41. |
- Bell, David M., et al.
(author)
-
Particle-phase processing of α-pinene NO3 secondary organic aerosol in the dark
- 2022
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 22, s. 13167-13182
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The NO3 radical represents a significant nighttime oxidant which is present downstream of polluted environments. Existing studies have investigated the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from NO3 radicals, focusing on the yields, general composition, and hydrolysis of organonitrates; however, there is limited knowledge about how the composition of NO3-derived SOA evolves as a result of particle-phase reactions. Here, SOA was formed from the reaction of α-pinene with NO3 radicals generated from N2O5, and the resulting SOA was aged in the dark. The initial composition of NO3-derived α-pinene SOA was slightly dependent upon the concentration of N2O5 injected (excess of NO3 or excess of α-pinene) but was largely dominated by dimer dinitrates (C20H32N2O8-13). Oxidation reactions (e.g., C20H32N2O8 → C20H32N2O9 → C20H32N2O10) accounted for 60 %-70 % of the particle-phase reactions observed. Fragmentation reactions and dimer degradation pathways made up the remainder of the particle-phase processes occurring. The exact oxidant is not known, although suggestions are offered (e.g., N2O5, organic peroxides, or peroxynitrates). Hydrolysis of -ONO2 functional groups was not an important loss term during dark aging under the relative humidity conditions of our experiments (58 %-62 %), and changes in the bulk organonitrate composition were likely driven by evaporation of highly nitrogenated molecules. Overall, 25 %-30 % of the particle-phase composition changes as a function of particle-phase reactions during dark aging, representing an important atmospheric aging pathway.
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42. |
- Bell, David M., et al.
(author)
-
Particle-phase processing of α-pinene NO3 secondary organic aerosol in the dark
- 2022
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 22:19, s. 13167-13182
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The NO3 radical represents a significant night-time oxidant present in or downstream of polluted environments. There are studies that investigated the formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) from NO3 radicals focusing on yields, general composition, and hydrolysis of organonitrates. However, there is limited knowledge about how the composition of NO3-derived SOA evolves as a result of particle phase reactions. Here, SOA was formed from the reaction of α-pinene with NO3 radicals generated from N2O5, and the resulting SOA aged in the absence of external stimuli. The initial composition of NO3-derived α-pinene SOA was slightly dependent upon the concentration of N2O5 injected (excess of NO3 or excess of α-pinene), but was largely dominated by dimer dinitrates (C20H32N2O8-13). Oxidation reactions (e.g. C20H32N2O8 → C20H32N2O9 → C20H32N2O10 etc...) accounted for 60–70 % of the particle phase reactions observed. Fragmentation reactions and dimer degradation pathways made up the remainder of the particle-phase processes occurring. The exact oxidant is not known, though suggestions are offered (e.g. N2O5, organic peroxides, or peroxy-nitrates). Hydrolysis of −ONO2 functional groups was not an important loss term during dark aging under the relative humidity conditions of our experiments (58–62 %), and changes in the bulk organonitrate composition were likely driven by evaporation of highly nitrogenated molecules. Overall, 25–30 % of the particle-phase composition changes as a function of particle-phase reactions during dark aging representing an important atmospheric aging pathway.
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43. |
- Berchet, Antoine, et al.
