Observation of biogenic secondary organic aerosols in the atmosphere of a mountain site in central China: temperature and relative humidity effects

Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) derived from isoprene, pinene and caryophyllene were determined for PM10 and size- segregated (9- stages) aerosols collected at the summit (2060ma. s. l.) of Mt. Hua, central China during the summer of 2009. Estimated concentrations of isoprene, alpha/ beta-pinene and beta-caryophyllene derived secondary organic carbon (SOC) are 81 +/- 53, 29 +/- 14 and 98 +/- 53 ng m(-3), accounting for 2.7 +/- 1.0 %, 0.8 +/- 0.2% and 2.1 +/- 1.0% of OC, respectively. Concentrations of biogenic (BSOA, the isoprene/ pinene/caryophyllene oxidation products) and anthropogenic (ASOA, mainly aromatic acids) SOA positively correlated with temperature (R = 0.57-0.90). However, a decreasing trend of BSOA concentration with an increase in relative humidity (RH) was observed during the sampling period, although a clear trend between ASOA and RH was not found. Based on the AIM Model calculation, we found that during the sampling period an increase in RH resulted in a decrease in the aerosol acidity and thus reduced the effect of acid- catalysis on BSOA formation. There was no significant correlation observed for the BSOA products and anthropogenic parameters (e.g. EC, SO2-4 and NO-3). Size distribution measurements showed that most of the determined BSOA are formed in the aerosol phase and enriched in the fine mode (&lt; 2.1 mu m) except for cis-pinonic acid, which is formed in the gas phase and subsequently partitioned into aerosol phase and thus presents a bimodal pattern with a small peak in the fine mode and a large peak in the coarse mode (&gt; 2.1 mu m).</p