AAAR 33rd Annual Conference
October 20 - October 24, 2014
Rosen Shingle Creek
Orlando, Florida, USA
Abstract View
Airborne Measurements of Biogenic and Anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation in the Oil Sands Region of Alberta
JOHN LIGGIO, Katherine Hayden, Peter Liu, Amy Leithead, Samar Moussa, Jason O'Brien, Shao-Meng Li, Environment Canada
Abstract Number: 541 Working Group: Aerosol Sources from Emerging Energy Technologies and Production
Abstract The Alberta oil sands (OS) region represents a strategic natural resource and is a key driver of economic development. Its rapid expansion has led to a need for a more comprehensive assessment of the associated potential cumulative environmental impacts. As part of the 2013 JOSM (Joint Canada-Alberta Implementation Plan on Oil Sands Monitoring) summer intensive field campaign, airborne measurements of various gaseous and particulate substances were made in the Athabasca oil sands region between August 13 and Sept 7, 2013. In particular, organic aerosol mass and composition measurements were performed with a High Resolution Time of flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) supported by gaseous measurements of organic aerosol precursors with Proton Transfer Reaction (PTR) and Chemical Ionization (CI) mass spectrometers. The measurements data from selected flights were used to estimate the potential for local anthropogenic OS emissions to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA) downwind of precursor sources, and to investigate the importance of the surrounding biogenic emissions to the overall SOA burden in the region. The results of several flights conducted to investigate these transformations demonstrate that the SOA downwind of OS industrial sources is the product of a complex interaction between biogenic and anthropogenic precursors. Concurrent measurements of isoprene oxidation products (IEPOX) during transformation flights indicate that biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) contributes to the overall SOA formed in the region. The relative contribution of BSOA to the total primary OA and total SOA during a number of flights in the OS region will be described.