(author)
-
Using ship-borne observations of methane isotopic ratio in the Arctic Ocean to understand methane sources in the Arctic
- 2020
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 20:6, s. 3987-3998
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Characterizing methane sources in the Arctic remains challenging due to the remoteness, heterogeneity and variety of such emissions. In situ campaigns provide valuable datasets to reduce these uncertainties. Here we analyse data from the summer 2014 SWERUS-C3 campaign in the eastern Arctic Ocean, off the shore of Siberia and Alaska. Total concentrations of methane, as well as relative concentrations of (CH4)-C-12 and (CH4)-C-13, were measured continuously during this campaign for 35 d in July and August. Using a chemistry-transport model, we link observed concentrations and isotopic ratios to regional emissions and hemispheric transport structures. A simple inversion system helped constrain source signatures from wetlands in Siberia and Alaska, and oceanic sources, as well as the isotopic composition of lower-stratosphere air masses. The variation in the signature of lower-stratosphere air masses, due to strongly fractionating chemical reactions in the stratosphere, was suggested to explain a large share of the observed variability in isotopic ratios. These results point towards necessary efforts to better simulate large-scale transport and chemistry patterns to make relevant use of isotopic data in remote areas. It is also found that constant and homogeneous source signatures for each type of emission in a given region (mostly wetlands and oil and gas industry in our case at high latitudes) are not compatible with the strong synoptic isotopic signal observed in the Arctic. A regional gradient in source signatures is highlighted between Siberian and Alaskan wetlands, the latter having lighter signatures (more depleted in C-13). Finally, our results suggest that marine emissions of methane from Arctic continental-shelf sources are dominated by thermogenicorigin methane, with a secondary biogenic source as well.
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44. |
- Bergamaschi, Peter, et al.
(author)
-
High-resolution inverse modelling of European CH4emissions using the novel FLEXPART-COSMO TM5 4DVAR inverse modelling system
- 2022
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 22:20, s. 13243-13268
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We present a novel high-resolution inverse modelling system ("FLEXVAR") based on FLEXPARTCOSMO back trajectories driven by COSMO meteorological fields at 7 km×7 km resolution over the European COSMO-7 domain and the four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) data assimilation technique. FLEXVAR is coupled offline with the global inverse modelling system TM5-4DVAR to provide background mole fractions ("baselines") consistent with the global observations assimilated in TM5-4DVAR. We have applied the FLEXVAR system for the inverse modelling of European CH4 emissions in 2018 using 24 stations with in situ measurements, complemented with data from five stations with discrete air sampling (and additional stations outside the European COSMO-7 domain used for the global TM5-4DVAR inversions). The sensitivity of the FLEXVAR inversions to different approaches to calculate the baselines, different parameterizations of the model representation error, different settings of the prior error covariance parameters, different prior inventories, and different observation data sets are investigated in detail. Furthermore, the FLEXVAR inversions are compared to inversions with the FLEXPART extended Kalman filter ("FLExKF") system and with TM5-4DVAR inversions at 1° × 1° resolution over Europe. The three inverse modelling systems show overall good consistency of the major spatial patterns of the derived inversion increments and in general only relatively small differences in the derived annual total emissions of larger country regions. At the same time, the FLEXVAR inversions at 7 km × 7 km resolution allow the observations to be better reproduced than the TM5-4DVAR simulations at 1° × 1°. The three inverse models derive higher annual total CH4 emissions in 2018 for Germany, France, and BENELUX compared to the sum of anthropogenic emissions reported to UNFCCC and natural emissions estimated from the Global Carbon Project CH4 inventory, but the uncertainty ranges of top-down and bottom-up total emission estimates overlap for all three country regions. In contrast, the top-down estimates for the sum of emissions from the UK and Ireland agree relatively well with the total of anthropogenic and natural bottom-up inventories.
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45. |
- Bergström, Robert, et al.
(author)
-
Biotic stress: a significant contributor to organic aerosol in Europe?
