Natural organic atmospheric aerosols of terrestrial origin

Zenchelsky, Seymour T.; Youssefi, M.

doi:10.1029/rg017i003p00459

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 64 publications

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“…Although these observations only provide circumstantial evidence to support our hypothesis, the data strongly suggest that there must be a low-level source of NH3 over the Arctic Ocean pack ice. Further speculation leads to the possibility that the decaying organic materials may contribute to fog and stratus cloud formation over the pack ice by providing nuclei from direct release of particles and conversion of volatile organic matter [Zenchelsky and Youssefi, 1979;Duce et al, 1983]. Particles directly released from the decaying organic materials may well be the apparent source of aerosol K +, Na+, and C20•-, which also appear to be enriched at 0.15-km altitude over the Arctic pack ice.…”

Section: Some Evidence For a Surface Source Of Nh•-over Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Soluble species in the Arctic summer troposphere: Acidic gases, aerosols, and precipitation

Talbot¹,

Vijgen²,

Harriss³

1992

J. Geophys. Res.

117

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We report here the distribution of selected acidic gases and aerosol species in the North American Arctic and sub‐Arctic summer troposphere. The summertime troposphere is an acidic environment, with HCOOH and CH3COOH the principal acidic gases and acidic sulfate aerosols dominating the particulate phase. Our data show that the acidic gas and aerosol composition is uniform on a large spatial scale. There appears to be a surface source of NH4+ over the Arctic Ocean pack ice which may reflect release of NH3 from decay of dead marine organisms on the ice surface near ice leads, release from rotting sea ice, or an upward flux from surface ocean waters in open ice leads. This NH3 appears to partially neutralize aerosol acidity in the boundary layer. Over sub‐Arctic tundra in southwestern Alaska inputs of marine biogenic sulfur from the nearby Bering Sea appear to be an important source of boundary layer aerosol SO42−. While there were only minor effects on aerosol chemistry over the tundra from sea salt, the rainwater chemistry showed influence from marine aerosols which were apparently incorporated into air masses during frontal passages moving inland from the Bering Sea. The rainwater acidity over the tundra (pH 4.69) is typical of remote regions. The principal acidity components are H2SO4 and carboxylic acids, especially HCOOH. The carboxylic acids appear to have a strong continental biogenic source, but hydrocarbons of marine origin and emissions from forest fires may also be important. The wet deposition fluxes of NO3−‐N and SO42−‐S over sub‐Arctic tundra during July–August 1988 were 2.1 and 2.4 mmol m−2 yr−1. Wet deposition of NO3− was nearly 3 times higher than the average NOy deposition flux, which is believed to represent primarily dry deposition of HNO3 (Bakwin et al., this issue). Our measurements indicate that the mid‐troposphere in the Arctic is generally contaminated with low levels of anthropogenic pollutants even in summer when direct atmospheric coupling with mid‐latitude source regions was previously believed to be minimal. Stratospheric inputs may also be important as a source of Arctic tropospheric SO42−. On several occasions we sampled directly within plumes or highly contaminated air masses representing various anthropogenic sources. The composition of these pollution sources suggested that they were important in determining the large‐scale distribution of acidic gases and aerosol species in the Arctic summer troposphere. Outside the plumes the anthropogenic influences are chemically diffuse and variable, making it very difficult to quantitatively ascertain the magnitude of the effects. Present‐day “background” air during summertime in the North American Arctic and sub‐Arctic mid‐troposphere appears to have the following average composition (parts per trillion by volume): HCOOH (70), CH3COOH (70), HNO3 (40), NO3− (10), SO42− (25), and NH4+ (55). These concentrations which were observed on only a few isolated days can be compared to the grand average (Arctic and sub‐Arctic) mid‐tropospheric levels ...

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Section: Some Evidence For a Surface Source Of Nh•-over Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Soluble species in the Arctic summer troposphere: Acidic gases, aerosols, and precipitation

Talbot¹,

Vijgen²,

Harriss³

1992

J. Geophys. Res.

117

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“…Industrial sources have been extensively investigated in urban or semi-rural regions (Lamb et al, 1980;Graedel and McRae, 1982;Simoneit and Mazurek, 1982), but data about other sources are very limited (Duce, 1978). Natural emissions from the biomass, as particulate and vapor phase compounds, as well as emissions due to biomass burning processes are still poorly documented (Duce, 1978;Zenchelsky and Youssefi, 1979;Hahn, 1980;Duce et al, 1983;Simoneit, 1984). However, there is evidence that over remote marine regions, atmospheric particulate carbon can be derived from terrestrial biogenic sources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Source terms and source strengths of the carbonaceous aerosol in the tropics

et al. 1985

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Atmospheric aerosol samples were collected in the Ivory Coast, primarily at Lamto (6°N, 5°W) between 1979 and 1981. The samples were analysed for total particulate carbon concentration and isotopic composition (13C/t2C) by mass spectrometry. Observed concentrations were found high compared to values reported for temperate regions. Fine particulate carbon in the submicrometersize range accounted for 50 to 80% of the reported concentrations. At Lamto, both particulate carbon concentrations and isotopic ratios exhibit a large temporal variability which is shown to reflect the diversity of sources and their seasonal evolution. Natural emissions from the equatorial forest during the wet season, and biomass burning during the dry season, appear to be the major sources. The latter, though active during only a third of the year, is, on an annual basis, the most important source. Based on the data obtained at Lamto, an attempt has been made to estimate the flux of fine particulate carbon emitted from the tropical regions into the global troposphere. This flux, which is of the order of 20 x 10 t2 g C/yr, appears to be equivalent to the flux of fine particulate carbon emitted from industrial sources. These results suggest that the tropospheric burden of fine particulate carbon in lowlatitude regions is dominated by the long-range transport of carbonaceous aerosols originating from the Tropics.

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“…The sizes of the particles are closely related to their production process. Primary aerosols may be composed of chemically undegraded biological material, such as spores, pollens, cuticular waxes or cellular debris (Zenchelsky and Youssefi, 1979). They are evenly distributed over a wide spectrum of different sizes for dust particles (Maley, 1982) as for pure organic particles (Schnell and Vali, 1972;Schneider et al, 1983).…”

Section: Results Of Chemical Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Formation and chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols in an equatorial forest area

Clairac¹,

Delmas²,

Cros³

et al. 1988

J Atmos Chem

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Abstra~. The physical properties and the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols have been studied in an equatoriaI region in the southern Congo (Africa). Field experiments were conducted between 1978 and 1983 in the equatorial forest of the Mayombe during periods where the influence of biomass burning was minimum. The results indicate that the forest is a net source of both fine particles resulting primarily from gas-to-particle conversion and coarse particles produced by mechanical processes. Carbonaceous matter is the major component of these biogenic particles but the forest is also a significant source of sulfate, nitrate, ammonium and potassium. Half of this carbon is attached to submicron particles and likely derives from organic gaseous precursors naturally emitted by the local biosphere.

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Natural organic atmospheric aerosols of terrestrial origin

Cited by 17 publications

References 64 publications

Soluble species in the Arctic summer troposphere: Acidic gases, aerosols, and precipitation

Soluble species in the Arctic summer troposphere: Acidic gases, aerosols, and precipitation

Source terms and source strengths of the carbonaceous aerosol in the tropics

Formation and chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols in an equatorial forest area

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