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Title: Microphysical explanation of the RH-dependent water affinity of biogenic organic aerosol and its importance for climate

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL073056· OSTI ID:1358118
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  1. Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES) and Bolin Centre for Climate research, Stockholm University, Stockholm Sweden
  2. Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Finland
  3. Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, McGill University, Montreal Quebec Canada
  4. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju Republic of Korea, Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia Canada
  5. Norwegian Meteorological Institute, Oslo Norway
  6. Department of Applied Physics, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio Finland, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University, Houston Texas USA
  7. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder Colorado USA, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boudler Colorado USA
  8. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station Texas USA
  9. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica Massachusetts USA, Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill Massachusetts USA
  10. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA
  11. School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Palea Penteli Greece
  12. School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge Massachusetts USA
  13. Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Helsinki Finland
  14. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester UK
  15. Department of Chemistry, Boston College, Chestnut Hill Massachusetts USA
  16. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica Massachusetts USA
  17. Department of Meteorology, Stockholm University, Stockholm Sweden
  18. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia USA, Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, Palea Penteli Greece, Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, Patras Greece
  19. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester UK, National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), University of Manchester, Manchester UK
  20. Department of Chemistry, University of British Columbia, Vancouver British Columbia Canada

A large fraction of atmospheric organic aerosol (OA) originates from natural emissions that are oxidized in the atmosphere to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Isoprene (IP) and monoterpenes (MT) are the most important precursors of SOA originating from forests. The climate impacts from OA are currently estimated through parameterizations of water uptake that drastically simplify the complexity of OA. We combine laboratory experiments, thermodynamic modeling, field observations, and climate modeling to (1) explain the molecular mechanisms behind RH-dependent SOA water-uptake with solubility and phase separation; (2) show that laboratory data on IP- and MT-SOA hygroscopicity are representative of ambient data with corresponding OA source profiles; and (3) demonstrate the sensitivity of the modeled aerosol climate effect to assumed OA water affinity. We conclude that the commonly used single-parameter hygroscopicity framework can introduce significant error when quantifying the climate effects of organic aerosol. The results highlight the need for better constraints on the overall global OA mass loadings and its molecular composition, including currently underexplored anthropogenic and marine OA sources.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0016559; SC0012792
OSTI ID:
1358118
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1377937; OSTI ID: 1429324
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 64 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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