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A simplified description of the evolution of organic aerosol composition in the atmosphere
Author(s) -
Heald C. L.,
Kroll J. H.,
Jimenez J. L.,
Docherty K. S.,
DeCarlo P. F.,
Aiken A. C.,
Chen Q.,
Martin S. T.,
Farmer D. K.,
Artaxo P.
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 - 10.1029/2010gl042737
Subject(s) - aerosol , atmosphere (unit) , chemical composition , atmospheric chemistry , condensation , atmospheric sciences , composition (language) , range (aeronautics) , environmental science , environmental chemistry , ozone , chemistry , meteorology , materials science , physics , organic chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , composite material
Organic aerosol (OA) in the atmosphere consists of a multitude of organic species which are either directly emitted or the products of a variety of chemical reactions. This complexity challenges our ability to explicitly characterize the chemical composition of these particles. We find that the bulk composition of OA from a variety of environments (laboratory and field) occupies a narrow range in the space of a Van Krevelen diagram (H:C versus O:C), characterized by a slope of ∼−1. The data show that atmospheric aging, involving processes such as volatilization, oxidation, mixing of air masses or condensation of further products, is consistent with movement along this line, producing a more oxidized aerosol. This finding has implications for our understanding of the evolution of atmospheric OA and representation of these processes in models.