Modeling the Tropospheric Multiphase Chemistry of Biomass Burning Trace Compounds Using the Chemical Aqueous Phase Radical Mechanism (CAPRAM)

Abstract

<p>Biomass burning (BB) is a significant contributor to air pollution on global, regional and local scale with impacts on air quality, public health and climate. Anhydrosugars and methoxyphenols are key tracers emitted through BB. Once emitted, they can undergo complex multiphase chemistry in the atmosphere contributing to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. However, their chemical multiphase processing is not yet well understood and investigated by models. Thus, the present study aimed at a better understanding of the multiphase chemistry of these BB tracers by detailed model studies with a new developed CAPRAM biomass burning module (CAPRAM-BBM).This module was developed based on the kinetic data from our laboratory measurements at TROPOS and other literature studies. The developed CAPRAM-BBM includes 2991 reactions (9 phase transfers and 2982 aqueous-phase reactions). By coupling with the multiphase chemistry mechanism MCMv3.2/CAPRAM4.0 and the extended CAPRAM aromatics (CAPRAM-AM1.0) and halogen modules (CAPRAM-HM3.0), itis being applied for residential wood burning cases in Europeand wildfire cases in the US. Our model results show that levoglucosan and vanillin are effectively oxidized under cloud conditions. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the chemistry of BB tracers can affect the budgets of key oxidants such as H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>, and contribute to the SOA formation especially by increasing the fraction of brown carbon and substituted organic acids.</p>