 1 m resolution, yielding unprecedented geographic sampling and vertical resolution measurements of the tropical tropopause layer.
Demetrios Pagonis, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Hongyu Guo, Douglas A. Day, Melinda K. Schueneman, Wyatt L. Brown, Benjamin A. Nault, Harald Stark, Kyla Siemens, Alex Laskin, Felix Piel, Laura Tomsche, Armin Wisthaler, Matthew M. Coggon, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Hannah S. Halliday, Jordan E. Krechmer, Richard H. Moore, David S. Thomson, Carsten Warneke, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, and Jose L. Jimenez
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1545–1559, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1545-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1545-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We describe the airborne deployment of an extractive electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-MS). The instrument provides a quantitative 1 Hz measurement of the chemical composition of organic aerosol up to altitudes of
7 km, with single-compound detection limits as low as 50 ng per standard cubic meter.
Xiaona Shang, Ling Li, Xinlian Zhang, Huihui Kang, Guodong Sui, Gehui Wang, Xingnan Ye, Hang Xiao, and Jianmin Chen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1037–1045, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1037-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1037-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Oxidative stress can be used to evaluate not only adverse health effects but also adverse ecological effects. However, little research uses eco-toxicological assay to assess the risks posed by particle matter to non-human biomes. One important reason might be that the concentration of toxic components of atmospheric particles is far below the high detection limit of eco-toxic measurement. To solve the rapid detection problem, we extended a VACES for ecotoxicity aerosol measurement.
Joan Stude, Heinfried Aufmhoff, Hans Schlager, Markus Rapp, Frank Arnold, and Boris Strelnikov
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 983–993, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-983-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-983-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we describe the instrument ROMARA and show data from the first flight on a research rocket.
On the way through the atmosphere, the instrument detects positive and negative, natural occurring ions before returning back to ground.
ROMARA was successfully launched together with other instruments into a special radar echo.
We detected typical, light ions of positive and negative charge and heavy negative ions, but no heavy positive ions.
Rob L. Modini, Joel C. Corbin, Benjamin T. Brem, Martin Irwin, Michele Bertò, Rosaria E. Pileci, Prodromos Fetfatzis, Kostas Eleftheriadis, Bas Henzing, Marcel M. Moerman, Fengshan Liu, Thomas Müller, and Martin Gysel-Beer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 819–851, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-819-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-819-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Extinction-minus-scattering is an important method for measuring aerosol light absorption, but its application in the field presents a number of challenges. A recently developed instrument based on this method – the CAPS PMssa – has the potential to overcome some of these challenges. We present a compilation of theory, lab measurements, and field examples to characterize this instrument and show the conditions under which it can deliver reliable absorption measurements for atmospheric aerosols.
Carolyn E. Jordan, Ryan M. Stauffer, Brian T. Lamb, Charles H. Hudgins, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Gregory L. Schuster, Richard H. Moore, Ewan C. Crosbie, Edward L. Winstead, Bruce E. Anderson, Robert F. Martin, Michael A. Shook, Luke D. Ziemba, Andreas J. Beyersdorf, Claire E. Robinson, Chelsea A. Corr, and Maria A. Tzortziou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 695–713, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-695-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-695-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
First field data from a custom-built in situ instrument measuring hyperspectral (300–700 nm, 0.8 nm resolution) ambient atmospheric aerosol extinction are presented. The advantage of this capability is that it can be directly linked to other in situ techniques that measure physical and chemical properties of atmospheric aerosols. Second-order polynomials provided a better fit to the data than traditional power law fits, yielding greater discrimination among distinct ambient aerosol populations.
Carolyn E. Jordan, Ryan M. Stauffer, Brian T. Lamb, Michael Novak, Antonio Mannino, Ewan C. Crosbie, Gregory L. Schuster, Richard H. Moore, Charles H. Hudgins, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Edward L. Winstead, Bruce E. Anderson, Robert F. Martin, Michael A. Shook, Luke D. Ziemba, Andreas J. Beyersdorf, Claire E. Robinson, Chelsea A. Corr, and Maria A. Tzortziou
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 715–736, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-715-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-715-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In situ measurements of ambient atmospheric aerosol hyperspectral (300–700 nm) optical properties (extinction, total absorption, water- and methanol-soluble absorption) were observed around the Korean peninsula. Such in situ observations provide a direct link between ambient aerosol optical properties and their physicochemical properties. The benefit of hyperspectral measurements is evident as simple mathematical functions could not fully capture the observed spectral detail of ambient aerosols.
