The effect of dry and wet deposition of condensable vapors on secondary organic aerosols concentrations over the continental US
The effect of dry and wet deposition of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) in the gas phase on the concentrations of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is reassessed using recently derived water solubility information. The water solubility of SVOCs was implemented as a function of their volatility distribution within the WRF-Chem regional chemistry transport model, and simulations were carried out over the continental United States for the year 2010. Results show that including dry and wet removal of gas-phase SVOCs reduces annual average surface concentrations of anthropogenic and biogenic SOA by 48 and 63% respectively over the continental US. Dry deposition of gas-phase SVOCs is found to be more effective than wet deposition in reducing SOA concentrations (−40 vs. −8% for anthropogenics, and −52 vs. −11% for biogenics). Reductions for biogenic SOA are found to be higher due to the higher water solubility of biogenic SVOCs. The majority of the total mass of SVOC + SOA is actually deposited via the gas phase (61% for anthropogenics and 76% for biogenics). Results are sensitive to assumptions made in the dry deposition scheme, but gas-phase deposition of SVOCs remains crucial even under conservative estimates. Considering reactivity of gas-phase SVOCs in the dry deposition schememore »
- Publication Date:
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006711
- Type:
- Published Article
- Journal Name:
- Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Name: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online); Journal Volume: 15; Journal Issue: 1; Related Information: CHORUS Timestamp: 2015-01-06 06:35:04; Journal ID: ISSN 1680-7324
- Publisher:
- European Geosciences Union
- Sponsoring Org:
- USDOE
- Country of Publication:
- Germany
- Language:
- English
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1227788