Smog chamber experiments were conducted to investigate the chemical and physical transformations of organic aerosol (OA) during photo-oxidation of open biomass burning emissions. The experiments were carried out at the US Forest Service Fire Science Laboratory as part of the third Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment (FLAME III). We investigated emissions from 12 different fuels commonly burned in North American wildfires. The experiments feature atmospheric and plume aerosol and oxidant concentrations; aging times ranged from 3 to 4.5 h. OA production, expressed as a mass enhancement ratio (ratio of OA to primary OA (POA) mass), was highly variable. OA mass enhancement ratios ranged from 2.9 in experiments where secondary OA (SOA) production nearly tripled the POA concentration to 0.7 in experiments where photo-oxidation resulted in a 30 % loss of the OA mass. The campaign-average OA mass enhancement ratio was 1.7 ± 0.7 (mean ± 1σ); therefore, on average, there was substantial SOA production. In every experiment, the OA was chemically transformed. Even in experiments with net loss of OA mass, the OA became increasingly oxygenated and less volatile with aging, indicating that photo-oxidation transformed the POA emissions. Levoglucosan concentrations were also substantially reduced with photo-oxidation. The transformations of POA were extensive; using levoglucosan as a tracer for POA, unreacted POA only contributed 17 % of the campaign-average OA mass after 3.5 h of exposure to typical atmospheric hydroxyl radical (OH) levels. Heterogeneous reactions with OH could account for less than half of this transformation, implying that the coupled gas-particle partitioning and reaction of semi-volatile vapors is an important and potentially dominant mechanism for POA processing. Overall, the results illustrate that biomass burning emissions are subject to extensive chemical processing in the atmosphere, and the timescale for these transformations is rapid

Abstract. The ability of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) produced from the ozonolysis of α-pinene and monoterpene mixtures (α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene and 3-carene) to become cloud droplets was investigated. A static CCN counter and a Scanning Mobility CCN Analyser (a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer coupled with a Continuous Flow counter) were used for the CCN measurements. Consistent with previous studies monoterpene SOA is quite active and would likely be a good source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the atmosphere. A decrease in CCN activation diameter for α-pinene SOA of approximately 3 nm hr −1 was observed as the aerosol continued to react with oxidants. Hydroxyl radicals further oxidize the SOA particles thereby enhancing the particle CCN activity with time. The initial concentrations of ozone and monoterpene precursor (for concentrations lower than 40 ppb) do not appear to affect the activity of the resulting SOA. Köhler Theory Analysis (KTA) is used to infer the molar mass of the SOA sampled online and offline from atomized filter samples. The estimated average molar mass of online SOA was determined to be 180±55 g mol −1 (consistent with existing SOA speciation studies) assuming complete solubility. KTA suggests that the aged aerosol (both from α-pinene and the mixed monoterpene oxidation) is primarily water-soluble (around 65%). CCN activity measurements of the SOA mixed with (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 suggest that the organic can depress surface tension by as much as 10 N m −1 (with respect to pure water). The droplet growth kinetics of SOA samples are similar to (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , except at low supersaturation, where SOA tends to grow more slowly. The CCN activation diameter Correspondence to: S. N. Pandis (spyros@andrew.cmu.edu) of α-pinene and mixed monoterpene SOA can be modelled to within 10-15% of experiments by a simple implementation of Köhler theory, assuming complete dissolution of the particles, no dissociation into ions, a molecular weight of 180 g mol −1 , a density of 1.5 g cm −3 , and the surface tension of water.

