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During winter 2013-2014 aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) measurements were conducted for the first time with a novel PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 2.5 µm) lens in two major cities of China: Xi'an and Beijing. We denote the periods with visibility below 2 km as extreme haze and refer to the rest as reference periods. During the measurements in Xi'an an extreme haze covered the city for about a week and the total non-refractory (NR)-PM2.5 mass fraction reached peak concentrations of over 1000 µg m-3. During the measurements in Beijing two extreme haze events occurred, but the temporal extent and the total concentrations reached during these events were lower than in Xi'an. Average PM2.5 concentrations of 537 ± 146 µg m-3 and 243 ± 47 µg m-3 (including NR species and equivalent black carbon, eBC) were recorded during the extreme haze events in Xi'an and Beijing, respectively. During the reference periods the measured average concentrations were 140 ± 99 µg m-3 in Xi'an and 75 ± 61 µg m-3 in Beijing. The relative composition of the NR-PM2.5 evolved substantially during the extreme haze periods, with increased contributions of the inorganic components (mostly sulfate and nitrate). Our results suggest that the high relative humidity present during the extreme haze events had a strong effect on the increase of sulfate mass (via aqueous phase oxidation of sulfur dioxide). Another relevant characteristic of the extreme haze is the size of the measured particles. During the extreme haze events, the AMS showed much larger particles, with a volume weighted mode at about 800 to 1000 nm, in contrast to about 400 nm during reference periods. These large particle sizes made the use of the PM2.5 inlet crucial, especially during the severe haze events, where 39 ± 5 % of the mass would have been lost in the conventional PM1 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤ 1 µm) inlet. A novel positive matrix factorization procedure was developed to apportion the sources of organic aerosols (OA) based on their mass spectra using the multilinear engine (ME-2) controlled via the source finder (SoFi). The procedure allows an effective exploration of the solution space, a more objective selection of the best solution and an estimation of the rotational uncertainties. Our results clearly show an increase of the oxygenated organic aerosol (OOA) mass during extreme haze events. The contribution of OOA to the total OA increased from the reference to the extreme haze periods from 16.2 ± 1.1 to 31.3 ± 1.5 % in Xi'an and from 15.7 ± 0.7 to 25.0 ± 1.2 % in Beijing. By contrast, during the reference periods the total OA mass was dominated by domestic emissions of primary aerosols from biomass burning in Xi'an (42.2 ± 1.5 % of OA) and coal combustion in Beijing (55.2 ± 1.6 % of OA). These two sources are also mostly responsible for extremely high polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations measured with the AMS (campaign average of 2.1 ± 2.0 µg m-3 and frequent peak concentrations above 10 µg m-3). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first dataset where the simultaneous extraction of these two primary sources could be achieved by conducting on-line AMS measurements at two areas with contrasted emission patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In early spring the Baltic region is frequently affected by high pollution events due to biomass burning in that area. Here we present a comprehensive study to investigate the impact of biomass/grass burning (BB) on the evolution and composition of aerosol in Preila, Lithuania, during springtime open fires. Non-refractory submicron particulate matter (NR-PM1) was measured by an Aerodyne aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ACSM) and a source apportionment with the multilinear engine (ME-2) running the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model was applied to the organic aerosol fraction to investigate the impact of biomass/grass burning. Satellite observations over regions of biomass burning activity supported the results and identification of air mass transport to the area of investigation. Sharp increases in biomass burning tracers, such as levoglucosan up to 683 ng m-3 and black carbon (BC) up to 17 μg m-3 were observed during this period. A further separation between fossil and non-fossil primary and secondary contributions was obtained by coupling ACSM PMF results and radiocarbon (14C) measurements of the elemental (EC) and organic (OC) carbon fractions. Non-fossil organic carbon (OCnf) was the dominant fraction of PM1, with the primary (POCnf) and secondary (SOCnf) fractions contributing 26-44 % and 13-23 % to the TC, respectively. 