Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements

Eimear M Dunne; Hamish Gordon; Andreas Kürten; João Almeida; Jonathan Duplissy; Christina Williamson; Ismael K Ortega; Kirsty J Pringle; Alexey Adamov; Urs Baltensperger; Peter Barmet; Francois Benduhn; Federico Bianchi; Martin Breitenlechner; Antony Clarke; Joachim Curtius; Josef Dommen; Neil M Donahue; Sebastian Ehrhart; Richard C Flagan; Alessandro Franchin; Roberto Guida; Jani Hakala; Armin Hansel; Martin Heinritzi; Tuija Jokinen; Juha Kangasluoma; Jasper Kirkby; Markku Kulmala; Agnieszka Kupc; Michael J Lawler; Katrianne Lehtipalo; Vladimir Makhmutov; Graham Mann; Serge Mathot; Joonas Merikanto; Pasi Miettinen; Athanasios Nenes; Antti Onnela; Alexandru Rap; Carly L S Reddington; Francesco Riccobono; Nigel A D Richards; Matti P Rissanen; Linda Rondo; Nina Sarnela; Siegfried Schobesberger; Kamalika Sengupta; Mario Simon; Mikko Sipilä; James N Smith; Yuri Stozkhov; Antonio Tomé; Jasmin Tröstl; Paul E Wagner; Daniela Wimmer; Paul M Winkler; Douglas R Worsnop; Kenneth S Carslaw

doi:10.1126/science.aaf2649

Global atmospheric particle formation from CERN CLOUD measurements

Science. 2016 Dec 2;354(6316):1119-1124. doi: 10.1126/science.aaf2649. Epub 2016 Oct 27.

Authors

Eimear M Dunne¹, Hamish Gordon², Andreas Kürten³, João Almeida^{4

3}, Jonathan Duplissy⁵, Christina Williamson³, Ismael K Ortega⁶, Kirsty J Pringle¹, Alexey Adamov⁷, Urs Baltensperger⁸, Peter Barmet⁸, Francois Benduhn⁹, Federico Bianchi^{7

8}, Martin Breitenlechner¹⁰, Antony Clarke¹¹, Joachim Curtius³, Josef Dommen⁸, Neil M Donahue^{12

7}, Sebastian Ehrhart^{4

3}, Richard C Flagan¹³, Alessandro Franchin⁷, Roberto Guida⁴, Jani Hakala⁷, Armin Hansel^{10

14}, Martin Heinritzi³, Tuija Jokinen⁷, Juha Kangasluoma⁷, Jasper Kirkby^{4

3}, Markku Kulmala⁷, Agnieszka Kupc¹⁵, Michael J Lawler¹⁶, Katrianne Lehtipalo^{7

8}, Vladimir Makhmutov¹⁷, Graham Mann¹, Serge Mathot⁴, Joonas Merikanto⁷, Pasi Miettinen¹⁶, Athanasios Nenes^{18

19

20}, Antti Onnela⁴, Alexandru Rap¹, Carly L S Reddington¹, Francesco Riccobono⁸, Nigel A D Richards¹, Matti P Rissanen⁷, Linda Rondo³, Nina Sarnela⁷, Siegfried Schobesberger⁷, Kamalika Sengupta¹, Mario Simon³, Mikko Sipilä⁷, James N Smith¹⁶, Yuri Stozkhov¹⁷, Antonio Tomé²¹, Jasmin Tröstl⁸, Paul E Wagner¹⁵, Daniela Wimmer^{3

7}, Paul M Winkler¹⁵, Douglas R Worsnop^{7

22}, Kenneth S Carslaw²³

Affiliations

¹ School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK.
² European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 1211 Geneva, Switzerland. [email protected] [email protected].
³ Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Altenhöferallee 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
⁴ European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), 1211 Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Helsinki Institute of Physics, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁶ Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules (PhLAM), Université Lille 1, UMR 8523 CNRS, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, France.
⁷ Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, Post Office Box 64, FI-00014 Helsinki, Finland.
⁸ Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen, Switzerland.
⁹ Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Berliner Straße 130, D-14467 Potsdam, Germany.
¹⁰ Institute of Ion Physics and Applied Physics, Leopold-Franzens University, Technikerstraße 25, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
¹¹ Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii, 1000 Pope Road, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
¹² Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies, Carnegie Mellon University, 5000 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15213, USA.
¹³ Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
¹⁴ Ionicon, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.
¹⁵ Faculty of Physics, University of Vienna, Boltzmanngaße 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
¹⁶ University of Eastern Finland, Post Office Box 1627, 70211 Kuopio, Finland.
¹⁷ Lebedev Physical Institute, Solar and Cosmic Ray Research Laboratory, 119991 Moscow, Russia.
¹⁸ School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
¹⁹ Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (ICE-HT), Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas, 26504 Patras, Greece.
²⁰ Institute for Environmental Research and Sustainable Development, National Observatory of Athens, I. Metaxa & Vas. Pavlou, 15236 Palea Penteli, Greece.
²¹ CENTRA-SIM, University of Lisbon and University of Beira Interior, 1749-016 Lisbon, Portugal.
²² Aerodyne Research, Billerica, MA 01821, USA.
²³ School of Earth and Environment, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK. [email protected] [email protected].

PMID: 27789796
DOI: 10.1126/science.aaf2649

Abstract

Fundamental questions remain about the origin of newly formed atmospheric aerosol particles because data from laboratory measurements have been insufficient to build global models. In contrast, gas-phase chemistry models have been based on laboratory kinetics measurements for decades. We built a global model of aerosol formation by using extensive laboratory measurements of rates of nucleation involving sulfuric acid, ammonia, ions, and organic compounds conducted in the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets) chamber. The simulations and a comparison with atmospheric observations show that nearly all nucleation throughout the present-day atmosphere involves ammonia or biogenic organic compounds, in addition to sulfuric acid. A considerable fraction of nucleation involves ions, but the relatively weak dependence on ion concentrations indicates that for the processes studied, variations in cosmic ray intensity do not appreciably affect climate through nucleation in the present-day atmosphere.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.