10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Measured Contributions to Cloud Condensation Nuclei from DMS and Sea Spray in the Marine Atmosphere
Kevin Sanchez, Chia-Li Chen, LYNN RUSSELL, Raghu Betha, Jun Liu, Derek Price, Paola Massoli, Luke Ziemba, Ewan Crosbie, Richard Moore, Markus Müller, Sven A. Schiller, Armin Wisthaler, Alex Lee, Patricia Quinn, Timothy Bates, Jack Porter, Thomas Bell, Eric Saltzmann, Robert D. Vaillancourt, Michael Behrenfeld, Scripps Institution of Oceanography
Abstract Number: 76 Working Group: Remote/Regional Atmospheric Aerosol
Abstract Biogenic sources contribute to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) in the clean marine atmosphere, but few measurements exist to constrain climate model simulations of their importance. The chemical composition of individual atmospheric aerosol particles showed two types of sulfate-containing particles in clean marine air masses in addition to mass-based Estimated Salt particles. Both types of sulfate particles lack combustion tracers and correlate, for some conditions to atmospheric or seawater dimethyl sulfide (DMS) concentrations, which means their source was largely biogenic. The first type is identified as New Sulfate because their large sulfate mass fraction (63% sulfate) and association with entrainment conditions means they could have formed by nucleation in the free troposphere. The second type is Added Sulfate particles (38% sulfate), because they are preexisting particles onto which additional sulfate condensed. New Sulfate particles accounted for 31% (7 cm-3) and 33% (36 cm-3) CCN at 0.1% supersaturation in late-autumn and late-spring, respectively, whereas sea spray provided 55% (13 cm-3) in late-autumn but only 4% (4 cm-3) in late-spring. Our results show a clear seasonal difference in the marine CCN budget, which illustrate how important phytoplankton-produced DMS emissions are for CCN in the North Atlantic.