skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Exploring dimethyl sulfide (DMS) oxidation and implications for global aerosol radiative forcing

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ; ORCiD logo; ; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo; ; ORCiD logo; ORCiD logo

Aerosol indirect radiative forcing (IRF), which characterizes how aerosols alter cloud formation and properties, is very sensitive to the preindustrial (PI) aerosol burden. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), emitted from the ocean, is a dominant natural precursor of non-sea-salt sulfate in the PI and pristine present-day (PD) atmospheres. Here we revisit the atmospheric oxidation chemistry of DMS, particularly under pristine conditions, and its impact on aerosol IRF. Based on previous laboratory studies, we expand the simplified DMS oxidation scheme used in the Community Atmospheric Model version 6 with chemistry (CAM6-chem) to capture the OH-addition pathway and the H-abstraction pathway and the associated isomerization branch. These additional oxidation channels of DMS produce several stable intermediate compounds, e.g., methanesulfonic acid (MSA) and hydroperoxymethyl thioformate (HPMTF), delay the formation of sulfate, and, hence, alter the spatial distribution of sulfate aerosol and radiative impacts. The expanded scheme improves the agreement between modeled and observed concentrations of DMS, MSA, HPMTF, and sulfate over most marine regions, based on the NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom), the Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA), and the Variability of the American Monsoon Systems (VAMOS) Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx) measurements. We find that the global HPMTF burden and the burden of sulfate produced from DMS oxidation are relatively insensitive to the assumed isomerization rate, but the burden of HPMTF is very sensitive to a potential additional cloud loss. We find that global sulfate burden under PI and PD emissions increase to 412 Gg S (+29 %) and 582 Gg S (+8.8 %), respectively, compared to the standard simplified DMS oxidation scheme. The resulting annual mean global PD direct radiative effect of DMS-derived sulfate alone is –0.11 W m–2. The enhanced PI sulfate produced via the gas-phase chemistry updates alone dampens the aerosol IRF as anticipated (–2.2 W m–2 in standard versus –1.7 W m–2, with updated gas-phase chemistry). However, high clouds in the tropics and low clouds in the Southern Ocean appear particularly sensitive to the additional aqueous-phase pathways, counteracting this change (–2.3 W m–2). This study confirms the sensitivity of aerosol IRF to the PI aerosol loading and the need to better understand the processes controlling aerosol formation in the PI atmosphere and the cloud response to these changes.

Research Organization:
Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (ARM) Data Center; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States); National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA); National Science Foundation (NSF)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0018934; Earth System Model Development (ESMD); 80NSSC18K0630; 80NSSC19K0124; 80NSSC21K1451; 1852977; 80NSSC18K0630: 80NSSC19K0124: 80NSSC21K1451; SC0012704; AC05-76RL01830
OSTI ID:
1843049
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1843011; OSTI ID: 1843920; OSTI ID: 1847069; OSTI ID: 1855082; OSTI ID: 1865299
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA-166358; BNL-222799-2022-JAAM
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online), Journal Name: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) Vol. 22 Journal Issue: 2; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
Copernicus GmbHCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
Germany
Language:
English

References (97)

