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Evidence for Diverse Biogeochemical Drivers of Boreal Forest New Particle Formation
Author(s) -
Lawler Michael J.,
Rissanen Matti P.,
Ehn Mikael,
Mauldin R. Lee,
Sarnela Nina,
Sipilä Mikko,
Smith James N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2017gl076394
Subject(s) - aerosol , biogeochemical cycle , environmental science , environmental chemistry , taiga , particle (ecology) , boreal , atmospheric sciences , abundance (ecology) , methanesulfonic acid , mass spectrometry , chemical ionization , chemistry , ionization , oceanography , ecology , geology , organic chemistry , biology , ion , chromatography
New particle formation (NPF) is an important contributor to particle number in many locations, but the chemical drivers for this process are not well understood. Daytime NPF events occur regularly in the springtime Finnish boreal forest and strongly impact aerosol abundance. In April 2014 size‐resolved chemical measurements of ambient nanoparticles were made using the Time‐of‐Flight Thermal Desorption Chemical ionization Mass Spectrometer and we report results from two NPF events. While growth overall was dominated by terpene oxidation products, newly formed 20–70 nm particles showed enhancement in apparent alkanoic acids. The events occurred on days with rapid transport of marine air, which correlated with low background aerosol loading and higher gas phase methanesulfonic acid levels. These results are broadly consistent with previous studies on Nordic NPF but indicate that further attention should be given to the sources and role of non‐terpenoid organics and the possible contribution of transported marine compounds in this process.