Abstract. This study investigates the droplet formation characteristics of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formed during the ozonolysis of sesquiterpene β-caryophyllene (with and without hydroxyl radicals present). Emphasis is placed on understanding the role of semi-volatile material on Cloud Condensation Nucleus (CCN) activity and droplet growth kinetics. Aging of β-caryophyllene SOA significantly affects all CCN-relevant properties measured throughout the experiments. Using a thermodenuder and two CCN instruments, we find that CCN activity is a strong function of temperature (activation diameter at ∼0.6% supersaturation: 100±10 nm at 20 • C and 130±10 nm at 35 • C), suggesting that the hygroscopic fraction of the SOA is volatile. The water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) is extracted from the SOA and characterized with Köhler Theory Analysis (KTA); the results suggest that the WSOC is composed of low molecular weight (<200 g mol −1 ) slightly surface-active material that constitute 5-15% of the SOA mass. These properties are similar to the water-soluble fraction of monoterpene SOA, suggesting that predictive understanding of SOA CCN activity requires knowledge of the WSOC fraction but not its exact speciation. Droplet growth kinetics of the CCN are found to be strongly anticorrelated with WSOC fraction, suggesting that the insoluble material in the SOA forms a kinetic barrier that delays droplet growth. Overall, volatilization effects can increase activation diameters by 30%, and depress droplet growth rate by a factor of two; these results may have important impliCorrespondence to: A. Nenes (nenes@eas.gatech.edu) cations for the droplet formation characteristics of SOA, and the atmospheric relevance of CCN measurements carried out at temperatures different from ambient.

Abstract. We quantify the hygroscopic properties of particles freshly emitted from biomass burning and after several hours of photochemical aging in a smog chamber. Values of the hygroscopicity parameter, κ, were calculated from cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements of emissions from combustion of 12 biomass fuels commonly burned in North American wildfires. Prior to photochemical aging, the κ of the fresh primary aerosol varied widely, between 0.06 (weakly hygroscopic) and 0.6 (highly hygroscopic). The hygroscopicity of the primary aerosol was positively correlated with the inorganic mass fraction of the particles. Photochemical processing reduced the range of κ values to between 0.08 and 0.3. The changes in κ were driven by the photochemical production of secondary organic aerosol (SOA). SOA also contributed to growth of particles formed during nucleation events. Analysis of the nucleation mode particles enabled the first direct quantification of the hygroscopicity parameter κ for biomass burning SOA, which was on average 0.11, similar to values observed for biogenic SOA. Although initial CCN activity of biomass burning aerosol emissions are highly variable, after a few hours of photochemical processing κ converges to a value of 0.2 ± 0.1. Therefore, photochemical aging reduces the variability of biomass burning CCN κ, which should simplify analysis of the potential effects of biomass burning aerosol on climate.

Abstract. Aged organic aerosol (OA) was measured at a remote coastal site on the island of Crete, Greece during the Finokalia Aerosol Measurement Experiment-2008 (FAME-2008, which was part of the EUCAARI intensive campaign of May 2008. The site at Finokalia is influenced by air masses from different source regions, including longrange transport of pollution from continental Europe. A quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS) was employed to measure the size-resolved chemical composition of non-refractory submicron aerosol (NR-PM 1 ), and to estimate the extent of oxidation of the organic aerosol. Factor analysis was used to gain insights into the processes and sources affecting the OA composition. The particles were internally mixed and liquid. The largest fraction of the dry NR-PM 1 sampled was ammonium sulfate and ammonium bisulfate, followed by organics and a small amount of nitrate. The variability in OA composition could be explained with two factors of oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) with differing extents of oxidation but similar volatility. Hydrocarbon-like organic aerosol (HOA) was not detected. There was no statistically significant diurnal variation in the bulk composition of NR-PM 1 such as total sulfate or total organic aerosol concentrations. However, the OA composition exhibited statistically significant diurnal variation with more oxidized OA in the afternoon. The organic aerosol was highly oxidized, regardless of the source region. Total OA concentrations also Correspondence to: S. N. Pandis (spyros@andrew.cmu.edu) varied little with source region, suggesting that local sources had only a small effect on OA concentrations measured at Finokalia. The aerosol was transported for about one day before arriving at the site, corresponding to an OH exposure of approximately 4×10 11 molecules cm −3 s. The constant extent of oxidation suggests that atmospheric aging results in a highly oxidized OA at these OH exposures, regardless of the aerosol source.

