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Intense formation of secondary ultrafine particles from Amazonian vegetation fires and their invigoration of deep clouds and precipitation

Journal Article · · One Earth
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12]
  1. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
  2. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
  3. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); University of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory (CSL), Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. Tsinghua University, Beijing (China)
  5. State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex, Beijing (China)
  6. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States)
  7. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO (United States); Ramboll USA, San Francisco, CA (United States)
  8. Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz (Germany); University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA (United States); King Saud University, Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)
  9. Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (Germany); University of Leipzig (Germany)
  10. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  11. Stanford University, CA (United States)
  12. California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA (United States)
New particle formation (NPF) in fire smoke is thought to be unlikely due to large condensation and coagulation sinks that scavenge molecular clusters. We analyze aircraft measurements over the Amazon and find that fires significantly enhance NPF and ultrafine particle (UFP < 50 nm diameter) numbers compared to background conditions, contrary to previous understanding. We identify that the nucleation of dimethylamine with sulfuric acid, which is aided by the formation of extremely low volatility organics in biomass-burning smoke, can overcome the large condensation and coagulation sinks and explain aircraft observations. We show that freshly formed clusters rapidly grow to UFP sizes through biomass-burning secondary organic aerosol formation, leading to a 10-fold increase in UFP number concentrations. Here, we find a contrasting effect of UFPs on deep convective clouds compared to the larger particles from primary emissions for the case investigated here. UFPs intensify the deep convective clouds and precipitation due to increased condensational heating, while larger particles delay and reduce precipitation.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). ARM Data Center; Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Contributing Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL); Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL); Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231; AC02-06CH11357; AC05-76RL01830; SC0021208
OSTI ID:
2376160
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 2376821
Report Number(s):
PNNL-SA--185603
Journal Information:
One Earth, Journal Name: One Earth Journal Issue: 6 Vol. 7; ISSN 2590-3322
Publisher:
Cell PressCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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