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Production Flux and Chemical Characteristics of Spray Aerosol Generated From Raindrop Impact on Seawater and Soil
Author(s) -
Zhou Kaili,
Wang Shurong,
Lu Xiaohui,
Chen Hong,
Wang Lin,
Chen Jianmin,
Yang Xin,
Wang Xiaofei
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2019jd032052
Subject(s) - aerosol , sea spray , seawater , flux (metallurgy) , soil water , sea salt , environmental science , environmental chemistry , sea salt aerosol , atmospheric sciences , chemical composition , mineralogy , chemistry , soil science , geology , organic chemistry , oceanography
Raindrops impacting water or soil generate bubbles, which can burst and eject spray aerosols. However, aerosols resulting from raindrop impact are often overlooked in atmospheric aerosol studies, and their production flux and chemical characteristics have not been quantified. Here we measured the production rate, size distribution, and chemical composition of spray aerosols from laboratory simulations of raindrops impinging on seawater and soils. It was found that the number of spray aerosols produced from each raindrop impact on seawater grows exponentially with increasing raindrop diameter. The spray aerosol production flux was then calculated for a range of rain rates. The spray aerosol production rate from raindrop impact on soil was approximately one order of magnitude lower than that from impact on seawater, but the production rate was enhanced drastically when water ponded on the soil surface. The chemical compositions of the generated spray aerosols were characterized by a single particle mass spectrometer. Generally, spray aerosol from raindrop impact on seawater contained sodium, potassium, calcium, and other metals as well as some organic carbon. The spray aerosols from raindrop impact on soils contained metals and some organic carbon. These aerosol production flux and composition findings are critical to identification of raindrop impact produced aerosols and further investigation of their roles in the atmosphere.