Investigating Water Soluble Organic Aerosols

Investigating Water Soluble Organic Aerosols PDF Author: Arsineh N. Hecobian
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerosols
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
An existing method for the measurement of atmospheric gaseous species was modified to collect data on aerosol concentrations. Data from biomass burning events in different regions (Canada, the Arctic and California) were collected during April to July, 2008 and the concentrations and evolution of secondary organic aerosols were discussed. And finally, data on the light absorbing properties of water soluble organic aerosols were collected in Atlanta, GA and compared with filter data for the same properties. The results presented in this thesis showed that a negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS), can be modified by the addition of a thermally denuded inlet to measure aerosol phase sulfuric acid. This system can also be used to measure other aerosol phase organic acids. In the biomass burning plumes studied in the second part, no clear indication of formation of secondary aerosol or gaseous species was observed, except for peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN). Filter data collected from FRM sites in the Southeastern U.S. showed that biomass burning is the most dominant source of water soluble light absorbing carbonaceous aerosol in this region. The data from a study in Atlanta, GA showed that the online PILS-LWCC-WSOC system might be used for measurements of light absorbing properties of aerosols and WSOC.

Investigating Water Soluble Organic Aerosols

Investigating Water Soluble Organic Aerosols PDF Author: Arsineh N. Hecobian
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerosols
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
An existing method for the measurement of atmospheric gaseous species was modified to collect data on aerosol concentrations. Data from biomass burning events in different regions (Canada, the Arctic and California) were collected during April to July, 2008 and the concentrations and evolution of secondary organic aerosols were discussed. And finally, data on the light absorbing properties of water soluble organic aerosols were collected in Atlanta, GA and compared with filter data for the same properties. The results presented in this thesis showed that a negative ion chemical ionization mass spectrometer (CIMS), can be modified by the addition of a thermally denuded inlet to measure aerosol phase sulfuric acid. This system can also be used to measure other aerosol phase organic acids. In the biomass burning plumes studied in the second part, no clear indication of formation of secondary aerosol or gaseous species was observed, except for peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN). Filter data collected from FRM sites in the Southeastern U.S. showed that biomass burning is the most dominant source of water soluble light absorbing carbonaceous aerosol in this region. The data from a study in Atlanta, GA showed that the online PILS-LWCC-WSOC system might be used for measurements of light absorbing properties of aerosols and WSOC.

The Ambient Organic Aerosol Soluble in Water

The Ambient Organic Aerosol Soluble in Water PDF Author: Amy Patricia Sullivan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerosols
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This thesis characterizes the ambient fine organic carbon aerosol and investigates its sources through the development and deployment of new measurement techniques. The focus is on organic compounds that are soluble in water (WSOC), which comprise a large fraction of the organic aerosol, yet little has been known about its chemical nature. A method was developed for quantitative on-line measurements of WSOC by using a Particle-into-Liquid Sampler (PILS) to capture ambient particles into a flow of purified water, which is then forced through a liquid filter and the carbonaceous content quantified by a Total Organic Carbon (TOC) analyzer. This system allows for a continuous 6 minute (ground-based) or 3 s integrated measurement (airborne) with a limit of detection of 0.1 microgramsC/m3 and uncertainty of 10%. Furthermore, a new quantitative method was developed to group speciate the WSOC. In the first step, WSOC is separated by use of XAD-8 resin into its hydrophilic (WSOCxp) and hydrophobic (WSOCxr) fractions. This separation can be performed on-line by coupling the XAD-8 column with the PILS-TOC or off-line on WSOC extracted from integrated filter samples. If off-line, a second step involving size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) is used to chromatographically separate by organic functional groups the WSOCxp and recovered hydrophobic fraction (WSOCxrr). During this step, the WSOCxp is further separated into aliphatic acids with less than four carbons, neutrals, and bases. The WSOCxrr can be separated into acids and neutrals. Results showing the capabilities of the PILS-TOC both on the ground at the St. Louis Midwest Supersite and when airborne during the New England Air Quality Study/Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation 2004 mission conducted in the northeastern U.S. will be presented. Ambient results from urban sites where a PILS-TOC was coupled with a XAD-8 column will be discussed. Data from the two-step speciation performed on samples collected from urban Atlanta summer and winter, and biomass burning in rural Georgia in a region of prescribed burning are presented. Finally, WSOC measurements obtained in Atlanta and its surrounding regions from both the speciation measurements and PILS-TOC will be used to investigate the sources of WSOC in the southeastern U.S.