5-8 % of the TC had a primary fossil origin (POCf), whereas the contribution of fossil secondary organic carbon (SOCf) was 4-13 %. Non-fossil EC (ECnf) and fossil EC (ECf) ranged from 13-24 % and 7-12 %, respectively. Isotope ratio of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes were used to distinguish aerosol particles associated with solid and liquid fossil fuel burning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Field deployments of the Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) have significantly advanced real-time measurements and source apportionment of non-refractory particulate matter. However, the cost and complex maintenance requirements of the AMS make impractical its deployment at suffcient sites to determine regional characteristics. Furthermore, the negligible transmission efficiency of the AMS inlet for supermicron particles significantly limits the characterization of their chemical nature and contributing sources. In this study, we utilize the AMS to characterize the water-soluble organic fingerprint of ambient particles collected onto conventional quartz filters, which are routinely sampled at many air quality sites. The method was applied to 256 particulate matter (PM) filter samples (PM1, PM2.5, PM10) collected at 16 urban and rural sites during summer and winter. We show that the results obtained by the present technique compare well with those from co-located online measurements, e.g. AMS or Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM). The bulk recoveries of organic aerosol (60-91%) achieved using this technique, together with low detection limits (0.8 μg of organic aerosol on the analyzed filter fraction) allow its application to environmental samples. We will discuss the recovery variability of individual hydrocarbon, oxygen containing and other ions. The performance of such data in source apportionment is assessed in comparison to ACSM data. Recoveries of organic components related to different sources as traffic, wood burning and secondary organic aerosol are presented. This technique, while subjected to the limitations inherent to filter-based measurements (e.g. filter artifacts and limited time resolution) may be used to enhance the AMS capabilities in measuring size-fractionated, spatially-resolved long-term datasets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemically resolved (organic, nitrate, sulphate, ammonium) data of non-refractory sub-micron (NR-PM1) aerosol from the first long-term deployment (27 July 2012 to 02 October 2013) of a time-of-flight aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ToF-ACSM) at the Swiss high altitude site Jungfraujoch (3580 m a.s.l.) are presented. Besides total mass loadings, diurnal variations and relative species contributions during the different meteorological seasons, geographical origin and sources of organic aerosol (OA) are discussed. Backward transport simulations shows that the highest (especially sulphate) concentrations of NR-PM1 were measured in air masses advected to the station from regions south of the JFJ while lowest concentrations were seen from western regions. OA source apportionment for each season was performed using the Source Finder (SoFi) interface for the multilinear engine (ME-2). OA was dominated in all seasons by oxygenated OA (OOA, 71-88%), with lesser contributions from local tourism-related activities (7-12%) and hydrocarbon-like OA related to regional vertical transport (3-9%). In summer the OOA can be separated into a background low-volatility OA (LV-OOA I, possibly associated with long range transport) and a slightly less oxidised low-volatility OA (LV-OOA II) associated with regional vertical transport. Wood burning-related OA associated with regional transport was detected during the whole winter 2012/2013 and during rare events in summer 2013, in the latter case attributed to small scale transport for the surrounding valleys. Additionally, the data were divided into periods with free tropospheric (FT) conditions and periods with planetary boundary layer (PBL) influence enabling the assessment of the composition for each. Most nitrate and part of the OA is injected from the regional PBL while sulphate is mainly produced in the FT. The south/north gradient of sulphate is also pronounced in FT air masses (sulphate mass fraction from the south: 45%, from the north: 29%). Furthermore, a detailed investigation of specific marker fragments of the OA spectra (f43, f44, f55, f57, f60) showed different degrees of ageing depending on season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient concentrations of trace elements with 2 h time resolution were measured in PM10-2.5, PM2.5-1.0 and PM1.0-0.3 size ranges at kerbside, urban background and rural sites in London during winter 2012. Samples were collected using rotating drum impactors (RDIs) and subsequently analysed with synchrotron radiation-induced X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (SR-XRF). Quantification of kerb and urban increments (defined as kerb-to-urban and urban-to-rural concentration ratios, respectively), and assessment of diurnal and weekly variability provided insight into sources governing urban air quality and the effects of urban micro-environments on human exposure. Traffic-related elements yielded the highest kerb increments, with values in the range of 10.4 to 16.6 for SW winds (3.3-6.9 for NE) observed for elements influenced by brake wear (e.g. Cu, Sb, Ba) and 5.7 to 8.2 for SW (2.6-3.0 for NE) for other traffic-related processes (e.g. Cr, Fe, Zn). Kerb increments for these elements were highest in the PM10-2.5 mass fraction, roughly