A numerical scheme to calculate temperature and salinity dependent air-water transfer velocities for any gas journal January 2010
Dimethylsulfide in marine air at Cape Grim, 41°S journal January 1995
Organic Sulfur Products and Peroxy Radical Isomerization in the OH Oxidation of Dimethyl Sulfide journal July 2021
High Climate Sensitivity in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) journal July 2019
Aircraft measurements of aerosol and trace gas chemistry in the eastern North Atlantic journal May 2021
Aerosol and Cloud Experiments in the Eastern North Atlantic (ACE-ENA) journal February 2022
Sulfur chemistry in the National Center for Atmospheric Research Community Climate Model: Description, evaluation, features, and sensitivity to aqueous chemistry journal January 2000
Simultaneous Uptake of DMS and Ozone on Water journal June 2001
Aerosols, Cloud Microphysics, and Fractional Cloudiness journal September 1989
Global simulations of ice nucleation and ice supersaturation with an improved cloud scheme in the Community Atmosphere Model journal January 2010
A global three-dimensional model of tropospheric sulfate journal August 1996
Model study of multiphase DMS oxidation with a focus on halogens journal January 2004
The VAMOS Ocean-Cloud-Atmosphere-Land Study Regional Experiment (VOCALS-REx): goals, platforms, and field operations journal January 2011
Measurement of the sea-air DMS flux and transfer velocity using eddy correlation: EDDY CORRELATION DMS FLUXES journal December 2004
DMS oxidation and sulfur aerosol formation in the marine troposphere: a focus on reactive halogen and multiphase chemistry journal January 2018
Diel Profile of Hydroperoxymethyl Thioformate: Evidence for Surface Deposition and Multiphase Chemistry journal August 2020
Global tropospheric halogen (Cl, Br, I) chemistry and its impact on oxidants journal January 2021
Contrasting the direct radiative effect and direct radiative forcing of aerosols journal January 2014
A decade of global volcanic SO2 emissions measured from space journal March 2017
A three-dimensional study of the tropospheric sulfur cycle journal January 1995
The Influence of Pollution on the Shortwave Albedo of Clouds journal July 1977
Description and evaluation of a new four-mode version of the Modal Aerosol Module (MAM4) within version 5.3 of the Community Atmosphere Model journal January 2016
Putting the clouds back in aerosol–cloud interactions journal January 2015
Global airborne sampling reveals a previously unobserved dimethyl sulfide oxidation mechanism in the marine atmosphere journal February 2020
Global volcanic aerosol properties derived from emissions, 1990-2014, using CESM1(WACCM): VOLCANIC AEROSOLS DERIVED FROM EMISSIONS journal March 2016
South East Pacific atmospheric composition and variability sampled along 20° S during VOCALS-REx journal January 2011
Climate Forcing and Trends of Organic Aerosols in the Community Earth System Model (CESM2) journal December 2019
Atmospheric sulfur cycle simulated in the global model GOCART: Model description and global properties journal October 2000
Global NOx emission estimates derived from an assimilation of OMI tropospheric NO2 columns journal January 2012
Stratocumulus Clouds journal August 2012
Effects of aqueous organosulfur chemistry on particulate methanesulfonate to non–sea salt sulfate ratios in the marine atmosphere journal January 2006
Protocol for the development of the Master Chemical Mechanism, MCM v3 (Part A): tropospheric degradation of non-aromatic volatile organic compounds journal January 2003
Model for Simulating Aerosol Interactions and Chemistry (MOSAIC) journal January 2008
Modelling marine emissions and atmospheric distributions of halocarbons and dimethyl sulfide: the influence of prescribed water concentration vs. prescribed emissions journal January 2015
Gaseous (DMS, MSA, SO2, H2SO4 and DMSO) and particulate (sulfate and methanesulfonate) sulfur species over the northeastern coast of Crete journal January 2003
In situ evaluation of air-sea gas exchange parameterizations using novel conservative and volatile tracers journal March 2000
Clouds and Aerosols book June 2014
Radiative Forcing of Nitrate Aerosols From 1975 to 2010 as Simulated by MOSAIC Module in CESM2‐MAM4 journal August 2021
The Importance of the Representation of DMS Oxidation in Global Chemistry‐Climate Simulations journal July 2021
Anthropogenic and Natural Radiative Forcing book June 2014
Reaction of N 2 O 5 on tropospheric aerosols: Impact on the global distributions of NO x , O 3 , and OH journal April 1993
Description and evaluation of the Model for Ozone and Related chemical Tracers, version 4 (MOZART-4) journal January 2010
A time-averaged inventory of subaerial volcanic sulfur emissions journal October 1998
A global database of sea surface dimethylsulfide (DMS) measurements and a procedure to predict sea surface DMS as a function of latitude, longitude, and month journal June 1999
A global model of the coupled sulfur/oxidant chemistry in the troposphere: The sulfur cycle journal January 2004
DMS cycle in the marine ocean-atmosphere system – a global model study journal January 2006
Tuning a physically-based model of the air–sea gas transfer velocity journal January 2010
Strong Deviations from Thermodynamically Expected Phase Partitioning of Low-Molecular-Weight Organic Acids during One Year of Rural Measurements journal March 2021
Stable sulphate clusters as a source of new atmospheric particles journal March 2000
A New Sea Surface Temperature and Sea Ice Boundary Dataset for the Community Atmosphere Model journal October 2008
Large contribution of natural aerosols to uncertainty in indirect forcing journal November 2013
Toward a minimal representation of aerosols in climate models: description and evaluation in the Community Atmosphere Model CAM5 journal January 2012
Historical (1750–2014) anthropogenic emissions of reactive gases and aerosols from the Community Emissions Data System (CEDS) journal January 2018
An advanced modeling study on the impacts and atmospheric implications of multiphase dimethyl sulfide chemistry journal September 2016
