Growth Rates of Fine Aerosol Particles at a Site near Beijing in June 2013

Growth of fine aerosol particles is investigated during the Aerosol-CCN-Cloud Closure Experiment campaign in June 2013 at an urban site near Beijing. Analyses show a high frequency （- 50%） of fine aerosol particle growth events, and show that the growth rates range from 2.1 to 6.5 nm h-1 with a mean value of - 5.1 nm h-1. A review of previous studies indicates that at least four mechanisms can affect the growth of fine aerosol particles： vapor condensation, intramodal coagulation, extramodal coagulation, and multi-phase chemical reaction. At the initial stage of fine aerosol particle growth, condensational growth usually plays a major role and coagulation efficiency generally increases with particle sizes. An overview of previous studies shows higher growth rates over megacity, urban and boreal forest regions than over rural and oceanic regions. This is most likely due to the higher condensational vapor, which can cause strong condensational growth of fine aerosol particles. Associated with these multiple factors of influence, there are large uncertainties for the aerosol particle growth rates, even at the same location.

Chemical Composition of Summertime PM_(2.5) and Its Relationship to Aerosol Optical Properties in Guangzhou,China

Urban aerosols have a large effect on the deterioration of air quality and the degradation of atmospheric visibility.Characterization of the chemical composition of PM 2.5 and in situ measurements of the optical properties of aerosols were conducted in July 2008 at an urban site in Guangzhou,Southern China.The mean PM 2.5 concentration for the entire period was 53.7±23.2 μg m 3.The mean PM 2.5 concentration (82.7±25.4 μg m 3) on hazy days was roughly two times higher than that on clear days (38.8±8.7 μg m 3).The total water-soluble ion species and the total average carbon accounted for 47.9%±4.3% and 35.2%±4.5%,respectively,of the major components of PM 2.5.The increase of secondary and carbonaceous aerosols,in particular ammonium sulfate,played an important role in the formation of haze pollution.The mean absorption and scattering coefficients and the single scattering albedo over the whole period were 53±20 M m 1,226±111 M m 1,and 0.80±0.04,respectively.PM 2.5 had a high linear correlation with the aerosol extinction coefficient,elemental carbon (EC) was correlated with aerosol absorption,and organic carbon (OC) and SO 4 2 were tightly linked to aerosol scattering.

Origin of high particle number concentrations reaching the St. Louis, Midwest Supersite

Ultrafine particles are associated with adverse health effects. Total Particle Number Concentration（TNC） of fine particles were measured during 2002 at the St. Louis — Midwest supersite. The time series showed overall low level with frequent large peaks. The time series was analyzed alongside criteria pollutant measurements and meteorological observations. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify further contributing factors and to determine the association of different pollutants with TNC levels. This showed the strong contribution of sulfur dioxide（SO2） and nitrogen oxides（NO x） to high TNC levels. The analysis also suggested that increased dispersion resulting from faster winds and higher mixing heights led to higher TNC levels. Overall, the results show that there were intense particle nucleation events in a SO2 rich plume reaching the site which contributed around 29% of TNC. A further 40% was associated with primary emissions from mobile sources. By separating the remaining TNC by time of day and clear sky conditions,we suggest that most likely 8% of TNC are due to regional nucleation events and 23% are associated with the general urban background.

Source apportionment of PM_(2.5)light extinction in an urban atmosphere in China

Haze in China is primarily caused by high pollution of atmospheric fine particulates（PM2.5）.However, the detailed source structures of PM2.5 light extinction have not been well established, especially for the roles of various organic aerosols, which makes haze management lack specified targets. This study obtained the mass concentrations of the chemical compositions and the light extinction coefficients of fine particles in the winter in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, using high time resolution aerosol observation instruments. We combined the positive matrix factor（PMF） analysis model of organic aerosols and the multiple linear regression method to establish a quantitative relationship model between the main chemical components, in particular the different sources of organic aerosols and the extinction coefficients of fine particles with a high goodness of fit（R^2= 0.953）. The results show that the contribution rates of ammonium sulphate,ammonium nitrate, biomass burning organic aerosol（BBOA）, secondary organic aerosol（SOA） and black carbon（BC） were 48.1%, 20.7%, 15.0%, 10.6%, and 5.6%, respectively. It can be seen that the contribution of the secondary aerosols is much higher than that of the primary aerosols（79.4% versus 20.6%） and are a major factor in the visibility decline. BBOA is found to have a high visibility destroying potential, with a high mass extinction coefficient, and was the largest contributor during some high pollution periods. A more detailed analysis indicates that the contribution of the enhanced absorption caused by BC mixing state was approximately 37.7% of the total particle absorption and should not be neglected.