Cyril Brunner and Zamin A. Kanji
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 269–293, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-269-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-269-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Subvisual microscopic particles in the atmosphere are needed to act as seeds for cloud droplets or ice crystals to form. The microscopic particles, called ice-nucleating particles (INPs), form ice crystals and are rare, and their properties are not well understood, in part because measuring them is challenging and time consuming, and to date has not been automated. Here, we present the first online instrument that can continuously and autonomously measure INP concentration at 243 K.
Adnan Masic, Dzevad Bibic, Boran Pikula, Almir Blazevic, Jasna Huremovic, and Sabina Zero
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6427–6443, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6427-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6427-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Optical-based particulate matter sensors offer some advantages: price (especially low-cost sensors), time and space resolution, but they are less accurate than reference instruments. Understanding their performance and limitations is crucial for wider adoption. This is a case study for strong and mild air pollution done in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Tested optical sensors were found to be generally acceptable in this study, but proper calibration is required for getting reliable data.
Cited articles
Bond, T. C.: Spectral dependence of visible light absorption by
carbonaceous particles emitted from coal combustion, Geophys. Res. Lett.,
28, 4075–4078, https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GL013652, 2001.
Bond, T. C. and Bergstrom, R. W.: Light absorption by carbonaceous
particles: An investigative review, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 40, 27–67, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786820500421521, 2006.
Bond, T. C., Streets, D. G., Yarber, K. F., Nelson, S. M., Woo, J. H., and
Klimont, Z.: A technology-based global inventory of black and organic carbon emissions from combustion, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D14203,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2003jd003697, 2004.
Bond, T. C., Doherty, S. J., Fahey, D. W., Forster, P. M., Berntsen, T.,
DeAngelo, B. J., Flanner, M. G., Ghan, S., Karcher, B., Koch, D., Kinne, S., Kondo, Y., Quinn, P. K., Sarofim, M. C., Schultz, M. G., Schulz, M.,
Venkataraman, C., Zhang, H., Zhang, S., Bellouin, N., Guttikunda, S. K.,
Hopke, P. K., Jacobson, M. Z., Kaiser, J. W., Klimont, Z., Lohmann, U.,
Schwarz, J. P., Shindell, D., Storelvmo, T., Warren, S. G., and Zender, C.
S.: Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific
assessment, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 5380–5552, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50171, 2013.
Castagna, J., Calvello, M., Esposito, F., and Pavese, G.: Analysis of equivalent black carbon multi-year data at an oil pre-treatment plant: Integration with satellite data to identify black carbon transboundary sources, Remote Sens. Environ., 235, 111429, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2019.111429, 2019.
Chow, J. C., Watson, J. G., Crow, D., Lowenthal, D. H., and Merrifield, T.:
Comparison of IMPROVE and NIOSH Carbon Measurements, Aerosol Sci.
Tech., 34, 23–34, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786820119073, 2001.
DeCarlo, P. F., Slowik, J. G., Worsnop, D. R., Davidovits, P., and Jimenez, J. L.: Particle Morphology and Density Characterization by Combined Mobility and Aerodynamic Diameter Measurements. Part 1: Theory, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 38, 1185–1205, https://doi.org/10.1080/027868290903907, 2004.
Drinovec, L., Močnik, G., Zotter, P., Prévôt, A. S. H., Ruckstuhl, C., Coz, E., Rupakheti, M., Sciare, J., Müller, T., Wiedensohler, A., and Hansen, A. D. A.: The “dual-spot” Aethalometer: an improved measurement of aerosol black carbon with real-time loading compensation, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1965–1979, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1965-2015, 2015.
Guo, Y. H.: Carbonaceous aerosol composition over northern China in spring
2012, Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res., 22, 10839–10849, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-015-4299-8, 2015.
Hansen, A. D. A., Rosen, H., and Novakov, T.: The aethalometer - an
instrument for the real-time measurement of optical-absorption by
aerosol-particles, Sci. Total Environ., 36, 191–196,
https://doi.org/10.1016/0048-9697(84)90265-1, 1984.
Helin, A., Niemi, J. V., Virkkula, A., Pirjola, L., Teinila, K., Backman,
J., Aurela, M., Saarikoski, S., Ronkko, T., Asmi, E., and Timonen, H.:
Characteristics and source apportionment of black carbon in the Helsinki
metropolitan area, Finland, Atmos. Environ., 190, 87–98,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.07.022, 2018.
Highwood, E. J. and Kinnersley, R. P.: When smoke gets in our eyes: The
multiple impacts of atmospheric black carbon on climate, air quality and
health, Environ. Int., 32, 560–566, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2005.12.003, 2006.
Johnson, T. J., Irwin, M., Symonds, J. P. R., Olfert, J. S., and Boies, A.
