Aerosol size distribution and new particle formation in the western Yangtze River Delta of China: 2 years of measurements at the SORPES station

Qi, Xuefei; Ding, Aijun; Nie, Wei; Petäj̈ä, Tuukka; Kerminen, Veli‐Matti; Herrmann, Erik; Xie, Yue; Zheng, Longfei; Manninen, Hanna E.; Aalto, Pasi; Sun, Jianning; Xu, Zheng; G., X.; Huang, Xianyu; Boy, Michael; Virkkula, Aki; Yang, Xiu‐Qun; Fu, Congbin; Kulmala, Markku

doi:10.5194/acp-15-12445-2015

Cited by 118 publications

(122 citation statements)

References 76 publications

(100 reference statements)

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“…In addition to gaseous precursors participating in nucleation and subsequent condensational growth, there has been a consensus that the occurrence of a NPF event is also limited by A Fuchs , because the survival possibility of nucleated particles is suppressed when the coagulation scavenging effect is significant (Weber et al, 1997;Kerminen et al, 2001;Kuang et al, 2012). Reported average A Fuchs (or in the form of a condensation sink) on NPF days was found to be lower than that on non-event days at several locations (Dal Maso et al, 2005;Gong et al, 2010;Qi et al, 2015).…”

Section: R Cai Et Al: Aerosol Surface Area Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol surface area concentration: a governing factor in new particle formation in Beijing

Cai¹,

Yang²,

Fu³

et al. 2017

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

102

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Abstract. The predominating role of aerosol Fuchs surface area, A Fuchs , in determining the occurrence of new particle formation (NPF) events in Beijing was elucidated in this study. The analysis was based on a field campaign from 12 March to 6 April 2016 in Beijing, during which aerosol size distributions down to ∼ 1 nm and sulfuric acid concentrations were simultaneously monitored. The 26 days were classified into 11 typical NPF days, 2 undefined days, and 13 non-event days. A dimensionless factor, L , characterized by the relative ratio of the coagulation scavenging rate over the condensational growth rate (Kuang et al., 2010), was applied in this work to reveal the governing factors for NPF events in Beijing. The three parameters determining L are sulfuric acid concentration, the growth enhancement factor characterized by contribution of other gaseous precursors to particle growth, , and A Fuchs . Different from other atmospheric environments, such as in Boulder and Hyytiälä, the dailymaximum sulfuric acid concentration and in Beijing varied in a narrow range with geometric standard deviations of 1.40 and 1.31, respectively. A positive correlation between the estimated new particle formation rate, J 1.5 , and sulfuric acid concentration was found with a mean fitted exponent of 2.4. However, the maximum sulfuric acid concentrations on NPF days were not significantly higher (even lower, sometimes) than those on non-event days, indicating that the abundance of sulfuric acid in Beijing was high enough to initiate nucleation, but may not necessarily lead to NPF events. Instead, A Fuchs in Beijing varied greatly among days with a geometric standard deviation of 2.56, whereas the variabilities of A Fuchs in Tecamac, Atlanta, and Boulder were reported to be much smaller. In addition, there was a good correlation between A Fuchs and L in Beijing (R 2 = 0.88). Therefore, it was A Fuchs that fundamentally determined the occurrence of NPF events. Among 11 observed NPF events, 10 events occurred when A Fuchs was smaller than 200 µm 2 cm −3 . NPF events were suppressed due to the coagulation scavenging when A Fuchs was greater than 200 µm 2 cm −3 . Measured A Fuchs in Beijing had a good correlation with its PM 2.5 mass concentration (R 2 = 0.85) since A Fuchs in Beijing was mainly determined by particles in the size range of 50-500 nm that also contribute to the PM 2.5 mass concentration.

