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Abstract
Sea spray aerosol, produced through breaking waves, is one of the largest sources of environmental particles. Once in the atmosphere, sea spray aerosol influences cloud formation, serves as microenvironments for multiphase atmospheric chemical reactions, and impacts human health. All of these impacts are affected by aerosol acidity. Here we show that freshly emitted sea spray aerosol particles become highly acidic within minutes as they are transferred across the ocean−air interface. These results have important implications for atmospheric chemistry and climate, including aerosol/gas partitioning, heterogeneous reactions, and chemical speciation at the surface and within sea spray aerosol. Aerosols impact climate, human health, and the chemistry of the atmosphere, and aerosol pH plays a major role in the physicochemical properties of the aerosol. However, there remains uncertainty as to whether aerosols are acidic, neutral, or basic. In this research, we show that the pH of freshly emitted (nascent) sea spray aerosols is significantly lower than that of sea water (approximately four pH units, with pH being a log scale value) and that smaller aerosol particles below 1 μm in diameter have pH values that are even lower. These measurements of nascent sea spray aerosol pH, performed in a unique ocean−atmosphere facility, provide convincing data to show that acidification occurs “across the interface” within minutes, when aerosols formed from ocean surface waters become airborne. We also show there is a correlation between aerosol acidity and dissolved carbon dioxide but no correlation with marine biology within the seawater. We discuss the mechanisms and contributing factors to this acidity and its implications on atmospheric chemistry.
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Mahrt F, Alpert PA, Dou J, Grönquist P, Arroyo PC, Ammann M, Lohmann U, Kanji ZA. Aging induced changes in ice nucleation activity of combustion aerosol as determined by near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE. PROCESSES & IMPACTS 2020; 22:895-907. [PMID: 32188960 DOI: 10.1039/c9em00525k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Fresh soot particles are generally hydrophobic, however, particle hydrophilicity can be increased through atmospheric aging processes. At present little is known on how particle chemical composition and hydrophilicity change upon atmospheric aging and associated uncertainties governing the ice cloud formation potential of soot. Here we sampled two propane flame soots referred to as brown and black soot, characterized as organic carbon rich and poor, respectively. We investigated how the ice nucleation activity of these particles changed through aging in water and aqueous acidic solutions, using a continuous flow diffusion chamber operated at cirrus cloud temperatures (T ≤ 233 K). Single aggregates of both unaged and aged soot were chemically characterized by scanning transmission X-ray microscopy and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (STXM/NEXAFS) measurements. Particle wettability was determined through water sorption measurements. Unaged black and brown soot particles exhibited significantly different ice nucleation activities. Our experiments revealed significantly enhanced ice nucleation activity of the aged soot particles compared to the fresh samples, lowering the required relative humidities at which ice formation can take place at T = 218 K by up to 15% with respect to water (ΔRHi ≈ 25%). We observed an enhanced water uptake capacity for the aged compared to the unaged samples, which was more pronounced for the black soot. From these measurements we concluded that there is a change in ice nucleation mechanism when aging brown soot. Comparison of the NEXAFS spectra of unaged soot samples revealed a unique spectral feature around 287.5 eV in the case of black soot that was absent for the brown soot, indicative of carbon with hydroxyl functionalities. Comparison of the NEXAFS spectra of unaged and aged soot particles indicates changes in organic functional groups, and the aged spectra were found to be largely similar across soot types, with the exception of the water aged brown soot. Overall, we conclude that atmospheric aging is important to representatively assess the ice cloud formation activity of soot particles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fabian Mahrt
- Department of Environmental System Science, Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
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Pye HOT, Nenes A, Alexander B, Ault AP, Barth MC, Clegg SL, Collett JL, Fahey KM, Hennigan CJ, Herrmann H, Kanakidou M, Kelly JT, Ku IT, McNeill VF, Riemer N, Schaefer T, Shi G, Tilgner A, Walker JT, Wang T, Weber R, Xing J, Zaveri RA, Zuend A. The Acidity of Atmospheric Particles and Clouds. ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 2020; 20:4809-4888. [PMID: 33424953 PMCID: PMC7791434 DOI: 10.5194/acp-20-4809-2020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 155] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/20/2023]
Abstract
Acidity, defined as pH, is a central component of aqueous chemistry. In the atmosphere, the acidity of condensed phases (aerosol particles, cloud water, and fog droplets) governs the phase partitioning of semi-volatile gases such as HNO3, NH3, HCl, and organic acids and bases as well as chemical reaction rates. It has implications for the atmospheric lifetime of pollutants, deposition, and human health. Despite its fundamental role in atmospheric processes, only recently has this field seen a growth in the number of studies on particle acidity. Even with this growth, many fine particle pH estimates must be based on thermodynamic model calculations since no operational techniques exist for direct measurements. Current information indicates acidic fine particles are ubiquitous, but observationally-constrained pH estimates are limited in spatial and temporal coverage. Clouds and fogs are also generally acidic, but to a lesser