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Enhanced organic mass fraction and decreased hygroscopicity of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) during new particle formation events
Author(s) -
Dusek U.,
Frank G. P.,
Curtius J.,
Drewnick F.,
Schneider J.,
Kürten A.,
Rose D.,
Andreae M. O.,
Borrmann S.,
Pöschl U.
Publication year - 2010
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 - 10.1029/2009gl040930
Subject(s) - cloud condensation nuclei , condensation , particle (ecology) , fraction (chemistry) , mass fraction , aerosol , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , materials science , chemistry , meteorology , geology , physics , organic chemistry , oceanography
In a forested near‐urban location in central Germany, the CCN efficiency of particles smaller than 100 nm decreases significantly during periods of new particle formation. This results in an increase of average activation diameters, ranging from 5 to 8% at supersaturations of 0.33% and 0.74%, respectively. At the same time, the organic mass fraction in the sub‐100‐nm size range increases from approximately 2/3 to 3/4. This provides evidence that secondary organic aerosol (SOA) components are involved in the growth of new particles to larger sizes, and that the reduced CCN efficiency of small particles is caused by the low hygroscopicity of the condensing material. The observed dependence of particle hygroscopicity ( κ ) on chemical composition can be parameterized as a function of organic and inorganic mass fractions (f org , f inorg ) determined by aerosol mass spectrometry: κ = κ org f org + κ inorg f inorg . The obtained value of κ org ≈ 0.1 is characteristic for SOA, and κ inorg ≈ 0.7 is consistent with the observed mix of ammonium, sulfate and nitrate ions.