Components Of Aerosol Particles Research Articles

Assessment of online water-soluble brown carbon measuring systems for aircraft sampling

Abstract. Brown carbon (BrC) consists of particulate organic species that preferentially absorb light at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Ambient studies show that as a component of aerosol particles, BrC affects photochemical reaction rates and regional to global climate. Some organic chromophores are especially toxic, linking BrC to adverse health effects. The lack of direct measurements of BrC has limited our understanding of its prevalence, sources, evolution, and impacts. We describe the first direct, online measurements of water-soluble BrC on research aircraft by three separate instruments. Each instrument measured light absorption over a broad wavelength range using a liquid waveguide capillary cell (LWCC) and grating spectrometer, with particles collected into water by a particle-into-liquid sampler (CSU PILS-LWCC and NOAA PILS-LWCC) or a mist chamber (MC-LWCC). The instruments were deployed on the NSF C-130 aircraft during WE-CAN 2018 as well as the NASA DC-8 and the NOAA Twin Otter aircraft during FIREX-AQ 2019, where they sampled fresh and moderately aged wildfire plumes. Here, we describe the instruments, calibrations, data analysis and corrections for baseline drift and hysteresis. Detection limits (3σ) at 365 nm were 1.53 Mm−1 (MC-LWCC; 2.5 min sampling time), 0.89 Mm−1 (CSU PILS-LWCC; 30 s sampling time), and 0.03 Mm−1 (NOAA PILS-LWCC; 30 s sampling time). Measurement uncertainties were 28 % (MC-LWCC), 12 % (CSU PILS-LWCC), and 11 % (NOAA PILS-LWCC). The MC-LWCC system agreed well with offline measurements from filter samples, with a slope of 0.91 and R2=0.89. Overall, these instruments provide soluble BrC measurements with specificity and geographical coverage that is unavailable by other methods, but their sensitivity and time resolution can be challenging for aircraft studies where large and rapid changes in BrC concentrations may be encountered.

Spatial-Temporal Pattern of Black Carbon (BC) Emission from Biomass Burning and Anthropogenic Sources in New South Wales and the Greater Metropolitan Region of Sydney, Australia

Biomass burnings either due to Hazards Reduction Burnings (HRBs) in late autumn and early winter or bushfires during summer periods in various part of the world (e.g., CA, USA or New South Wales, Australia) emit large amount of gaseous pollutants and aerosols. The emissions, under favourable meteorological conditions, can cause elevated atmospheric particulate concentrations in metropolitan areas and beyond. One of the pollutants of concern is black carbon (BC), which is a component of aerosol particles. BC is harmful to health and acts as a radiative forcing agent in increasing the global warming due to its light absorption properties. Remote sensing data from satellites have becoming increasingly available for research, and these provide rich datasets available on global and local scale as well as in situ aethalometer measurements allow researchers to study the emission and dispersion pattern of BC from anthropogenic and natural sources. The Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) in New South Wales (NSW) has installed recently from 2014 to 2019 a total of nine aethalometers to measure BC in its state-wide air quality network to determine the source contribution of BC and PM2.5 (particulate Matter less than 2.5 μm in diameter) in ambient air from biomass burning and anthropogenic combustion sources. This study analysed the characteristics of spatial and temporal patterns of black carbon (BC) in New South Wales and in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) of Sydney, Australia, by using these data sources as well as the trajectory HYSPLIT (Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory) modelling tool to determine the source of high BC concentration detected at these sites. The emission characteristics of BC in relation to PM2.5 is dependent on the emission source and is analysed using regression analysis of BC with PM2.5 time series at the receptor site for winter and summer periods. The results show that, during the winter, correlation between BC and PM2.5 is found at nearly all sites while little or no correlation is detected during the summer period. Traffic vehicle emission is the main BC emission source identified in the urban areas but was less so in the regional sites where biomass burnings/wood heating is the dominant source in winter. The BC diurnal patterns at all sites were strongly influenced by meteorology.

Characteristics of water-soluble organic carbon associated with aerosol particles in the eastern United States

Abstract Desorption kinetics and sources (fossil vs. contemporary) of the water soluble organic carbon (WSOC) component of aerosol particles were examined at two sites on the east coast of the United States. Experiments revealed that WSOC is released either rapidly as one homogeneous pool or via biphasic kinetics with one rapidly and one slowly desorbing pool. The majority (>85%) of WSOC was desorbed within the first 15 min of immersion in water, suggesting that this material can be rapidly incorporated into rainwater pre-depositionally or surface waters post-depositionally and transported through watersheds. Radiocarbon (14C) measurements showed that on average 12 ± 4% and 14 ± 2% of WSOC from sites in New York and Virginia, respectively, was derived from fossil sources. By contrast, mass balance calculations revealed water-insoluble organic carbon to have significantly greater fossil contributions. These findings suggest that contemporary biogenic aerosol OC is preferentially incorporated into the aqueous phase and may be transported relatively rapidly through watersheds and aquatic systems. In contrast, the more highly aged and fossil aerosol component remains in particulate form and is more likely to be retained on particles or in soils or aquatic sediments.