degree than particles, and have a range of pH that is quite sensitive to anthropogenic emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides, as well as ambient ammonia. Historical measurements indicate that cloud and fog droplet pH has changed in recent decades in response to controls on anthropogenic emissions, while the limited trend data for aerosol particles indicates acidity may be relatively constant due to the semi-volatile nature of the key acids and bases and buffering in particles. This paper reviews and synthesizes the current state of knowledge on the acidity of atmospheric condensed phases, specifically particles and cloud droplets. It includes recommendations for estimating acidity and pH, standard nomenclature, a synthesis of current pH estimates based on observations, and new model calculations on the local and global scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Havala O. T. Pye
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Athanasios Nenes
- School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, CH-1015, Switzerland
- Institute for Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Patras, GR-26504, Greece
| | - Becky Alexander
- Department of Atmospheric Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA
| | - Andrew P. Ault
- Department of Chemistry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-1055, USA
| | - Mary C. Barth
- National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, 80307, USA
| | - Simon L. Clegg
- School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK
| | - Jeffrey L. Collett
- Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - Kathleen M. Fahey
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Christopher J. Hennigan
- Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD, 21250, USA
| | - Hartmut Herrmann
- Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, 04318, Germany
| | - Maria Kanakidou
- Department of Chemistry, University of Crete, Voutes, Heraklion Crete, 71003, Greece
| | - James T. Kelly
- Office of Air Quality Planning & Standards, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - I-Ting Ku
- Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
| | - V. Faye McNeill
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY, 10027, USA
| | - Nicole Riemer
- Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, 61801, USA
| | - Thomas Schaefer
- Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, 04318, Germany
| | - Guoliang Shi
- State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Urban Ambient Air Particulate Matter Pollution Prevention and Control, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300071, China
| | - Andreas Tilgner
- Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leipzig, 04318, Germany
| | - John T. Walker
- Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC, 27711, USA
| | - Tao Wang
- Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China
| | - Rodney Weber
- School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA
| | - Jia Xing
- School of Environment, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, China
| | - Rahul A. Zaveri
- Atmospheric Sciences & Global Change Division, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, WA, 99352, USA
| | - Andreas Zuend
- Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, H3A 0B9, Canada
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Herrmann H, Schaefer T, Tilgner A, Styler SA, Weller C, Teich M, Otto T. Tropospheric aqueous-phase chemistry: kinetics, mechanisms, and its coupling to a changing gas phase. Chem Rev 2015; 115:4259-334. [PMID: 25950643 DOI: 10.1021/cr500447k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 211] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hartmut Herrmann
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Thomas Schaefer
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Andreas Tilgner
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Sarah A Styler
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Christian Weller
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Monique Teich
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tobias Otto
- Atmospheric Chemistry Department (ACD), Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS), Permoserstraße 15, 04318 Leipzig, Germany
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Rosenfeld D, Rudich Y, Lahav R. Desert dust suppressing precipitation: a possible desertification feedback loop. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2001; 98:5975-80. [PMID: 11353821 PMCID: PMC33408 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.101122798] [Citation(s) in RCA: 145] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The effect of desert dust on cloud properties and precipitation has so far been studied solely by using theoretical models, which predict that rainfall would be enhanced. Here we present observations showing the contrary; the effect of dust on cloud properties is to inhibit precipitation. Using satellite and aircraft observations we show that clouds forming within desert dust contain small droplets and produce little precipitation by drop coalescence. Measurement of the size distribution and the chemical analysis of individual Saharan dust particles collected in such a dust storm suggest a possible mechanism for the diminished rainfall. The detrimental impact of dust on rainfall is smaller than that caused by smoke from biomass burning or anthropogenic air pollution, but the large abundance of desert dust in the atmosphere renders it important. The reduction of precipitation from clouds affected by desert dust can cause drier soil, which in turn raises more dust, thus providing a possible feedback loop to further decrease precipitation. Furthermore, anthropogenic changes of land use exposing the topsoil can initiate such a desertification feedback process.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Rosenfeld
- Institute of Earth Sciences, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 91904, Israel
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