TY - JOUR
T1 - Rapid growth of Aitken-mode particles during Arctic summer by fog chemical processing and its implication
AU - Kecorius, Simonas
AU - Hoffmann, Erik H.
AU - Tilgner, Andreas
AU - Barrientos-Velasco, Carola
AU - van Pinxteren, Manuela
AU - Zeppenfeld, Sebastian
AU - Vogl, Teresa
AU - Madueño, Leizel
AU - Lovrić, Mario
AU - Wiedensohler, Alfred
AU - Kulmala, Markku
AU - Paasonen, Pauli
AU - Herrmann, Hartmut
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of National Academy of Sciences. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial reproduction and distribution of the work, in any medium, provided the original work is not altered or transformed in any way, and that the work is properly cited. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.
PY - 2023/5/1
Y1 - 2023/5/1
N2 - In the Arctic, new particle formation (NPF) and subsequent growth processes are the keys to produce Aitken-mode particles, which under certain conditions can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs). The activation of Aitken-mode particles increases the CCN budget of Arctic low-level clouds and, accordingly, affects Arctic climate forcing. However, the growth mechanism of Aitken-mode particles from NPF into CCN range in the summertime Arctic boundary layer remains a subject of current research. In this combined Arctic cruise field and modeling study, we investigated Aitken-mode particle growth to sizes above 80 nm. A mechanism is suggested that explains how Aitken-mode particles can become CCN without requiring high water vapor supersaturation. Model simulations suggest the formation of semivolatile compounds, such as methanesulfonic acid (MSA) in fog droplets. When the fog droplets evaporate, these compounds repartition from CCNs into the gas phase and into the condensed phase of nonactivated Aitken-mode particles. For MSA, a mass increase factor of 18 is modeled. The postfog redistribution mechanism of semivolatile acidic and basic compounds could explain the observed growth of >20 nm h−1 for 60-nm particles to sizes above 100 nm. Overall, this study implies that the increasing frequency of NPF and fog-related particle processing can affect Arctic cloud properties in the summertime boundary layer.
AB - In the Arctic, new particle formation (NPF) and subsequent growth processes are the keys to produce Aitken-mode particles, which under certain conditions can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCNs). The activation of Aitken-mode particles increases the CCN budget of Arctic low-level clouds and, accordingly, affects Arctic climate forcing. However, the growth mechanism of Aitken-mode particles from NPF into CCN range in the summertime Arctic boundary layer remains a subject of current research. In this combined Arctic cruise field and modeling study, we investigated Aitken-mode particle growth to sizes above 80 nm. A mechanism is suggested that explains how Aitken-mode particles can become CCN without requiring high water vapor supersaturation. Model simulations suggest the formation of semivolatile compounds, such as methanesulfonic acid (MSA) in fog droplets. When the fog droplets evaporate, these compounds repartition from CCNs into the gas phase and into the condensed phase of nonactivated Aitken-mode particles. For MSA, a mass increase factor of 18 is modeled. The postfog redistribution mechanism of semivolatile acidic and basic compounds could explain the observed growth of >20 nm h−1 for 60-nm particles to sizes above 100 nm. Overall, this study implies that the increasing frequency of NPF and fog-related particle processing can affect Arctic cloud properties in the summertime boundary layer.
KW - aerosol growth
KW - aqueous-phase processing
KW - Arctic fog
KW - cloud condensation nuclei
KW - new particle formation
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85177578559&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad124
DO - 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgad124
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85177578559
SN - 2752-6542
VL - 2
JO - PNAS Nexus
JF - PNAS Nexus
IS - 5
M1 - pgad124
ER -