OH-Radical-induced oxidation of methanesulfinic acid. The reactions of the methanesulfonyl radical in the absence and presence of dioxygen journal January 2001
Global Atmospheric Budget of Acetone: Air‐Sea Exchange and the Contribution to Hydroxyl Radicals journal August 2020
Interannual variability of atmospheric dimethylsulfide in the southern Indian Ocean journal November 2000
The Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature version 2.1 (MEGAN2.1): an extended and updated framework for modeling biogenic emissions journal January 2012
Mass transfer coefficient correlations for volatilization of organic solutes from water journal April 1983
A framework for expanding aqueous chemistry in the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model version 5.1 journal January 2017
Global source attribution of sulfate concentration and direct and indirect radiative forcing journal January 2017
Processes Responsible for Cloud Feedback journal October 2016
Impact of BrO on dimethylsulfide in the remote marine boundary layer: IMPACT OF BRO + DMS IN RMBL journal January 2010
Historic global biomass burning emissions for CMIP6 (BB4CMIP) based on merging satellite observations with proxies and fire models (1750–2015) journal January 2017
The contribution of ocean-leaving DMS to the global atmospheric burdens of DMS, MSA, SO 2 , and NSS SO 4 = : DMS, MSA, SO journal May 2003
GCM Simulations of the Aerosol Indirect Effect: Sensitivity to Cloud Parameterization and Aerosol Burden journal February 2002
DMS atmospheric concentrations and sulphate aerosol indirect radiative forcing: a sensitivity study to the DMS source representation and oxidation journal January 2003
Flux of dimethylsulfide from the oceans: A comparison of updated data sets and flux models journal November 2000
Natural aerosol direct and indirect radiative effects: NATURAL AEROSOL RADIATIVE EFFECTS journal June 2013
Sulfur processing in the marine atmospheric boundary layer: A review and critical assessment of modeling uncertainties journal June 2009
CAM-chem: description and evaluation of interactive atmospheric chemistry in the Community Earth System Model journal January 2012
New Mechanism for the Atmospheric Oxidation of Dimethyl Sulfide. The Importance of Intramolecular Hydrogen Shift in a CH 3 SCH 2 OO Radical journal December 2014
Chemical and microphysical characterization of ambient aerosols with the aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer journal January 2007
Dimethyl Sulfide and Dimethyl Sulfoxide and Their Oxidation in the Atmosphere journal February 2006
The sulfur cycle at high-southern latitudes in the LMD-ZT General Circulation Model: HIGH-SOUTHERN LATITUDES SULFUR CYCLE journal December 2002
Modeled methanesulfonic acid (MSA) deposition in Antarctica and its relationship to sea ice: MODELED MSA DEPOSITION IN ANTARCTICA journal December 2011
Effect of variations in super-saturation on the formation of cloud condensation nuclei journal May 1994
Significant Underestimation of Gaseous Methanesulfonic Acid (MSA) over Southern Ocean journal October 2019
Fast Peroxy Radical Isomerization and OH Recycling in the Reaction of OH Radicals with Dimethyl Sulfide journal October 2019
A modelling study of the atmospheric chemistry of DMS using the global model, STOCHEM-CRI journal February 2016
Evaluated kinetic and photochemical data for atmospheric chemistry: Volume I - gas phase reactions of O<sub>x</sub>, HO<sub>x</sub>, NO<sub>x</sub> and SO<sub>x</sub> species journal January 2004
An updated climatology of surface dimethlysulfide concentrations and emission fluxes in the global ocean: UPDATED DMS CLIMATOLOGY journal January 2011
Temperature-dependent kinetics studies of aqueous phase reactions of hydroxyl radicals with dimethylsulfoxide, dimethylsulfone, and methanesulfonate journal December 2003
A global off-line model of size-resolved aerosol microphysics: I. Model development and prediction of aerosol properties journal January 2005
Development and Evaluation of Chemistry‐Aerosol‐Climate Model CAM5‐Chem‐MAM7‐MOSAIC: Global Atmospheric Distribution and Radiative Effects of Nitrate Aerosol journal April 2021
Ocean-atmosphere interactions in the global biogeochemical sulfur cycle journal January 1990
Upper tropospheric ozone production from lightning NO x -impacted convection: Smoke ingestion case study from the DC3 campaign journal March 2015
The Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) journal February 2020
Historical greenhouse gas concentrations for climate modelling (CMIP6) journal January 2017
FTIR Kinetic and Mechanistic Study of the Atmospheric Chemistry of Methyl Thiolformate journal January 1996
Mechanistic studies of dimethylsulfide oxidation products using an observationally constrained model journal January 2002
The Chemistry Mechanism in the Community Earth System Model Version 2 (CESM2) journal April 2020
Technical Note: Estimating aerosol effects on cloud radiative forcing journal January 2013
A pulse radiolysis study of the OH radical induced autoxidation of methanesulfinic acid journal March 1996
Gas-aerosol relationships of H 2 SO 4 , MSA, and OH: Observations in the coastal marine boundary layer at Mace Head, Ireland journal January 2002
Reactions of Cl Atoms with Dimethyl Sulfide:  A Theoretical Calculation and an Experimental Study with Cavity Ring-Down Spectroscopy journal June 2004
Oceanic phytoplankton, atmospheric sulphur, cloud albedo and climate journal April 1987

Similar Records

Contribution of expanded marine sulfur chemistry to the seasonal variability of dimethyl sulfide oxidation products and size-resolved sulfate aerosol
Journal Article · Tue Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2024 · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) · OSTI ID:1843049

Aircraft measurements of aerosol and trace gas chemistry in the eastern North Atlantic
Journal Article · Wed May 26 00:00:00 EDT 2021 · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) · OSTI ID:1843049

The potential role of methanesulfonic acid (MSA) in aerosol formation and growth and the associated radiative forcings
Journal Article · Tue Mar 12 00:00:00 EDT 2019 · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online) · OSTI ID:1843049

Related Subjects