Mobile Laboratory with Rapid Response Instruments for Real-Time Measurements of Urban and Regional Trace Gas and Particulate Distributions and Emission Source Characteristics

Recent technological advances have allowed the development of robust, relatively compact, low power, rapid response (approximately 1 s) instruments with sufficient sensitivity and specificity to quantify many trace gases and aerosol particle components in the ambient atmosphere. Suites of such instruments can be deployed on mobile platforms to study atmospheric processes, map concentration distributions of atmospheric pollutants, and determine the composition and intensities of emission sources. A mobile laboratory containing innovative tunable infrared laser differential absorption spectroscopy (TILDAS) instruments to measure selected trace gas concentrations at sub parts-per-billion levels and an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to measure size resolved distributions of the nonrefractory chemical components of fine airborne particles as well as selected commercial fast response instruments and position/velocity sensors is described. Examples of the range of measurement strategies that can be undertaken using this mobile laboratory are discussed, and samples of measurement data are presented.

The Short-Term Cooling but Long-Term Global Warming Due to Biomass Burning

Biomass burning releases gases (e.g., CO2, CO, CH4, NOx, SO2, C2H6, C2H4, C3H8, C3H6) and aerosol particle components (e.g., black carbon, organic matter, K+, Na+, Ca2+, Mg2+, NH4+, H+, Cl−, H2SO4, HSO4−, SO42−, NO3−). To date, the global-scale climate response of controlling emission of these constituents together has not been examined. Here 10-yr global simulations of the climate response of biomass-burning aerosols and short-lived gases are coupled with numerical calculations of the long-term effect of controlling biomass-burning CO2 and CH4 to estimate the net effect of controlling burning over 100 yr. Whereas eliminating biomass-burning particles is calculated to warm temperatures in the short term, this warming may be more than offset after several decades by cooling due to eliminating long-lived CO2, particularly from permanent deforestation. It is also shown analytically that biomass burning always results in CO2 accumulation, even when regrowth fluxes equal emission fluxes and in the presence of fertilization. Further, because burning grassland and cropland yearly, as opposed to every several years, increases CO2, biofuel burning, considered a “renewable” energy source, is only partially renewable, and biomass burning elevates CO2 until it is stopped. Because CO2 from biomass burning is considered recyclable and biomass particles are thought to cool climate, the Kyoto Protocol did not consider biomass-burning controls. If the results here, which apply to a range of scenarios but are subject to uncertainty, are correct, such control may slow global warming, contrary to common perception, and improve human health.

A method for on‐line measurement of water‐soluble organic carbon in ambient aerosol particles: Results from an urban site

An instrument for on‐line continuous measurement of the water‐soluble organic carbon (WSOC) component of aerosol particles is described and results from an urban site in St. Louis are presented. A Particle‐into‐Liquid Sampler impacts ambient particles, grown to large water droplets, onto a plate and then washes them into a flow of purified water. The resulting liquid is filtered and the carbon content quantified by a Total Organic Carbon analyzer providing continuous six‐minute integral measurements with a detection limit of 0.1 μg C/m3. Summer and fall measurements of WSOC and organic carbon (OC) indicated WSOC/OC ratio typically ranged from 0.40 to 0.80. A diurnal variation in WSOC/OC that correlated with ozone was observed over extended periods in June; however, other periods in August had no correlation. The results suggested that WSOC was composed of a complex mixture of compounds that may contain a significant fraction from secondary organic aerosol formation.

Fine mode aerosol composition at three long‐term atmospheric monitoring sites in the Amazon Basin

The Amazon Basin tropical rain forest is a key region to study processes that are changing the composition of the global atmosphere, including the large amount of fine mode aerosol particles emitted during biomass burning that might influence the global atmosphere. Three background monitoring stations, Alta Floresta, Cuiabá, and Serra do Navio, are operating continuously measuring aerosol composition. Fine (dp < 2.0 μm) and coarse (2.0 < dp < 10 μm) mode aerosol particles were collected using stacked filter units. Particle‐induced X‐ray emission was used to measure concentrations of up to 20 elements in the fine mode: Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, Br, Rb, Sr, Zr, and Pb. Soot carbon and gravimetric mass analysis were also performed. Absolute Principal Factor Analysis (APFA) has derived absolute elemental source profiles. APFA showed four aerosol particle components: soil dust (Al, Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe), biomass burning (soot, fine mode mass concentration, K, Cl), natural primary biogenic particles with gas‐to‐particle component (K, S, Ca, Mn, Zn), and marine aerosol (Cl). Biogenic and biomass burning aerosol particles dominate the fine mode mass concentration, with the presence of K, P, S, Cl, Zn, Br, and fine mode mass concentration (FPM). At the Alta Floresta and Cuiabá sites, during the dry season, a strong component of biomass burning is observed. Inhalable particulate matter (dp < 10 μm) mass concentration up to 700 μg/m3 was measured. Fine particle mass concentration alone can go as high as 400 μg/m3 for large regions. The fine mode biogenic and biomass burning components show remarkable similarities in the elemental composition, even though the sampling sites are more than 3000 km apart. Fine mode sulfur concentration is entirely associated with the primary biogenic aerosol particles, with gas‐to‐particle conversion and the biomass burning component. Large amounts of essential plant nutrients like P are mobilized into the atmosphere and possibly lost from the Amazon Basin ecosystem by long‐range transport.