twice that of the PM1.0-0.3 fraction. These elements also showed the highest urban increments (~ 3.0), although no difference was observed between brake wear and other traffic-related elements. All elements influenced by traffic exhibited higher concentrations during morning and evening rush hours, and on weekdays compared to weekends, with the strongest trends observed at the kerbside site, and additionally enhanced by winds coming directly from the road, consistent with street canyon effects. Elements related to mineral dust (e.g. Al, Si, Ca, Sr) showed significant influences from traffic-induced resuspension, as evidenced by moderate kerb (3.4-5.4 for SW, 1.7-2.3 for NE) and urban (~ 2) increments and increased concentrations during peak traffic flow. Elements related to regional transport showed no significant enhancement at kerb or urban sites, with the exception of PM10-2.5 sea salt (factor of up to 2), which may be influenced by traffic-induced resuspension of sea and/or road salt. Heavy-duty vehicles appeared to have a larger effect than passenger vehicles on the concentrations of all elements influenced by resuspension (including sea salt) and wearing processes. Trace element concentrations in London were influenced by both local and regional sources, with coarse and intermediate fractions dominated by traffic-induced resuspension and wearing processes and fine particles influenced by regional transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of tools are used to simulate atmospheric aging, including smog chambers and flow reactors. Traditional, large-scale smog chambers age emissions over the course of hours to days, whereas flow reactors rapidly age emissions using high ox- idant concentrations to reach higher degrees of oxygenation than typically attained in smog chamber experiments. The atmospheric relevance of the products generated under such rapid oxidation warrants further study. However, no previously published studies have compared the yields and chemical composition of products generated in flow reactors and smog chambers from the same starting mixture. The yields and composition of the organic aerosol formed from the photo-oxidation of α-pinene and of wood combustion emissions were determined using aerosol mass spectrometry in a smog chamber (SC) and two flow reactors: a potential aerosol mass reactor (PAM) and a micro-smog chamber (MSC). Reactants were sampled from the SC and aged in the MSC and PAM using a range of hydroxyl radical (OH) concentra15 tions and then photo-chemically aged in the SC. The maximum yields/emission factors and the chemical composition of the products in both the α-pinene and wood combustion systems determined with the PAM and SC agreed reasonably well. High OH exposures have been shown previously to lower yields by breaking carbon-carbon bonds and forming higher volatility species, which reside largely in the gas phase, however, fragmentation in the PAM was not observed. The yields determined using the PAM for the α-pinene system were slightly lower than in the SC, possibly from increased wall losses of gas-phase species due to the higher surface area to volume ratios in the PAM, even when offset with better isolation of the sampled flow from the walls. The α-pinene SOA results for the MSC were not directly comparable, as particles were smaller than the optimal AMS transmission range. For the wood combustion system, emission factors measured by the MSC were typically lower than those from the SC, possibly due to nucleation mode particles not observed by the AMS or the condensational loss of gases to the walls inside or after the MSC. The chemical composition of products in the flow reactors and SC were in reasonable agreement in both systems. The emission factors determined using the flow reactors increased relative to the SC when the wood combustion emissions contained higher fractions of aromatic compounds, suggesting that the performance of the flow reactors may be dependent on the chemical composition of the reactants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Source apportionment using the bilinear model through the multilinear engine (ME-2) was successfully applied to non-refractory organic aerosol (OA) mass spectra collected during winter 2011 and 2012 in Zurich, Switzerland using the aerosol chemical speciation monitor ACSM. Five factors were identified: low-volatility oxygenated OA (LV-OOA), semivolatile oxygenated OA (SV-OOA), hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA), cooking OA (COA) and biomass burning OA (BBOA). A graphical user interface SoFi (Source Finder) was developed at PSI in order to facilitate the testing of different rotational techniques available within the ME-2 engine by providing a priori factor profiles for some or all of the expected factors. ME-2 was used to test the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model, the fully constrained chemical mass balance (CMB) model, and partially constrained models utilizing a values and pulling equations. Within the set of model solutions determined to be environmentally reasonable, BBOA and SV-OOA factor mass spectra and time series showed the greatest variability. This variability