An overview of the Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment 2008 (AMAZE-08)

The Amazon Basin provides an excellent environment for studying the sources, transformations, and properties of natural aerosol particles and the resulting links between biological processes and climate. With this framework in mind, the Amazonian Aerosol Characterization Experiment (AMAZE-08), carried out from 7 February to 14 March 2008 during the wet season in the central Amazon Basin, sought to understand the formation, transformations, and cloud-forming properties of fine- and coarse-mode biogenic aerosol particles, especially as related to their effects on cloud activation and regional climate. Special foci included (1) the production mechanisms of secondary organic components at a pristine continental site, including the factors regulating their temporal variability, and (2) predicting and understanding the cloud-forming properties of biogenic particles at such a site. In this overview paper, the field site and the instrumentation employed during the campaign are introduced. Observations and findings are reported, including the large-scale context for the campaign, especially as provided by satellite observations. New findings presented include: (i) a particle number-diameter distribution from 10 nm to 10 Î1/4m that is representative of the pristine tropical rain forest and recommended for model use; (ii) the absence of substantial quantities of primary biological particles in the submicron mode as evidenced by mass spectral characterization; (iii) the large-scale production of secondary organic material; (iv) insights into the chemical and physical properties of the particles as revealed by thermodenuder-induced changes in the particle number-diameter distributions and mass spectra; and (v) comparisons of ground-based predictions and satellite-based observations of hydrometeor phase in clouds. A main finding of AMAZE-08 is the dominance of secondary organic material as particle components. The results presented here provide mechanistic insight and quantitative parameters that can serve to increase the accuracy of models of the formation, transformations, and cloud-forming properties of biogenic natural aerosol particles, especially as related to their effects on cloud activation and regional climate. © 2010 Author(s)

Using Elemental Ratios to Predict the Density of Organic Material Composed of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen

A governing equation was developed to predict the density ρ_org of organic material composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen using the elemental ratios O:C and H:C as input parameters: ρ_org = 1000 [(12 + 1­(H:C) + 16­(O:C)]/[7.0 + 5.0­(H:C) + 4.15­(O:C)] valid for 750 < ρ_org < 1900 kg m^–3. Comparison of the actual to predicted ρ_org values shows that the developed equation has an accuracy of 12% for more than 90% of the 31 atmospherically relevant compounds used in the training set. The equation was further validated for secondary organic material (SOM) produced by isoprene photo-oxidation and by α-pinene ozonolysis. Depending on the conditions of SOM production, ρ_org/SOM ranged from 1230 to 1460 kg m^–3, O:C ranged from 0.38 to 0.72, and H:C ranged from 1.40 to 1.86. Atmospheric chemistry models that simulate particle production and growth can employ the developed equation to simulate particle physical properties. The equation can also extend atmospheric measurements presented as van Krevelen diagrams to include estimates of the material density of particles and their components. Use of the equation, however, is restricted to particle components having negligible quantities of additional elements, most notably nitrogen

Using Elemental Ratios to Predict the Density of Organic Material Composed of Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen

A governing equation was developed to predict the density ρ_org of organic material composed of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen using the elemental ratios O:C and H:C as input parameters: ρ_org = 1000 [(12 + 1­(H:C) + 16­(O:C)]/[7.0 + 5.0­(H:C) + 4.15­(O:C)] valid for 750 < ρ_org < 1900 kg m^–3. Comparison of the actual to predicted ρ_org values shows that the developed equation has an accuracy of 12% for more than 90% of the 31 atmospherically relevant compounds used in the training set. The equation was further validated for secondary organic material (SOM) produced by isoprene photo-oxidation and by α-pinene ozonolysis. Depending on the conditions of SOM production, ρ_org/SOM ranged from 1230 to 1460 kg m^–3, O:C ranged from 0.38 to 0.72, and H:C ranged from 1.40 to 1.86. Atmospheric chemistry models that simulate particle production and growth can employ the developed equation to simulate particle physical properties. The equation can also extend atmospheric measurements presented as van Krevelen diagrams to include estimates of the material density of particles and their components. Use of the equation, however, is restricted to particle components having negligible quantities of additional elements, most notably nitrogen

Stereochemical transfer to atmospheric aerosol particles accompanying the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds

Asymmetric emission profiles of the stereoisomers of plant-derived volatile organic compounds vary with season, geography, plant type, and stress factors. After oxidation of these compounds in the atmosphere, the low-vapor pressure products ultimately contribute strongly to the particle-phase material of the atmosphere. In order to explore the possibility of stereochemical transfer to atmospheric aerosol particles during the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds, second-order coherent vibrational spectra were recorded of the particle-phase organic material produced by the oxidation of different stereoisomeric mixes of alpha-pinene. The spectra show that the stereochemical configurations are not scrambled but instead are transferred from the gas-phase molecular precursors to the particle-phase molecules. The spectra also show that oligomers formed in the particle phase have a handed superstructure that depends strongly and nonlinearly on the initial stereochemical composition of the precursors. Because the stereochemical mix of the precursors for a material can influence the physical and chemical properties of that material, our findings suggest that chirality is also important for such properties of plant-derived aerosol particles. Citation: Ebben, C. J., S. R. Zorn, S.-B. Lee, P. Artaxo, S. T. Martin, and F. M. Geiger (2011), Stereochemical transfer to atmospheric aerosol particles accompanying the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds, Geophys. Res. Lett., 38, L16807, doi: 10.1029/2011GL048599.National Science Foundation Atmospheric Chemistry divisionNational Science Foundation Atmospheric Chemistry division[NSF ATM-0533436]U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)Office of Science (BES), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)[DE-FG02-08ER64529