M.: Measuring aerosol size distributions with the aerodynamic aerosol
classifier, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 52, 655–665, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2018.1440063, 2018.
Karlsson, M. N. A. and Martinsson, B. G.: Methods to measure and predict
the transfer function size dependence of individual DMAs, J. Aerosol Sci., 34, 603–625, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0021-8502(03)00020-x, 2003.
Kim, J. H., Mulholland, G. W., Kukuck, S. R., and Pui, D. Y. H.: Slip
correction measurements of certified PSL nanoparticles using a nanometer
differential mobility analyzer (nano-DMA) for Knudsen number from 0.5 to 83,
J. Res. Natl. Inst. Stan., 110, 31–54, https://doi.org/10.6028/jres.110.005, 2005.
Knutson, E. O. and Whitby, K. T.: Aerosol classification by electric
mobility: apparatus, theory, and applications, J. Aerosol Sci., 6, 443–451, https://doi.org/10.1016/0021-8502(75)90060-9, 1975.
Liu, C., Chung, C. E., Yin, Y., and Schnaiter, M.: The absorption Ångström exponent of black carbon: from numerical aspects, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6259–6273, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6259-2018, 2018.
Liu, D., Flynn, M., Gysel, M., Targino, A., Crawford, I., Bower, K., Choularton, T., Jurányi, Z., Steinbacher, M., Hüglin, C., Curtius, J., Kampus, M., Petzold, A., Weingartner, E., Baltensperger, U., and Coe, H.: Single particle characterization of black carbon aerosols at a tropospheric alpine site in Switzerland, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 7389–7407, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-7389-2010, 2010.
Matsui, H., Hamilton, D. S., and Mahowald, N. M.: Black carbon radiative
effects highly sensitive to emitted particle size when resolving
mixing-state diversity, Nat. Commun., 9, 3446,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-018-05635-1, 2018.
Moosmuller, H., Chakrabarty, R. K., and Arnott, W. P.: Aerosol light
absorption and its measurement: A review, J. Quant. Spectrosc. Ra., 110, 844–878, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2009.02.035, 2009.
Ning, Z., Chan, K. L., Wong, K. C., Westerdahl, D., Mocnik, G., Zhou, J. H., and Cheung, C. S.: Black carbon mass size distributions of diesel exhaust
and urban aerosols measured using differential mobility analyzer in tandem
with Aethalometer, Atmos. Environ., 80, 31–40,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.07.037, 2013.
Onasch, T. B., Trimborn, A., Fortner, E. C., Jayne, J. T., Kok, G. L.,
Williams, L. R., Davidovits, P., and Worsnop, D. R.: Soot Particle Aerosol
Mass Spectrometer: Development, Validation, and Initial Application, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 46, 804–817, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2012.663948, 2012.
Petzold, A., Ogren, J. A., Fiebig, M., Laj, P., Li, S.-M., Baltensperger, U., Holzer-Popp, T., Kinne, S., Pappalardo, G., Sugimoto, N., Wehrli, C., Wiedensohler, A., and Zhang, X.-Y.: Recommendations for reporting “black carbon” measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8365–8379, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8365-2013, 2013.
Ramachandran, S. and Rajesh, T. A.: Black carbon aerosol mass concentrations over Ahmedabad, an urban location in western India: Comparison with urban sites in Asia, Europe, Canada, and the United States, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 112, D06211, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006jd007488, 2007.
Ran, L., Deng, Z. Z., Wang, P. C., and Xia, X. A.: Black carbon and wavelength-dependent aerosol absorption in the North China Plain based on
two-year aethalometer measurements, Atmos. Environ., 142, 132–144,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.07.014, 2016.
Schwarz, J. P., Gao, R. S., Fahey, D. W., Thomson, D. S., Watts, L. A.,
Wilson, J. C., Reeves, J. M., Darbeheshti, M., Baumgardner, D. G., Kok, G.
L., Chung, S. H., Schulz, M., Hendricks, J., Lauer, A., Karcher, B., Slowik, J. G., Rosenlof, K. H., Thompson, T. L., Langford, A. O., Loewenstein, M.,
and Aikin, K. C.: Single-particle measurements of midlatitude black carbon
and light-scattering aerosols from the boundary layer to the lower
stratosphere, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D16207, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006jd007076, 2006.
Schwarz, J. P., Spackman, J. R., Fahey, D. W., Gao, R. S., Lohmann, U.,
Stier, P., Watts, L. A., Thomson, D. S., Lack, D. A., Pfister, L., Mahoney,
M. J., Baumgardner, D., Wilson, J. C., and Reeves, J. M.: Coatings and their enhancement of black carbon light absorption in the tropical atmosphere, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 113, D03203, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007jd009042, 2008.