represents uncertainty in the model solution and indicates that analysis of model rotations provides a useful approach for assessing the uncertainty of bilinear source apportionment models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sulphuric acid, ammonia, amines, and oxidised organics play a crucial role in nanoparticle formation in the atmosphere. In this study, we investigate the composition of nucleated nanoparticles formed from these compounds in the CLOUD chamber experiments at CERN. The investigation is carried out via analysis of the particle hygroscopicity, ethanol affinity, oxidation state, and ion composition. Hygroscopicity was studied by a hygroscopic tandem differential mobility analyser and a cloud condensation nuclei counter, ethanol affinity by an organic differential mobility analyser and particle oxidation level by a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer. The ion composition was studied by an atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The volume fraction of the organics in the particles during their growth from sizes of a few nanometers to tens of nanometers was derived from measured hygroscopicity assuming the Zdanovski-Stokes-Robinson relationship, and compared to values gained from the spectrometers. The ZSR-relationship was also applied to obtain the measured ethanol affinities during the particle growth, which were used to derive the volume fractions of sulphuric acid and the other inorganics (e.g. ammonium salts). In the presence of sulphuric acid and ammonia, particles with a mobility diameter of 150nm were chemically neutralised to ammonium sulphate. In the presence of oxidation products of pinanediol, the organic volume fraction of freshly nucleated particles increased from 0.4 to ~ 0.9, with an increase in diameter from 2 to 63 nm. Conversely, the sulphuric acid volume fraction decreased from 0.6 to 0.1 when the particle diameter increased from 2 to 50 nm. The results provide information on the composition of nucleated aerosol particles during their growth in the presence of various combinations of sulphuric acid, ammonia, dimethylamine and organic oxidation products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a new mobile environmental reaction chamber for the simulation of the atmospheric aging of aerosols from different emissions sources without limitation from the instruments or facilities available at any single site. The chamber can be mounted on a trailer for transport to host facilities or for mobile measurements. Photochemistry is simulated using a set of 40 UV lights (total power 4 KW). Characterisation of the emission spectrum of these lights shows that atmospheric photochemistry can be accurately simulated over a range of temperatures from -7-25 °C. A photolysis rate of NO2, JNO2, of (8.0 ± 0.7) x 10-3 molecules cm-3 s-1 was determined at 25 °C. Further, we present the first application of the mobile chamber and demonstrate its utility by quantifying primary organic aerosol (POA) emission and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) production from a Euro 5 light duty gasoline vehicle. Exhaust emissions were sampled during the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC), the standard driving cycle for European regulatory purposes, and injected into the chamber. The relative concentrations of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and total hydrocarbon (THC) during the aging of emissions inside the chamber were controlled using an injection system developed as a part of the new mobile chamber set up. Total OA (POA + SOA) emission factors of (370 ± 18) x 10-3 g kg-1 fuel, or (14.6 ± 0.8) x 10-3 g km-1, after aging, were calculated from concentrations measured inside the smog chamber during two experiments. The average SOA/POA ratio for the two experiments was 15.1, a much larger increase than has previously been seen for diesel vehicles, where smog chamber studies have found SOA/POA ratios of 1.3-1.7. Due to this SOA formation, carbonaceous particulate matter (PM) emissions from a gasoline vehicle may approach those of a diesel vehicle of the same class. Furthermore, with the advent of emission controls requiring the use of diesel particle filters, gasoline vehicle emissions could become a far larger source of ambient PM than diesel vehicles. Therefore this large increase in the PM mass of gasoline vehicle aerosol emissions due to SOA formation has significant implications for our understanding of the contribution of on-road vehicles to ambient aerosols and merits further study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of smog chamber (SC) experiments was conducted to identify driving factors responsible for the discrepancy between ambient and SC aerosol degree of oxygenation. An Aerodyne high resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer is used to compare mass spectra from α-pinene photooxidation with ambient aerosol. Composition is compared in terms of the fraction of organic mass measured at m/z 44 (f44), a surrogate for carboxylic/organic acids as well as the atomic oxygen-to-carbon ratio (O : C), vs. f43, a surrogate for aldehydes, alcohols and ketones. Low (near-ambient) organic mass concentrations were