- 2014
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In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 14:24, s. 13643-13660
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We have investigated the potential impact on organic aerosol formation from biotic stress-induced emissions (SIE) of organic molecules from forests in Europe (north of lat. 45° N). Emission estimates for sesquiterpenes (SQT), methyl salicylate (MeSA) and unsaturated C17 compounds, due to different stressors, are based on experiments in the Jülich Plant Atmosphere Chamber (JPAC), combined with estimates of the fraction of stressed trees in Europe based on reported observed tree damage. SIE were introduced in the EMEP MSC-W chemical transport model and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields from the SIE were taken from the JPAC experiments. Based on estimates of current levels of infestation and the JPAC aerosol yields, the model results suggest that the contribution to SOA in large parts of Europe may be substantial. It is possible that SIE contributes as much, or more, to organic aerosol than the constitutive biogenic VOC emissions, at least during some periods. Based on the assumptions in this study, SIE-SOA are estimated to constitute between 50 and 70 % of the total biogenic SOA (BSOA) in a current-situation scenario where the biotic stress in northern and central European forests causes large SIE of MeSA and SQT. An alternative current-situation scenario with lower SIE, consisting solely of SQT, leads to lower SIE-SOA, between 20 and 40 % of the total BSOA. Hypothetical future scenarios with increased SIE, due to higher degrees of biotic stress, show that SOA formation due to SIE can become even larger. Unsaturated C17 BVOC (biogenic volatile organic compounds) emitted by spruce infested by the forest-honey generating bark louse, Cinara pilicornis, have a high SOA-forming potential. A model scenario investigating the effect of a regional, episodic infestation of Cinara pilicornis in Baden-Württemberg, corresponding to a year with high production of forest honey, shows that these types of events could lead to very large organic aerosol formation in the infested region. We have used the best available laboratory data on biotic SIE applicable to northern and central European forests. Using these data and associated assumptions, we have shown that SIE are potentially important for SOA formation but the magnitude of the impact is uncertain and needs to be constrained by further laboratory, field and modelling studies. As an example, the MeSA, which is released as a consequence of various types of biotic stress, is found to have a potentially large impact on SIE-SOA in Europe, but different assumptions regarding the nighttime chemistry of MeSA can change its SOA potential substantially. Thus, further investigations of the atmospheric chemistry of MeSA and observational field studies are needed to clarify the role of this compound in the atmosphere.
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46. |
- Bergström, Robert, et al.
(author)
-
Modelling of organic aerosols over Europe (2002-2007) using a volatility basis set (VBS) framework: application of different assumptions regarding the formation of secondary organic aerosol
- 2012
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 12:18, s. 8499-8527
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A new organic aerosol module has been implemented into the EMEP chemical transport model. Four different volatility basis set (VBS) schemes have been tested in long-term simulations for Europe, covering the six years 2002-2007. Different assumptions regarding partitioning of primary organic aerosol and aging of primary semi-volatile and intermediate volatility organic carbon (S/IVOC) species and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) have been explored. Model results are compared to filter measurements, aerosol mass spectrometry (AMS) data and source apportionment studies, as well as to other model studies. The present study indicates that many different sources contribute significantly to organic aerosol in Europe. Biogenic and anthropogenic SOA, residential wood combustion and vegetation fire emissions may all contribute more than 10% each over substantial parts of Europe. This study shows smaller contributions from biogenic SOA to organic aerosol in Europe than earlier work, but relatively greater anthropogenic SOA. Simple VBS based organic aerosol models can give reasonably good results for summer conditions but more observational studies are needed to constrain the VBS parameterisations and to help improve emission inventories. The volatility distribution of primary emissions is one important issue for further work. Emissions of volatile organic compounds from biogenic sources are also highly uncertain and need further validation. We can not reproduce winter levels of organic aerosol in Europe, and there are many indications that the present emission inventories substantially underestimate emissions from residential wood combustion in large parts of Europe.
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47. |
- Berthet, Gwenaël, et al.