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Section: R Cai Et Al: Aerosol Surface Area Concentrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Aerosol surface area concentration: a governing factor in new particle formation in Beijing

Cai¹,

Yang²,

Fu³

et al. 2017

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

102

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“…In most previous studies, the above population balance method was used to estimate new particle formation rates in China. The reported formation rates of 3 nm particles and larger ones are typically in the range of 1-10 cm −3 s −1 (Wang et al, 2013;Leng et al, 2014;An et al, 2015;Qi et al, 2015). One study in Shanghai reported a rate of 112.4 to 271.0 cm −3 s −1 for the formation of 1.5 nm particles inferred from a DEG-CPC (Xiao et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new balance formula to estimate new particle formation rate: reevaluating the effect of coagulation scavenging

Cai

Jiang

2017

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract.A new balance formula to estimate new particle formation rate is proposed. It is derived from the aerosol general dynamic equation in the discrete form and then converted into an approximately continuous form for analyzing data from new particle formation (NPF) field campaigns. The new formula corrects the underestimation of the coagulation scavenging effect that occurred in the previously used formulae. It also clarifies the criteria for determining the upper size bound in measured aerosol size distributions for estimating new particle formation rate. An NPF field campaign was carried out from 7 March to 7 April 2016 in urban Beijing, and a diethylene glycol scanning mobility particle spectrometer equipped with a miniature cylindrical differential mobility analyzer was used to measure aerosol size distributions down to ∼ 1 nm. Eleven typical NPF events were observed during this period. Measured aerosol size distributions from 1 nm to 10 µm were used to test the new formula and the formulae widely used in the literature. The previously used formulae that perform well in a relatively clean atmosphere in which nucleation intensity is not strong were found to underestimate the comparatively high new particle formation rate in urban Beijing because of their underestimation or neglect of the coagulation scavenging effect. The coagulation sink term is the governing component of the estimated formation rate in the observed NPF events in Beijing, and coagulation among newly formed particles contributes a large fraction to the coagulation sink term. Previously reported formation rates in Beijing and in other locations with intense NPF events might be underestimated because the coagulation scavenging effect was not fully considered; e.g., estimated formation rates of 1.5 nm particles in this campaign using the new formula are 1.3-4.3 times those estimated using the formula neglecting coagulation among particles in the nucleation mode.

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“…As one of the most economically invigorating and densely populated countries, China features simultaneous high aerosol loadings and NPF rates (S. Gao et al, 2011;Guo et al, 2012;Qi et al, 2015). Moreover, the condensational growth of nucleation-mode particles has been indicated as a plausible cause of regional haze events (Guo et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comprehensive modelling study on observed new particle formation at the SORPES station in Nanjing, China

et al. 2016

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Abstract. New particle formation (NPF) has been investigated intensively during the last 2 decades because of its influence on aerosol population and the possible contribution to cloud condensation nuclei. However, intensive measurements and modelling activities on this topic in urban metropolitan areas in China with frequent high-pollution episodes are still very limited. This study provides results from a comprehensive modelling study on the occurrence of NPF events in the western part of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region, China. The comprehensive modelling system, which combines the WRF-Chem (the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry) regional chemical transport model and the MALTE-BOX sectional box model (the model to predict new aerosol formation in the lower troposphere), was shown to be capable of simulating atmospheric nucleation and subsequent growth. Here we present a detailed discussion of three typical NPF days, during which the measured air masses were notably influenced by either anthropogenic activities, biogenic emissions, or mixed ocean and continental sources. Overall, simulated NPF events were generally in good agreement with the corresponding measurements, enabling us to get further insights into NPF processes in the YRD region. Based on the simulations, we conclude that biogenic organic compounds, particularly monoterpenes, play an essential role in the initial condensational growth of newly formed clusters through their low-volatility oxidation products. Although some uncertainties remain in this modelling system, this method provides a possibility to better understand particle formation and growth processes.

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Aerosol size distribution and new particle formation in the western Yangtze River Delta of China: 2 years of measurements at the SORPES station

Cited by 118 publications

References 76 publications

Aerosol surface area concentration: a governing factor in new particle formation in Beijing

Aerosol surface area concentration: a governing factor in new particle formation in Beijing

A new balance formula to estimate new particle formation rate: reevaluating the effect of coagulation scavenging

Comprehensive modelling study on observed new particle formation at the SORPES station in Nanjing, China

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