found to be necessary to obtain oxygenation levels similar to those of low-volatility oxygenated organic aerosol (LV-OOA) commonly identified in ambient measurements. The effects of organic mass loading and OH (hydroxyl radical) exposure were decoupled by inter-experiment comparisons at the same integrated OH concentration. On average, an OH exposure of 2.9±1.3x107 cm-3 h is needed to increase f44 by 1% during aerosol aging. For the first time, LV-OOA-like aerosol from the abundant biogenic precursor α-pinene was produced in a smog chamber by oxidation at typical atmospheric OH concentrations. Significant correlation between measured secondary organic aerosol (SOA) and reference LV-OOA mass spectra is shown by Pearson's R2 values larger than 0.90 for experiments with low organic mass concentrations between 1.5 and 15 µgm-3 at an OH exposure of 4x107cm-3 h, corresponding to about two days oxidation time in the atmosphere, based on a global mean OH concentration of ~ 1x106cm-3. Not only is the α-pinene SOA more oxygenated at low organic mass loadings, but the functional dependence of oxygenation on mass loading is enhanced at atmospherically-relevant precursor concentrations. Since the degree of oxygenation influences the chemical, volatility and hygroscopic properties of ambient aerosol, smog chamber studies must be performed at near-ambient concentrations to accurately simulate ambient aerosol properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of a post-industrial megacity on local and regional air quality was assessed via a month-long field measurement campaign in the Paris metropolitan area during winter 2010. Here we present source apportionment results from three aerosol mass spectrometers and two aethalometers deployed at three measurement stations within 5 the Paris region. Submicron aerosol composition is dominated by the organic fraction (30-36%) and nitrate (28-29%), with lower contributions from sulfate (14-16%), ammonium (12-14%) and black carbon (7-13%). Organic source apportionment was performed using positive matrix factorization, resulting in a set of organic factors corresponding both to primary emission sources and secondary production. The dominant primary sources are traffic (11-15% of organic mass), biomass burning (13-15%) and cooking (11-17% and up to 35% during meal hours). Secondary organic aerosol contributes more than 50% to the total organic mass and includes a highly oxidized factor from indeterminate and/or diverse sources and a less oxidized factor related to wood burning emissions. Black carbon was apportioned to traffic and wood burning sources using a model based on wavelength- dependent light absorption of these two combustion sources. The time series of organic and black carbon factors from related sources were strongly correlated. The similarities in aerosol composition, total mass and temporal variation between the three sites suggest that particulate pollution in Paris is dominated by regional factors, and that the emissions from Paris itself have a relatively low impact on its surroundings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organic aerosol (OA) represents a significant and often major fraction of the non-refractory PM1 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter da < 1 µm) mass. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is an important contributor to the OA and can be formed from biogenic and anthropogenic precursors. Here we present results from the characterization of SOA produced from the emissions of three different anthropogenic sources. SOA from a log wood burner, a Euro 2 diesel car and a two-stroke Euro 2 scooter were characterized with an Aerodynamic high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-TOF-AMS) and compared to SOA from α-pinene. The emissions were sampled from the chimney/tailpipe by a heated inlet system and filtered before injection into a smog chamber. The gas phase emissions were irradiated by xenon arc lamps to initiate photo-chemistry which led to nucleation and subsequent particle growth by SOA production. Duplicate experiments were performed for each SOA type, with the averaged organic mass spectra in the m/z range 12--250 showing Pearson's r values > 0.94 for the correlations between the different SOA types after 5 h of aging. High-resolution mass spectra (HR-MS) showed that the dominant peaks in the MS, m/z 43 and 44, are dominated by the oxygenated ions C2H3O+ and Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(S) cannot be graphically displayed, respectively, similarly to the relatively fresh semi-volatile oxidized OA (SV-OOA) observed in the ambient aerosol. The atomic O : C ratios were found to be in the range of 0.25--0.55 with no major increase during the first 5 h of aging. On average, the diesel SOA showed the lowest O : C ratio followed by SOA from wood burning, α-pinene and the scooter emissions. Grouping the fragment ions based on their carbon number revealed that the SOA source with the highest O : C ratio had the largest fraction of small ions. Fragment ions containing up to 3 carbon atoms accounted for 66%, 68%, 72% and 76% of the organic spectrum of the SOA produced by the diesel car, wood burner, α-pinene