A goal of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) experiments performed in smog chambers is to determine the condensation of SOA onto suspended particles. Complicating the calculation of the condensation rate are uncertainties in particle wall-loss rates. Wallloss rates generally depend on particle size, turbulence in the bag, the size and shape of the bag, and particle charge. In analyzing smog-chamber data, some or all of the following assumptions are commonly made regarding the first-order wall-loss rate constant: (a) that it is constant during an experiment; (b) that it is constant between experiments; and (c) that it is not a strong function of particle size for the relatively narrow size distributions in smog chamber experiments. Each of these assumptions may not be justified in some circumstances. We present the development and evaluation of the Aerosol Parameter Estimation (APE) model. APE is an inverse model that solves the aerosol general dynamic equation to determine best estimates for the size-dependent condensation rate and size-dependent wall-loss rate as a function of time. Size distribution measurements from a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS) provide time boundary conditions that constrain the general dynamic equation. The APE model is tested using data from a smog chamber experiment with dry ammonium sulfate particles in which no condensation occurred. Finally, we assess the variability in predicted SOA production between different wall-loss correction methods for relatively-fast-chemistry limonene-ozonolysis experiments and relatively-slow-chemistry toluene-oxidation experi-

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) consists of compounds with a wide range of volatilities and its ambient concentration is sensitive to this volatility distribution. Recent field studies have shown that the typical mass spectrum of ambient oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) as measured by the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) is quite different from the SOA mass spectra reported in smog chamber experiments. Part of this discrepancy is due to the dependence of SOA composition on the organic aerosol concentration. High precursor concentrations lead to higher concentrations of the more volatile species in the produced SOA while at lower concentrations the less volatile compounds dominate the SOA composition. alpha-Pinene, beta-pinene, d-limonene, and beta-caryophyllene ozonolysis experiments were performed at moderate concentration levels. Using a thermodenuder the more volatile SOA species were removed achieving even lower SOA concentration. The less volatile fraction was then chemically characterized by an AMS. The signal fraction of m/z44, and thus the concentration of C02+, is significantly higher for the less volatile SOA. High NO(x) conditions result in less oxidized SOA than low NO(x) conditions, while increasing relative humidity levels results in more oxidized products for limonene but has little effect on alpha-and beta-pinene SOA. Combining a smog chamber with a thermodenuder model employing the volatility basis-set framework, the AMS SOA mass spectrum for each experiment and for each precursor is deconvoluted into low, medium, and high volatility component mass spectra. The spectrum of the surrogate component with the lower volatility is quite similar to that of ambient OOA.

[1] This work explores the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of isoprene secondary organic aerosol (SOA), likely a significant source of global organic particulate matter and CCN, produced from the oxidation with OH from HONO/HOOH photolysis in a temperature-controlled SOA chamber. CCN concentrations, activation diameter, and droplet growth kinetic information were monitored as a function of supersaturation (from 0.3% to 1.5%) for several hours using a cylindrical continuous-flow streamwise thermal gradient CCN counter connected to a scanning mobility particle sizer. The initial SOA concentrations ranged from 2 to 30 mg m −3 and presented CCN activity similar to monoterpene SOA with an activation diameter of 35 nm for 1.5% supersaturation and 72 nm for 0.6% supersaturation. The CCN activity improved slightly in some experiments as the SOA aged chemically and did not depend significantly on the level of NO x during the SOA production. The measured activation diameters correspond to a hygroscopicity parameter value of 0.12, similar to values of 0.1 ± 0.04 reported for monoterpene SOA. Analysis of the water-soluble carbon extracted from filter samples of the SOA suggest that it has a of 0.2-0.3 implying an average molar mass between 90 and 150 g mol (assuming a zero and 5% surface tension reduction with respect to water, respectively). These findings are consistent with known oxidation products of isoprene. Using threshold droplet growth analysis, the CCN activation kinetics of isoprene SOA was determined to be similar to pure ammonium sulfate aerosol.