Roles of Sufluric Acid, Ammonia, and Amines on New Particle Formation in Kent, Ohio

Buddhi Pushpawela, SHANHU LEE, Lee Tiszenkel, The University of Alabama in Huntsville

     Abstract Number: 384
     Working Group: Aerosol Chemistry

Abstract
New particle formation (NPF) is the major source of secondary aerosol particles in the atmosphere. NPF events have been observed in different environments around the world, including in urban, industrial, agricultural, and coastal sites, as well as boreal forests and polar regions. Sulfuric acid, ammonia, amines, and highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) are considered the main precursors for NPF. Recent studies have shown that sulfuric acid-amine nucleation may be the key NPF process in polluted urban sites (such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Barcelona). While there have been a large number of measurements of aerosol size distributions, still, simultaneous measurements of aerosol sizes and NPF precursors are extremely limited. We made simultaneous measurements of aerosol sizes, sulfuric acid, ammonia, and C1-C6 amines in the fall of 2013 in Kent, Ohio. This site has abundant sulfuric acid due to emissions from surrounding power plants, and frequent NPF events were observed during long-term observations. In this presentation, we will present data analysis of our unique in-situ measurements, based on the current NPF algorithms provided by the CLOUD chamber experiments. We will discuss the importance of sulfuric acid-amine nucleation, as well as the synergetic effects of ammonia and amines, on NPF, and explore the potential contribution of HOMs to NPF.