Size-dependent influence of NOx on the growth rates of organic aerosol particles

C Yan; W Nie; A L Vogel; L Dada; K Lehtipalo; D Stolzenburg; R Wagner; M P Rissanen; M Xiao; L Ahonen; L Fischer; C Rose; F Bianchi; H Gordon; M Simon; M Heinritzi; O Garmash; P Roldin; A Dias; P Ye; V Hofbauer; A Amorim; P S Bauer; A Bergen; A-K Bernhammer; M Breitenlechner; S Brilke; A Buchholz; S Buenrostro Mazon; M R Canagaratna; X Chen; A Ding; J Dommen; D C Draper; J Duplissy; C Frege; C Heyn; R Guida; J Hakala; L Heikkinen; C R Hoyle; T Jokinen; J Kangasluoma; J Kirkby; J Kontkanen; A Kürten; M J Lawler; H Mai; S Mathot; R L Mauldin 3rd; U Molteni; L Nichman; T Nieminen; J Nowak; A Ojdanic; A Onnela; A Pajunoja; T Petäjä; F Piel; L L J Quéléver; N Sarnela; S Schallhart; K Sengupta; M Sipilä; A Tomé; J Tröstl; O Väisänen; A C Wagner; A Ylisirniö; Q Zha; U Baltensperger; K S Carslaw; J Curtius; R C Flagan; A Hansel; I Riipinen; J N Smith; A Virtanen; P M Winkler; N M Donahue; V-M Kerminen; M Kulmala; M Ehn; D R Worsnop

doi:10.1126/sciadv.aay4945

Size-dependent influence of NO_x on the growth rates of organic aerosol particles

Sci Adv. 2020 May 27;6(22):eaay4945. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aay4945. eCollection 2020 May.

Authors

C Yan¹, W Nie², A L Vogel^{3

4}, L Dada¹, K Lehtipalo^{1

4

5}, D Stolzenburg⁶, R Wagner¹, M P Rissanen¹, M Xiao⁴, L Ahonen¹, L Fischer⁷, C Rose¹, F Bianchi^{1

8}, H Gordon^{3

9}, M Simon¹⁰, M Heinritzi¹⁰, O Garmash¹, P Roldin¹¹, A Dias^{3

12}, P Ye^{13

14}, V Hofbauer¹³, A Amorim¹², P S Bauer⁶, A Bergen¹⁰, A-K Bernhammer⁷, M Breitenlechner⁷, S Brilke^{6

10}, A Buchholz¹⁵, S Buenrostro Mazon¹, M R Canagaratna¹⁴, X Chen¹, A Ding², J Dommen⁴, D C Draper¹⁶, J Duplissy¹, C Frege⁴, C Heyn⁴, R Guida³, J Hakala¹, L Heikkinen¹, C R Hoyle⁴, T Jokinen¹, J Kangasluoma^{1

8}, J Kirkby^{3

10}, J Kontkanen¹, A Kürten¹⁰, M J Lawler¹⁶, H Mai¹⁷, S Mathot³, R L Mauldin 3rd^{13

18}, U Molteni⁴, L Nichman¹⁹, T Nieminen¹, J Nowak¹⁴, A Ojdanic⁶, A Onnela³, A Pajunoja¹⁵, T Petäjä^{1

2}, F Piel¹⁰, L L J Quéléver¹, N Sarnela¹, S Schallhart¹, K Sengupta⁹, M Sipilä¹, A Tomé²⁰, J Tröstl⁴, O Väisänen¹⁵, A C Wagner¹⁰, A Ylisirniö¹⁵, Q Zha¹, U Baltensperger⁴, K S Carslaw⁹, J Curtius¹⁰, R C Flagan¹⁷, A Hansel^{1

7

21}, I Riipinen²², J N Smith¹⁶, A Virtanen¹⁵, P M Winkler⁶, N M Donahue¹³, V-M Kerminen¹, M Kulmala^{1

2

8

23}, M Ehn¹, D R Worsnop^{1

14

15}

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research/INAR-Physics, Faculty of Science, University of Helsinki, 00560 Helsinki, Finland.
² Joint International Research Laboratory of Atmospheric and Earth System Sciences, School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China.
³ CERN, CH-1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
⁵ Finnish Meteorological Institute, Erik Palménin aukio 1, 00560 Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ University of Vienna, Faculty of Physics, Boltzmanngasse 5, 1090 Wien, Austria.
⁷ University of Innsbruck, Institute for Ion and Applied Physics, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
⁸ Aerosol and Haze Laboratory, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, China.
⁹ University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
¹⁰ Goethe University Frankfurt, Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
¹¹ Division of Nuclear Physics, Department of Physics, Lund University, P. O. Box 118, SE-221 00 Lund, Sweden.
¹² CENTRA and FCUL, Universidade de Lisboa, Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal.
¹³ Carnegie Mellon University Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, 5000 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
¹⁴ Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica, MA 01821, USA.
¹⁵ University of Eastern Finland, Department of Applied Physics, P.O. Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
¹⁶ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA.
¹⁷ California Institute of Technology, 210-41, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
¹⁸ Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
¹⁹ School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Manchester, Manchester M13 9PL, UK.
²⁰ IDL Universidade da Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal.
²¹ IONICON GesmbH, Innsbruck, Austria.
²² Department of Environmental Science and Analytical Chemistry (ACES) and Bolin Centre for Climate Research, Stockholm University, 10691 Stockholm, Sweden.
²³ Helsinki Institute of Physics, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.

Abstract

Atmospheric new-particle formation (NPF) affects climate by contributing to a large fraction of the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Highly oxygenated organic molecules (HOMs) drive the early particle growth and therefore substantially influence the survival of newly formed particles to CCN. Nitrogen oxide (NO_x) is known to suppress the NPF driven by HOMs, but the underlying mechanism remains largely unclear. Here, we examine the response of particle growth to the changes of HOM formation caused by NO_x. We show that NO_x suppresses particle growth in general, but the suppression is rather nonuniform and size dependent, which can be quantitatively explained by the shifted HOM volatility after adding NO_x. By illustrating how NO_x affects the early growth of new particles, a critical step of CCN formation, our results help provide a refined assessment of the potential climatic effects caused by the diverse changes of NO_x level in forest regions around the globe.

Copyright © 2020 The Authors, some rights reserved; exclusive licensee American Association for the Advancement of Science. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial License 4.0 (CC BY-NC).

Grants and funding

J 3951/FWF_/Austrian Science Fund FWF/Austria