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Oxidation Products of Biogenic Emissions Contribute to Nucleation of Atmospheric Particles

2014; American Association for the Advancement of Science; Volume: 344; Issue: 6185 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1126/science.1243527

1095-9203

Francesco Riccobono, Siegfried Schobesberger, Catherine E. Scott, Josef Dommen, Ismaël K. Ortega, L. Rondo, J. Almeida, A. Amorim, Federico Bianchi, Martin Breitenlechner, A. David, A. Downard, E. M. Dunne, Jonathan Duplissy, Sebastian Ehrhart, Richard C. Flagan, Alessandro Franchin, Armin Hansel, Heikki Junninen, M. K. Kajos, Helmi Keskinen, Agnieszka Kupc, Andreas Kürten, Alexander N. Kvashin, Ari Laaksonen, Katrianne Lehtipalo, В. С. Махмутов, Serge Mathot, Tuomo Nieminen, Antti Onnela, Tuukka Petäjä, Arnaud P. Praplan, Filipe Duarte Santos, Simon Schallhart, John H. Seinfeld, Mikko Sipilä, Dominick V. Spracklen, Y. I. Stozhkov, Frank Stratmann, António Tomé, Georgios Tsagkogeorgas, P. Vaattovaara, Y. Viisanen, Aron Vrtala, Paul Wagner, E. Weingartner, Heike Wex, Daniela Wimmer, K. S. Carslaw, Joachim Curtius, Neil M. Donahue, J. Kirkby, Markku Kulmala, Douglas R. Worsnop, Urs Baltensperger,

Atmospheric Ozone and Climate

Atmospheric new-particle formation affects climate and is one of the least understood atmospheric aerosol processes. The complexity and variability of the atmosphere has hindered elucidation of the fundamental mechanism of new-particle formation from gaseous precursors. We show, in experiments performed with the CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber at CERN, that sulfuric acid and oxidized organic vapors at atmospheric concentrations reproduce particle nucleation rates observed in the lower atmosphere. The experiments reveal a nucleation mechanism involving the formation of clusters containing sulfuric acid and oxidized organic molecules from the very first step. Inclusion of this mechanism in a global aerosol model yields a photochemically and biologically driven seasonal cycle of particle concentrations in the continental boundary layer, in good agreement with observations.