Abstract. This paper synthesizes the available scientific information connecting atmospheric nucleation with subsequent cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) formation. We review both observations and model studies related to this topic, and discuss the potential climatic implications. We conclude that CCN production associated with atmospheric nucleation is both frequent and widespread phenomenon in many types of continental boundary layers, and probably also over a large fraction of the free troposphere. The contribution of nucleation to the global CCN budget spans a relatively large uncertainty range, which, together with our poor understanding of aerosol-cloud interactions, results in major uncertainties in the radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosols. In order to better quantify the role of atmospheric nucleation in CCN formation and Earth System behavior, more information is needed on (i) the factors controlling atmospheric CCN production and (ii) the properties of both primary and secondary CCN and their interconnections. In future investigations, more emphasis should be put on combining field measurements with regional and large-scale model studies.
The presence of organic coatings on aerosols may have important consequences to the atmospheric chemistry, in particular to the N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis. This is demonstrated by recent experiments which show that the uptake of N2O5 by aqueous aerosols is slowed considerably when an organic coating consisting of monoterpene oxidation products is added on the particles. To treat the mechanisms behind the suppression, an extension of the resistor model, which has been widely applied in investigation of the heterogeneous uptake by aerosols, was derived. The extension accounts for dissolution, diffusion, and chemical reactions in a multilayered organic coating, and it provides a parametrization for the heterogeneous uptake by organic-coated aerosols that can be applied in large-scale models. Moreover, the framework was applied to interpret the findings regarding the decreased uptake of N2O5 by the organic-coated aerosols. Performed calculations suggested that the reaction rate constant of N2O5 in the coating is decreased by 3-5 orders of magnitude, in addition to which the product of the solubility of N2O5 and its diffusion coefficient in the coating is reduced more than an order of magnitude compared to the corresponding value for the aqueous phase. The results suggest also that the accommodation coefficient of N2O5 to such coatings is no more than a factor of 2 smaller than that to pure water surfaces. Finally, the relevance of the results to the atmospheric N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis is discussed and implications to planning further laboratory studies focusing on secondary organic aerosol formation are pointed out.
Abstract. Humic like substances (HULIS) have been identified as a major fraction of the organic component of atmospheric aerosols. These large multifunctional compounds of both primary and secondary sources are surface active and water soluble. Hence, it is expected that they could affect activation of organic aerosols into cloud droplets. We have compared the activation of aerosols containing atmospheric HULIS extracted from fresh, aged and pollution particles to activation of size fractionated fulvic acid from an aquatic source (Suwannee River Fulvic Acid), and correlated it to the estimated molecular weight and measured surface tension. A correlation was found between CCN-activation diameter of SRFA fractions and number average molecular weight of the fraction. The lower molecular weight fractions activated at lower critical diameters, which is explained by the greater number of solute species in the droplet with decreasing molecular weight. The three aerosol-extracted HULIS samples activated at lower diameters than any of the sizefractionated or bulk SRFA. The Köhler model was found to account for activation diameters, provided that accurate physico-chemical parameters are known.
[1] Recently, the classical theory of sulfuric acid-ammonia-water (H 2 SO 4 -NH 3 -H 2 O) nucleation was reinvestigated by including the effect of stable ammonium bisulfate formation into calculations. The predicted nucleation rates lowered by many orders of magnitude, bringing them close to agreement with the available experiments on H 2 SO 4 -NH 3 -H 2 O nucleation. However, because of complex thermodynamics involved, the theoretical calculations of nucleation rates are computationally demanding, and sometimes the theory breaks down at specific concentrations and temperatures. Here we present parameterized equations of ternary H 2 SO 4 -NH 3 -H 2 O nucleation rates, critical cluster sizes, and critical cluster compositions. Our parameterizations reduce the computing time of these values by a factor of 10 5 compared with the calculations with the full thermodynamic model. Also, our parameterizations provide reliable estimates for ternary nucleation rates in cases when the full theory fails in isolated points of the parameter space. The parameterized nucleation rates are accurate to one order of magnitude in nucleation rate. Because of their computational efficiency, our parameterizations are particularly suitable for large-scale models of atmosphere. They are valid for temperatures above 235 K, sulfuric acid concentrations 5 Á 10 4 -10 9 cm À3 , ammonia mixing ratios 0.1-1000 ppt, relative humidities 5%-95%, and nucleation rates over 10 À5 cm À3 s À1. At these conditions, no significant nucleation occurs above 295 K.Citation: Merikanto, J., I. Napari, H. Vehkamäki, T. Anttila, and M. Kulmala (2007), New parameterization of sulfuric acidammonia-water ternary nucleation rates at tropospheric conditions,
[1] The formation of aerosols, and subsequent cloud condensation nuclei, remains one of the least understood atmospheric processes upon which global climate change critically depends. Under atmospheric conditions, the process of homogeneous nucleation (formation of stable clusters $ 1 nm in size), and their subsequent growth into new particles (>3 nm), determines the aerosol and cloud nuclei population, yet, hitherto, no theory has elucidated the new particle formation phenomenon in detail. In this study, we present a new theory which provides a mechanistic explanation for new particle formation via activation of stable inorganic clusters by organic vapors. The new nano-particle activation theory is analogous to Köhler theory which describes cloud formation in a supersaturated water vapor field but differs in that it describes the activation of inorganic stable nano-clusters into aerosol particles in a supersaturated organic vapor which initiates spontaneous and rapid growth of clusters. Inclusion of the new theory into aerosol formation models predicts that increases in organic vapor densities lead to even greater increases in particle production, which, in turn, will influence the global radiative cooling effect of atmospheric aerosols.
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