Nature and evolution of ultrafine aerosol particles in the atmosphere

Abstract

Results of experimental and theoretical studies of a poorly understood phenomenon, an intense emission of ultrafine (nanometer) aerosols (ENA), are reviewed. In the English-language literature, this phenomenon is commonly referred to as a nucleation burst. ENA events have been observed on all the continents and throughout the depth of the troposphere, with the number of corresponding publications growing steadily. Intense and long-lasting ENA events have been studied more or less comprehensively and in full detail for Northern Europe, with 60 to 70% of observations taken in a forest area in the presence of snow cover and 10 to 20% in coastal marine areas. Most often, ENA events occur during spring and fall, with 95% of cases in the daytime and under sunny calm conditions, typical of anticyclones. In ENA events, the concentration of nanoparticles initially grows rapidly to values of 103–105 cm−3. One or two hours later, the so-called nuclei fraction with diameters D = 3–15 nm is produced. The appearance of the Aitken fraction D = 20–80 nm and the enlargement of aerosol particles inside the accumulation fraction D = 80–200 nm may occur during the following 4–6 h. Thus, the cycle of formation and growth of atmospheric aerosol particles in the size range from a few to hundreds of nanometers is reproduced over 6–8 h. A specific synoptic feature of ENA events over land is that they occur when the polar air is transported to measuring sites and the temperature difference between day and light is large. During ENA periods, the formation rate of condensation nuclei with a diameter of 100 nm increases 10-to 100-fold. Important factors of ENA genesis are the “aerosol” and “electric” states of the atmosphere. More intense ENA events occur at low concentrations of background aerosols in the presence of atmospheric ions of medium mobility with D = 2–3 nm. The international experiments ACE 1 and 2, BIOFOR 1, 2, and 3, ESUP 2000, QUEST, etc., have not yet provided any clear answers to the questions about physical and statistical dependences of the time of origin and duration of ENA and new particle characteristics on the solar and ionized radiation intensity and on the content of minor and biogenic gases. Models of new particle formation are discussed in the review.