and the scooter, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PM1 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter <1 µm) non-refractory components and black carbon were measured continuously together with additional parameters at an urban background site in Barcelona, Spain, during March 2009 (campaign DAURE, Determination of the sources of atmospheric Aerosols in Urban and Rural Environments in the western Mediterranean). Positive matrix factorization (PMF) was conducted on the organic aerosol (OA) data matrix measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer, on both unit mass (UMR) and high resolution (HR) data. Five factors or sources could be identified: LV-OOA (low-volatility oxygenated OA), related to regional, aged secondary OA; SV-OOA (semi-volatile oxygenated OA), a fresher oxygenated OA; HOA (hydrocarbon-like OA, related to traffic emissions); BBOA (biomass burning OA) from domestic heating or agricultural biomass burning activities; and COA (cooking OA). LV-OOA contributed 28% to OA, SV-OOA 27%, COA 17%, HOA 16%, and BBOA 11%. The COA HR spectrum contained substantial signal from oxygenated ions (O/C: 0.21) whereas the HR HOA spectrum had almost exclusively contributions from chemically reduced ions (O/C: 0.03). If we assume that the carbon in HOA is fossil while that in COA and BBOA is modern, primary OA in Barcelona contains a surprisingly high fraction (59%) of non-fossil carbon. This paper presents a method for estimating cooking organic aerosol in ambient datasets based on the fractions of organic mass fragments at m/z 55 and 57: their data points fall into a V-shape in a scatter plot, with strongly influenced HOA data aligned to the right arm and strongly influenced COA data points aligned to the left arm. HR data show that this differentiation is mainly driven by the oxygen-containing ions C3H3O+ and C3H5O+ , even though their contributions to m/z 55 and 57 are low compared to the reduced ions C4HDue to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed. and C4Due to image rights restrictions, multiple line equation(s) cannot be graphically displayed.. A simple estimation method based on the organic mass fragments at m/z 55, 57, and 44 is developed here and allows for a first-order-estimation of COA in urban air. This study emphasizes the importance of cooking activities for ambient air quality and confirms the importance of chemical composition measurements with a high mass and time resolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the performance of the Toronto Photo-Oxidation Tube (TPOT) and Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) flow tube reactors to characterize organic aerosol aging. The study mentions that the difference of TPOT and PAM is that the flow tubes of the PAM system is designed to minimize wall effects while TPOT reactor is designed for heterogeneous aerosol chemistry. The study notes that secondary organic aerosol (SOA) yields are lower in TPOT than in PAM.

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations were measured at Egbert, a rural site in Ontario, Canada during the spring of 2007. The CCN concentrations were compared to values predicted from the aerosol chemical composition and size distribution using κ-Köhler theory, with the specific goal of this work being to determine the hygroscopic parameter (κ) of the oxygenated organic component of the aerosol, assuming that oxygenation drives the hygroscopicity for the entire organic fraction of the aerosol. The hygroscopicity of the oxygenated fraction of the organic component, as determined by an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS), was characterised by two methods. First, positive matrix factorization (PMF) was used to separate oxygenated and unoxygenated organic aerosol factors. By assuming that the unoxygenated factor is completely non-hygroscopic and by varying κ of the oxygenated factor so that the predicted and measured CCN concentrations are internally consistent and in good agreement, κ of the oxygenated organic factor was found to be 0.22±0.04 for the suite of measurements made during this five-week campaign. In a second, equivalent approach, we continue to assume that the unoxygenated component of the aerosol, with a mole ratio of atomic oxygen to atomic carbon (O/C) ≈ 0, is completely non-hygroscopic, and we postulate a simple linear relationship between κorg and O/C. Under these assumptions, the κ of the entire organic component for bulk aerosols measured by the AMS can be parameterised as κorg=(0.29±0.05)∙(O/C), for the range of O/C observed in this study (0.3 to 0.6). These results are averaged over our five-week study at one location using only the AMS for composition analysis. Empirically, our measurements are consistent with κorg generally increasing with increasing particle oxygenation, but high uncertainties preclude us from testing this hypothesis. Lastly, we examine select periods of different aerosol composition, corresponding to different air mass histories, to determine the generality of the campaign-wide findings described above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations were measured at a rural site in Ontario, Canada during the spring of 