Soto-García, L. L., Andreae, M. O., Andreae, T. W., Artaxo, P., Maenhaut, W., Kirchstetter, T., Novakov, T., Chow, J. C., and Mayol-Bracero, O. L.: Evaluation of the carbon content of aerosols from the burning of biomass in the Brazilian Amazon using thermal, optical and thermal-optical analysis methods, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4425–4444, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4425-2011, 2011.
Tavakoli, F. and Olfert, J. S.: An Instrument for the Classification of
Aerosols by Particle Relaxation Time: Theoretical Models of the Aerodynamic
Aerosol Classifier, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 47, 916–926,
https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2013.802761, 2013.
Taylor, J. W., Allan, J. D., Liu, D., Flynn, M., Weber, R., Zhang, X., Lefer, B. L., Grossberg, N., Flynn, J., and Coe, H.: Assessment of the sensitivity of core / shell parameters derived using the single-particle soot photometer to density and refractive index, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 1701–1718, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-1701-2015, 2015.
Tunved, P., Cremer, R. S., Zieger, P., and Strom, J.: Using correlations
between observed equivalent black carbon and aerosol size distribution to
derive size resolved BC mass concentration: a method applied on long-term
observations performed at Zeppelin station, Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Tellus B, 73, 1–17, https://doi.org/10.1080/16000889.2021.1933775, 2021.
Viidanoja, J., Kerminen, V.-M., and Hillamo, R.: Measuring the Size
Distribution of Atmospheric Organic and Black Carbon Using Impactor Sampling Coupled with Thermal Carbon Analysis: Method Development and Uncertainties,
Aerosol Sci. Tech., 36, 607–616, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786820252883847, 2002.
Wang, J. D., Wang, S. X., Wang, J. P., Hua, Y., Liu, C., Cai, J., Xu, Q. C.,
Xu, X. T., Jiang, S. Y., Zheng, G. J., Jiang, J. K., Cai, R. L., Zhou, W.,
Chen, G. Z., Jin, Y. Z., Zhang, Q., and Hao, J. M.: Significant Contribution
of Coarse Black Carbon Particles to Light Absorption in North China Plain,
Environ. Sci. Tech. Let., 9, 134–139, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.1c00953, 2022.
Yu, H., Wu, C., Wu, D., and Yu, J. Z.: Size distributions of elemental carbon and its contribution to light extinction in urban and rural locations in the pearl river delta region, China, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 5107–5119, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-5107-2010, 2010.
Zhang, R. Y., Khalizov, A. F., Pagels, J., Zhang, D., Xue, H. X., and
McMurry, P. H.: Variability in morphology, hygroscopicity, and optical
properties of soot aerosols during atmospheric processing, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 105, 10291–10296, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0804860105, 2008.
Zhao, G., Tao, J., Kuang, Y., Shen, C., Yu, Y., and Zhao, C.: Role of black carbon mass size distribution in the direct aerosol radiative forcing, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 13175–13188, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-13175-2019, 2019.
Zhao, G., Shen, C. Y., and Zhao, C. S.: Technical note: Mismeasurement of
the core-shell structure of black carbon-containing ambient aerosols by SP2
measurements, Atmos. Environ., 243, 117885, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117885, 2020a.
Zhao, G., Yu, Y., Tian, P., Li, J., Guo, S., and Zhao, C.: Evaluation and
Correction of the Ambient Particle Spectral Light Absorption Measured Using
a Filter-based Aethalometer, Aerosol Air Qual. Res., 20, 1833–1841, https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.2019.10.0500, 2020b.
Zhao, G., Tan, T., Zhu, Y., Hu, M., and Zhao, C.: Method to quantify black carbon aerosol light absorption enhancement with a mixing state index, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18055–18063, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18055-2021, 2021.
Zhao, W., Tan, W., Zhao, G., Shen, C., Yu, Y., and Zhao, C.: Determination of equivalent black carbon mass concentration from aerosol light absorption using variable mass absorption cross section, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 1319–1331, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-1319-2021, 2021.
Short summary
A new method to determine black carbon mass size distribution (BCMSD) was proposed using the size-resolved absorption coefficient measured by an aerodynamic aerosol classifier in tandem with an aethalometer. This new method fills the gap in the high-time-resolution measurement of BCMSD ranging from upper submicron particle sizes to larger than 1 µm. This method can be applied to field measurement of BCMSD extensively for better understanding BC aging and better estimating the BC climate effect.
A new method to determine black carbon mass size distribution (BCMSD) was proposed using the...
