Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) constitutes a substantial fraction of fine particulate matter and has important impacts on climate and human health. The extent to which human activities alter SOA formation from biogenic emissions in the atmosphere is largely undetermined. Here, we present direct observational evidence on the magnitude of anthropogenic influence on biogenic SOA formation based on comprehensive ambient measurements in the southeastern United States (US). Multiple high-time-resolution mass spectrometry organic aerosol measurements were made during different seasons at various locations, including urban and rural sites in the greater Atlanta area and Centreville in rural Alabama. Our results provide a quantitative understanding of the roles of anthropogenic SO2 and NOx in ambient SOA formation. We show that isoprene-derived SOA is directly mediated by the abundance of sulfate, instead of the particle water content and/or particle acidity as suggested by prior laboratory studies. Anthropogenic NOx is shown to enhance nighttime SOA formation via nitrate radical oxidation of monoterpenes, resulting in the formation of condensable organic nitrates. Together, anthropogenic sulfate and NOx can mediate 43–70% of total measured organic aerosol (29–49% of submicron particulate matter, PM1) in the southeastern US during summer. These measurements imply that future reduction in SO2 and NOx emissions can considerably reduce the SOA burden in the southeastern US. Updating current modeling frameworks with these observational constraints will also lead to more accurate treatment of aerosol formation for regions with substantial anthropogenic−biogenic interactions and consequently improve air quality and climate simulations.

[1] Field observations and quantum chemical calculations suggest that amines can be important for formation of nanometer size particles. Amines and ammonia often have common atmospheric emission sources and the similar chemical and physical properties. While the effects of ammonia on aerosol nucleation have been previously investigated, laboratory studies of homogeneous nucleation involving amines are lacking. We have made kinetics studies of multicomponent nucleation (MCN) with sulfuric acid, water, ammonia and amines under conditions relevant to the atmosphere. Low concentrations of aerosol precursors were measured with chemical ionization mass spectrometers (CIMS) to provide constrained precursor concentrations needed for nucleation. Particle sizes larger than $2 nm were measured with a nanodifferential mobility analyzer (nano-DMA), and number concentrations of particles larger than $1 nm were measured with a particle size magnifier (PSM). Our observations provide the laboratory evidence that amines indeed can participate in aerosol nucleation and growth at the molecular cluster level. The enhancement of particle number concentrations due to several atmospherically relevant amine compounds and ammonia were related to the basicity of these compounds, indicating that acid-base reactions may contribute to the formation of sub-3 nm particles. Citation: Yu, H., R. McGraw, and S.-H. Lee (2012), Effects of amines on formation of sub-3 nm particles and their subsequent growth, Geophys.

New particle formation (NPF) represents the first step in the complex processes leading to formation of cloud condensation nuclei. Newly formed nanoparticles affect human health, air quality, weather, and climate. This review provides a brief history, synthesizes recent significant progresses, and outlines the challenges and future directions for research relevant to NPF. New developments include the emergence of state‐of‐the‐art instruments that measure prenucleation clusters and newly nucleated nanoparticles down to about 1 nm; systematic laboratory studies of multicomponent nucleation systems, including collaborative experiments conducted in the Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets chamber at CERN; observations of NPF in different types of forests, extremely polluted urban locations, coastal sites, polar regions, and high‐elevation sites; and improved nucleation theories and parameterizations to account for NPF in atmospheric models. The challenges include the lack of understanding of the fundamental chemical mechanisms responsible for aerosol nucleation and growth under diverse environments, the effects of SO2 and NOx on NPF, and the contribution of anthropogenic organic compounds to NPF. It is also critical to develop instruments that can detect chemical composition of particles from 3 to 20 nm and improve parameterizations to represent NPF over a wide range of atmospheric conditions of chemical precursor, temperature, and humidity.

− 10 7 cm −3 and the slopes of Log J vs. Log [H 2 SO 4 ] and Log J vs. Log [TMA] were 4-6 and 1, respectively, strikingly similar to the case of ammonia (NH 3 ) ternary nucleation (Benson et al., 2011). At lower RH, however, enhancement in J due to TMA was up to an order of magnitude greater than that due to NH 3 . These findings imply that both amines and NH 3 are important nucleation species, but under dry atmospheric conditions, amines may have stronger effects on H 2 SO 4 nucleation than NH 3 . Aerosol models should therefore take into account inorganic and organic base compounds together to fully understand the widespread new particle formation events in the lower troposphere.