A simplified description of the evolution of organic aerosol composition in the atmosphere
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Author(s)
Head, C. L.
Kroll, Jesse
Jimenez, J. L.
Docherty, K. S.
DeCarlo, P. F.
Aiken, A. C.
Chen, Q.
Martin, S. T.
Farmer, D. K.
Artaxo, P.
Date Issued
April 2010
Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Heald, C. L., J. H. Kroll, J. L. Jimenez, K. S. Docherty, P. F. DeCarlo, A. C. Aiken, Q. Chen, S. T. Martin, D. K. Farmer, and P. Artaxo (2010), A simplified description of the evolution of organic aerosol composition in the atmosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, L08803, doi:10.1029/2010GL042737. ©2010 American Geophysical Union
Version
Author's final manuscript
Abstract
Organic aerosol (OA) in the atmosphere consists of a multitude of organic species which are either directly emitted or the products of a variety of chemical reactions. This complexity challenges our ability to explicitly characterize the chemical composition of these particles. We find that the bulk composition of OA from a variety of environments (laboratory and field) occupies a narrow range in the space of a Van Krevelen diagram (H:C versus O:C), characterized by a slope of ~−1. The data show that atmospheric aging, involving processes such as volatilization, oxidation, mixing of air masses or condensation of further products, is consistent with movement along this line, producing a more oxidized aerosol. This finding has implications for our understanding of the evolution of atmospheric OA and representation of these processes in models.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL042737