(author)
-
Impact of a moderate volcanic eruption on chemistry in the lower stratosphere : balloon-borne observations and model calculations
- 2017
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 17:3, s. 2229-2253
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The major volcanic eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 has been shown to have significant effects on stratospheric chemistry and ozone depletion even at midlatitudes. Since then, only moderate but recurrent volcanic eruptions have modulated the stratospheric aerosol loading and are assumed to be one cause for the reported increase in the global aerosol content over the past 15 years. This particularly enhanced aerosol context raises questions about the effects on stratospheric chemistry which depend on the latitude, altitude and season of injection. In this study, we focus on the midlatitude Sarychev volcano eruption in June 2009, which injected 0.9 Tg of sulfur dioxide (about 20 times less than Pinatubo) into a lower stratosphere mainly governed by high-stratospheric temperatures. Together with in situ measurements of aerosol amounts, we analyse high-resolution in situ and/or remote-sensing observations of NO2, HNO3 and BrO from balloon-borne infrared and UV-visible spectrometers launched in Sweden in August-September 2009. It is shown that differences between observations and three-dimensional (3-D) chemistry-transport model (CTM) outputs are not due to transport calculation issues but rather reflect the chemical impact of the volcanic plume below 19 km altitude. Good measurement-model agreement is obtained when the CTM is driven by volcanic aerosol loadings derived from in situ or space-borne data. As a result of enhanced N2O5 hydrolysis in the Sarychev volcanic aerosol conditions, the model calculates reductions of similar to 45% and increases of similar to 11% in NO2 and HNO3 amounts respectively over the August-September 2009 period. The decrease in NOx abundances is limited due to the expected saturation effect for high aerosol loadings. The links between the various chemical catalytic cycles involving chlorine, bromine, nitrogen and HOx compounds in the lower stratosphere are discussed. The increased BrO amounts (similar to 22 %) compare rather well with the balloon-borne observations when volcanic aerosol levels are accounted for in the CTM and appear to be mainly controlled by the coupling with nitrogen chemistry rather than by enhanced BrONO2 hydrolysis. We show that the chlorine partitioning is significantly controlled by enhanced BrONO2 hydrolysis. However, simulated effects of the Sarychev eruption on chlorine activation are very limited in the high-temperature conditions in the stratosphere in the period considered, inhibiting the effect of ClONO2 hydrolysis. As a consequence, the simulated chemical ozone loss due to the Sarychev aerosols is low with a reduction of -22 ppbv (-1.5 %) of the ozone budget around 16 km. This is at least 10 times lower than the maximum ozone depletion from chemical processes (up to -20 %) reported in the Northern Hemisphere lower stratosphere over the first year following the Pinatubo eruption. This study suggests that moderate volcanic eruptions have limited chemical effects when occurring at midlatitudes (restricted residence times) and outside winter periods (high-temperature conditions). However, it would be of interest to investigate longer-lasting tropical volcanic plumes or sulfur injections in the wintertime low-temperature conditions.
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48. |
- Bibi, Z., et al.
(author)
-
Technical note: A new approach to discriminate different black carbon sources by utilising fullerene and metals in positive matrix factorisation analysis of high-resolution soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer data
- 2021
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 21:13, s. 10763-10777
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Atmospheric aerosol particles are known to have detrimental effects on human health and climate. Black carbon is an important constituent of atmospheric aerosol particulate matter (PM), emitted from incomplete combustion. Source apportionment of BC is very important, to evaluate the influence of different sources. The high-resolution soot particle aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-SP-AMS) instrument uses a laser vaporiser, which allows the real-time detection and characterisation of refractory black carbon (rBC) and its internally mixed particles such as metals, coating species, and rBC subcomponents in the form of HOAĝ€¯+ĝ€¯fullerene. In this case study, the soot data were collected by using HR-SP-AMS during Guy Fawkes Night on 5 November 2014. Positive matrix factorisation was applied to positively discriminate between different wood-burning and bonfire sources for the first time, which no existing black carbon source apportionment technique is currently able to do. Along with this, the use of the fullerene signals in differentiating between soot sources and the use of metals as a tracer for fireworks has also been investigated, which did not significantly contribute to the rBC concentrations. The addition of fullerene signals and successful positive matrix factorisation (PMF) application to HR-SP-AMS data apportioned rBC into more than two sources. These bonfire sources are HOAĝ€¯+ĝ€¯fullerene, biomass burning organic aerosol, more oxidised oxygenated organic aerosol (MO-OOA), and non-bonfire sources such as hydrocarbon-like OA and domestic burning. The result of correlation analysis between HR-SP-AMS data and previously published Aethalometer, MAAP, and CIMS data provides an effective way of gaining insights into the relationships between the variables and provide a quantitative estimate of the source contributions to the BC budget during this period. This research study is an important demonstration of using HR-SP-AMS for the purpose of BC source apportionment. © 2021 Zainab Bibi et al.
