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The link between atmospheric radicals and newly formed particles at a spruce forest site in Germany
(2013)
It has been claimed for more than a century that atmospheric new particle formation is primarily influenced by the presence of sulphuric acid. However, the activation process of sulphuric acid related clusters into detectable particles is still an unresolved topic. In this study we focus on the PARADE campaign measurements conducted during August/September 2011 at Mt. Kleiner Feldberg in central Germany. During this campaign a set of radicals, organic and inorganic compounds and oxidants and aerosol properties were measured or calculated. We compared a range of organic and inorganic nucleation theories, evaluating their ability to simulate measured particle formation rates at 3 nm in diameter (J3) for a variety of different conditions. Nucleation mechanisms involving only sulphuric acid tentatively captured the observed noon-time daily maximum in J3, but displayed an increasing difference to J3 measurements during the rest of the diurnal cycle. Including large organic radicals, i.e. organic peroxy radicals (RO2) deriving from monoterpenes and their oxidation products in the nucleation mechanism improved the correlation between observed and simulated J3. This supports a recently proposed empirical relationship for new particle formation that has been used in global models. However, the best match between theory and measurements for the site of interest was found for an activation process based on large organic peroxy radicals and stabilized Criegee intermediates (sCI). This novel laboratory derived algorithm simulated the daily pattern and intensity of J3 observed in the ambient data. In this algorithm organic derived radicals are involved in activation and growth and link the formation rate of smallest aerosol particles with OH during daytime and NO3 during nighttime. Because of the RO2s lifetime is controlled by HO2 and NO we conclude that peroxy radicals and NO seem to play an important role for ambient radical chemistry not only with respect to oxidation capacity but also for the activation process of new particle formation. This is supposed to have significant impact of atmospheric radical species on aerosol chemistry and should to be taken into account when studying the impact of new particles in climate feedback cycles.
Numerous reactive volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted into the atmosphere by vegetation. Most biogenic VOCs are highly reactive towards the atmosphere's most important oxidant, the hydroxyl (OH) radical. One way to investigate the chemical interplay between biosphere and atmosphere is through the measurement of total OH reactivity, the total loss rate of OH radicals. This study presents the first determination of total OH reactivity emission rates (measurements via the comparative reactivity method) based on a branch cuvette enclosure system mounted on a Norway spruce (Picea abies) throughout spring, summer and autumn 2011. In parallel VOC emission rates were monitored by a second proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer (PTR-MS), and total ozone (O3) loss rates were obtained inside the cuvette. Total OH reactivity emission rates were in general temperature and light dependent, showing strong diel cycles with highest values during daytime. Monoterpene emissions contributed most, accounting for 56–69% of the measured total OH reactivity flux in spring and early summer. However, during late summer and autumn the monoterpene contribution decreased to 11–16%. At this time, a large missing fraction of the total OH reactivity emission rate (70–84%) was found when compared to the VOC budget measured by PTR-MS. Total OH reactivity and missing total OH reactivity emission rates reached maximum values in late summer corresponding to the period of highest temperature. Total O3 loss rates within the closed cuvette showed similar diel profiles and comparable seasonality to the total OH reactivity fluxes.
Total OH reactivity fluxes were also compared to emissions from needle storage pools predicted by a temperature-only-dependent algorithm. Deviations of total OH reactivity fluxes from the temperature-only-dependent emission algorithm were observed for occasions of mechanical and heat stress. While for mechanical stress, induced by strong wind, measured VOCs could explain total OH reactivity emissions, during heat stress they could not. The temperature-driven algorithm matched the diel variation of total OH reactivity emission rates much better in spring than in summer, indicating a different production and emission scheme for summer and early autumn. During these times, unmeasured and possibly unknown primary biogenic emissions contributed significantly to the observed total OH reactivity flux.