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Evolution of Aerosol Under Moist and Fog Conditions in a Rural Forest Environment: Insights From High‐Resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometry
Author(s) -
Zhang Jie,
Lance Sara,
Marto Joseph,
Sun Yele,
Ninneman Matthew,
Crandall Brian A.,
Wang Junfeng,
Zhang Qi,
Schwab James J.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl089714
Subject(s) - aerosol , mass spectrometry , nitrate , environmental chemistry , environmental science , chemistry , chromatography , organic chemistry
The effect of foggy/moist conditions on the characteristics of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) was studied. Analysis of the high‐resolution time‐of‐flight aerosol mass spectrometer measurements identified two fresh biogenic SOA factors (BSOA: BSOA‐1 and BSOA‐2), hypothesized to be formed through the nighttime reaction of biogenic volatile organic compounds with nitrate radical. During foggy periods, the more oxidized oxygenated OA (MO‐OOA) was scavenged most efficiently (86% removal), followed by the less oxidized OOA (LO‐OOA) (55%), SO 4 (53%), and BSOA (25%). Aerosol mass increased during fog events, and the post‐fog aerosol mass was higher (11%) than during the prefog period, with a reduction for MO‐OOA and an enhancement for LO‐OOA and BSOA. The high positive correlation observed between aerosol liquid water (ALW) and BSOA suggests the importance of aqueous‐phase processing on the BSOA formation, and an increase in log 10 (ALW) of 1 corresponded to an average increase of about 0.9 μg m −3 in BSOA.