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49. |
- Bidleman, Terry Frank, et al.
(author)
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Annual cycles of organochlorine pesticide enantiomers in Arctic air suggest changing sources and pathways
- 2015
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 15:3, s. 1411-1420
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Air samples collected during 1994-2000 at the Canadian Arctic air monitoring station Alert (82 degrees 30'N, 62 degrees 20'W) were analysed by enantiospecific gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for alpha-hexachlorocyclohexane (alpha-HCH), trans-chlordane (TC) and cis-chlordane (CC). Results were expressed as enantiomer fractions (EF = peak areas of (+)/[(+) + (-)] enantiomers), where EFs = 0.5, <0.5 and >0.5 indicate racemic composition, and preferential depletion of (+) and (-) enantiomers, respectively. Long-term average EFs were close to racemic values for alpha-HCH (0.504 +/- 0.004, n = 197) and CC (0.505 +/- 0.004, n = 162), and deviated farther from racemic for TC (0.470 +/- 0.013, n = 165). Digital filtration analysis revealed annual cycles of lower alpha-HCH EFs in summer-fall and higher EFs in winter-spring. These cycles suggest volatilization of partially degraded alpha-HCH with EF < 0.5 from open water and advection to Alert during the warm season, and background transport of alpha-HCH with EF > 0.5 during the cold season. The contribution of sea-volatilized alpha-HCH was only 11% at Alert, vs. 32% at Resolute Bay (74.68 degrees N, 94.90 degrees W) in 1999. EFs of TC also followed annual cycles of lower and higher values in the warm and cold seasons. These were in phase with low and high cycles of the TC / CC ratio (expressed as F-TC = TC/(TC + CC)), which suggests greater contribution of microbially "weathered" TC in summer-fall versus winter-spring. CC was closer to racemic than TC and displayed seasonal cycles only in 1997-1998. EF profiles are likely to change with rising contribution of secondary emission sources, weathering of residues in the environment, and loss of ice cover in the Arctic. Enantiomer-specific analysis could provide added forensic capability to air monitoring programs.
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50. |
- Birch, C. E., et al.
(author)
-
Modelling atmospheric structure, cloud and their response to CCN in the central Arctic : ASCOS case studies
- 2012
-
In: Atmospheric Chemistry And Physics. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 1680-7316 .- 1680-7324. ; 12:7, s. 3419-3435
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Observations made during late summer in the central Arctic Ocean, as part of the Arctic Summer Cloud Ocean Study (ASCOS), are used to evaluate cloud and vertical temperature structure in the Met Office Unified Model (MetUM). The observation period can be split into 5 regimes; the first two regimes had a large number of frontal systems, which were associated with deep cloud. During the remainder of the campaign a layer of low-level cloud occurred, typical of central Arctic summer conditions, along with two periods of greatly reduced cloud cover. The short-range operational NWP forecasts could not accurately reproduce the observed variations in near-surface temperature. A major source of this error was found to be the temperature-dependant surface albedo parameterisation scheme. The model reproduced the low-level cloud layer, though it was too thin, too shallow, and in a boundary-layer that was too frequently well-mixed. The model was also unable to reproduce the observed periods of reduced cloud cover, which were associated with very low cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations (< 1 cm(-3)). As with most global NWP models, the MetUM does not have a prognostic aerosol/cloud scheme but uses a constant CCN concentration of 100 cm(-3) over all marine environments. It is therefore unable to represent the low CCN number concentrations and the rapid variations in concentration frequently observed in the central Arctic during late summer. Experiments with a single-column model configuration of the MetUM show that reducing model CCN number concentrations to observed values reduces the amount of cloud, increases the near-surface stability, and improves the representation of both the surface radiation fluxes and the surface temperature. The model is shown to be sensitive to CCN only when number concentrations are less than 10-20 cm(-3).
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