2007. The CCN concentrations were compared to values predicted from the aerosol chemical composition and size distribution using κ-Köhler theory. The hygroscopicity of the organic component was characterised by two methods, both of which are based on the aerosol's degree of oxygenation as determined by the mass spectra measured with an Aerodyne aerosol mass spectrometer. The first approach uses a statistical technique, positive matrix factorization (PMF), to separate hygroscopic and non-hygroscopic factors while the second uses the O/C, which is an indication of the aerosol's degree of oxygenation. In both cases, the hygroscopicity parameter (κ) of the organic component is varied so that the predicted and measured CCN concentrations are internally consistent and in good agreement. By focussing on a small number of organic components defined by their composition, we can simplify the estimates needed to describe the aerosol's hygroscopicity. We find that κ of the oxygenated organic component from the PMF analysis is 0.20±0.03 while κ of the entire organic component can be parameterized as κorg=(0.30±0.05)×(O/C). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient particulate matter (PM) samples were collected on quartz filters at a rural site in southern Ontario during intensive studies in 2005 and 2007. The concentrations of organic carbon (OC), pyrolysis organic carbon (POC), and elemental carbon (EC) 5 were determined by thermal analysis. These results were compared to the organic aerosol mass concentration (OM) measured by an Aerodyne Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) and to the particle absorption coefficient (basp) obtained from a Radiance Research Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP). The total organic mass to organic carbon ratios (OM/OC) and specific attenuation coefficients (SAC) were also 10 derived. According to the results, the POC mass is proportional to the approximated oxygen mass in the aerosols and OM/OC ratios can be estimated directly from thermal measurements. The study also suggests that the air masses from the south, with relatively low OC/EC ratios, high EC, sulphate contents and OM/OC ratios, were originated from urban and industrial emissions and subsequently experienced photo-oxidations in 15 the atmosphere, implying that the oxygenated organics could come from both primary and secondary sources. Whereas the air masses from the north, with relatively high OC/EC ratios, low EC, sulphate contents and OM/OC ratios, were dominant by the background clean air with relatively larger contributions from biogenic emissions. The mean SAC derived from the 2005 and 2007 studies are 4.9 m2 g-1 and 20 3.8 m2 g-1, respectively. When POC mass approaching zero (i.e. the impact of atmospheric aging is minimized), the SAC for primary emitted soot is estimated to be 5.8 m2 g-1 and 6.3 m2 g-1 for the northern and southern air masses, respectively, supported by the corresponding values when particulate sulphate concentration approaches zero. A decreasing trend in the SAC value with atmospheric aging of the 25 aerosol was observed at the site, suggesting that during the study, the light absorption enhancement due to the presence of coating on particles was likely to be offset by the decrease in light absorption caused by increasing soot particle diameter and collapsing of soot particle structure. This result may imply that model simulations of atmospheric warming by BC could be 50% too high. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth rates of water droplets were measured with a static diffusion cloud condensation chamber in May-June 2007 at a rural field site in Southern Ontario, Canada, 70 km north of Toronto. Observations were made during periods when the winds were from the south and the site was impacted by anthropogenic air from the US and Southern Ontario as well as during a 5-day period of northerly wind flow when the aerosol was dominated by biogenic sources. The growth of droplets on anthropogenic size-selected particles centred at 0.1 μm diameter and composed of approximately 40% organic and 60% ammonium sulphate (AS) by mass, was delayed on the order of 1 second compared to a pure AS aerosol. Simulations of the growth rate indicate that a lowering of the water mass accommodation coefficient from αc = 1 to an average of αc = 0.044 is needed (assuming an insoluble organic with hygroscopicity parameter, κorg, of zero). In contrast, the growth rate of the aerosol of biogenic character, consisting of >80% organic, was similar to that of pure AS. Simulations of the predominantly biogenic aerosol show agreement between the observations and simulations when κorg = 0.05-0.2 and αc = 1. Inhibition of water uptake by the anthropogenic organic applied to an adiabatic cloud parcel model in the form of a constant low c increases the number of droplets in a cloud compared to pure AS. If the αc is assumed to increase with increasing liquid water on the droplets, then the number of droplets decreases which could diminish the indirect effect. The slightly lower κorg in the biogenic case decreases the number of droplets in a cloud compared to pure AS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]