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The contribution of sulfuric acid and non‐volatile compounds on the growth of freshly formed atmospheric aerosols
Author(s) -
Wehner B.,
Petäjä T.,
Boy M.,
Engler C.,
Birmili W.,
Tuch T.,
Wiedensohler A.,
Kulmala M.
Publication year - 2005
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 - 10.1029/2005gl023827
Subject(s) - sulfuric acid , aerosol , atmospheric chemistry , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , environmental chemistry , atmospheric composition , chemistry , astrobiology , atmosphere (unit) , meteorology , geology , inorganic chemistry , organic chemistry , physics , ozone
The formation of atmospheric aerosol particles (homogeneous nucleation, forming of stable clusters ∼1 nm in size), their subsequent growth to detectable sizes (>3 nm), and to the size of cloud condensation nuclei, remains one of the least understood atmospheric processes upon which global climate change critically depends. However, a quantitative model explanation for the growth of freshly formed aerosols has been missing. In this study, we present observations explaining the nucleation mode (3–25 nm) growth. Aerosol particles typically grow from 3 nm to 60–70 nm during a day, while their non‐volatile cores grow by 10–20 nm as well. The total particle growth rate is 2–8 nm/h while the non‐volatile core material can explain 20–40%. According to our results, sulfuric acid can explain the remainder of the growth, until the particle diameter is around 10–20 nm. After that secondary organic compounds significantly take part in growth process.