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Open AccessJournal ArticleDOI

Atmospheric ion-induced nucleation of sulfuric acid and water

TLDR
In this article, the authors measured the thermodynamics for the growth and evaporation of small cluster ions containing H2SO4 and H2O, and incorporated these data into a kinetic aerosol model to yield quantitative predictions of ion-induced nucleation for atmospheric conditions.
Abstract
[1] Field studies show that gas phase nucleation is an important source of new particles in the Earth's atmosphere. However, the mechanism of new particle formation is not known. The predictions of current atmospheric nucleation models are highly uncertain because the models are based on estimates for the thermodynamics of cluster growth. We have measured the thermodynamics for the growth and evaporation of small cluster ions containing H2SO4 and H2O, and incorporated these data into a kinetic aerosol model to yield quantitative predictions of the rate of ion-induced nucleation for atmospheric conditions. The model predicts that the binary negative ion H2SO4/H2O mechanism is an efficient source of new particles in the middle and upper troposphere. The ion-induced HSO4−/H2SO4/H2O mechanism does explain nucleation events observed in the remote middle troposphere, but does not generally predict the nucleation events observed in the boundary layer.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

Role of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation

Jasper Kirkby, +68 more
- 25 Aug 2011 - 
TL;DR: First results from the CLOUD experiment at CERN are presented, finding that atmospherically relevant ammonia mixing ratios of 100 parts per trillion by volume, or less, increase the nucleation rate of sulphuric acid particles more than 100–1,000-fold and ion-induced binary nucleation of H2SO4–H2O can occur in the mid-troposphere but is negligible in the boundary layer.
Journal ArticleDOI

Nucleation and Growth of Nanoparticles in the Atmosphere

TL;DR: Nucleation and Growth of Nanoparticles in the Atmosphere Renyi Zhang,* Alexei Khalizov, Lin Wang, Min Hu, and Wen Xu.
Journal ArticleDOI

Atmospheric composition change – global and regional air quality

Paul S. Monks, +68 more
TL;DR: A review of the state of scientific understanding in relation to global and regional air quality is outlined in this article, in terms of emissions, processing and transport of trace gases and aerosols.
Journal ArticleDOI

Impact of nucleation on global CCN

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used a global aerosol microphysics model to quantify the contribution of primary and nucleated particles to global cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and showed that boundary layer nucleated CCN are strongly suppressed by both primary emissions and entrainment of particles nucleated in the free troposphere.
Journal ArticleDOI

The role of low-volatility organic compounds in initial particle growth in the atmosphere

Jasmin Tröstl, +90 more
- 26 May 2016 - 
TL;DR: It is shown that organic vapours alone can drive nucleation, and a particle growth model is presented that quantitatively reproduces the measurements and implements a parameterization of the first steps of growth in a global aerosol model that can change substantially in response to concentrations of atmospheric cloud concentration nuclei.
References
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Chemical kinetics and photochemical data for use in stratospheric modeling

TL;DR: As part of a series of evaluated sets, rate constants and photochemical cross sections compiled by the NASA Panel for Data Evaluation are provided in this article, with particular emphasis on the ozone layer and its possible perturbation by anthropogenic and natural phenomena.

Chemical kinetics and photochemical data for use in stratospheric modeling

TL;DR: As part of a series of evaluated sets, rate constants and photochemical cross sections compiled by the NASA Panel for Data Evaluation are provided in this paper, with particular emphasis on the ozone layer and its possible perturbation by anthropogenic and natural phenomena.
Journal ArticleDOI

Formation and growth rates of ultrafine atmospheric particles: a review of observations

TL;DR: In this paper, the formation rate of 3-nm particles is often in the range 0.01-10 cm −3 s −1 in the boundary layer in urban areas and in coastal areas and industrial plumes.
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Role of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation

Jasper Kirkby, +68 more
- 25 Aug 2011 -