Characterization of Water-soluble Organic Compounds and Their Multiphase Chemistry as a Source of Secondary Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere

Characterization of Water-soluble Organic Compounds and Their Multiphase Chemistry as a Source of Secondary Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere PDF Author: Zoran Kitanovski
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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The Sources, Formation and Properties of Soluble Organic Aerosols

The Sources, Formation and Properties of Soluble Organic Aerosols PDF Author: Xiaolu Zhang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerosols
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
900 archived FRM filters from 15 sites over the southeast during 2007 were analyzed for PM2.5 chemical composition and physical properties. Secondary components (i.e. sulfate aerosol and SOA) were the major contributors to the PM2.5 mass over the southeast, whereas the contribution from biomass burning varied with season and was negligible (2%) during summer. Excluding biomass burning influence, FRM WSOC was spatially homogeneous throughout the region, similar to sulfate, yet WSOC was moderately enhanced in locations of greater predicted isoprene emissions in summer. On smaller spatial scale, a substantial urban/rural gradient of WSOC was found through comparisons of online WSOC measurements at one urban/rural pair (Atlanta/Yorkville) in August 2008, indicating important contribution from anthropogenic emissions. A comparative study between Atlanta and LA reveals a number of contrasting features between two cities. WSOC gas-particle partitioning, investigated through the fraction of total WSOC in the particle phase, Fp, exhibited differing relationships with ambient RH and organic aerosols. In Atlanta, both particle water and organic aerosol (OA) can serve as an absorbing phase. In contrast, in LA the aerosol water was not an important absorbing phase, instead, Fp was correlated with OA mass. Fresh LA WSOC had a consistent brown color and a bulk absorption per soluble carbon mass at 365 nm that was 4 to 6 times higher than freshly-formed Atlanta soluble organic carbon. Interpreting soluble brown carbon as a property of freshly-formed anthropogenic SOA, the difference in absorption per carbon mass between the two cities suggests most WSOC formed within Atlanta is not from an anthropogenic process similar to LA.

Investigating the Interactions of Pure and Multicomponent Organic Aerosols with Water

Investigating the Interactions of Pure and Multicomponent Organic Aerosols with Water PDF Author: Mark W. Zimmerman
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aerosols
Languages : en
Pages : 204

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Book Description
Atmospheric aerosols have a significant impact on global climate, both directly by absorbing or reflecting solar radiation and indirectly by forming clouds. Particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) by taking on water and growing in size until they reach their activation diameter. Investigates the reasons for conflicting experimental activation data in pure organic aerosols and to gain further understanding of organic aerosol interactions with water. Another goal was to measure the activation of multicomponent organic aerosols to determine CCN activity.

Evaluation of New and Proposed Organic Aerosol Sources and Mechanisms Using the Aerosol Modeling Testbed

Evaluation of New and Proposed Organic Aerosol Sources and Mechanisms Using the Aerosol Modeling Testbed PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
This work investigated the formation and evolution of organic aerosols (OA) arising from anthropogenic and biogenic sources in a framework that combined state-of-the-science process and regional modeling, and their evaluation against advanced and emerging field measurements. Although OA are the dominant constituents of submicron particles, our understanding of their atmospheric lifecycle is limited, and current models fail to describe the observed amounts and properties of chemically formed secondary organic aerosols (SOA), leaving large uncertainties on the effects of SOA on climate. Our work has provided novel modeling constraints on sources, formation, aging and removal of SOA by investigating in particular (i) the contribution of trash burning emissions to OA levels in a megacity, (ii) the contribution of glyoxal to SOA formation in aqueous particles in California during CARES/CalNex and over the continental U.S., (iii) SOA formation and regional growth over a pine forest in Colorado and its sensitivity to anthropogenic NOx levels during BEACHON, and the sensitivity of SOA to (iv) the sunlight exposure during its atmospheric lifetime, and to (v) changes in solubility and removal of organic vapors in the urban plume (MILAGRO, Mexico City), and over the continental U.S. We have also developed a parameterization of water solubility for condensable organic gases produced from major anthropogenic and biogenic precursors based on explicit chemical modeling, and made it available to the wider community. This work used for the first time constraints from the explicit model GECKO-A to improve SOA representation in 3D regional models such as WRF-Chem.

Toxicity of Atmospheric Aerosols: Methodologies & Assays

Toxicity of Atmospheric Aerosols: Methodologies & Assays PDF Author: Fobang Liu
Publisher: American Chemical Society
ISBN: 0841299811
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Atmospheric aerosols, or particulate matter (PM), are liquid or solid particles suspended in the air. Exposure to ambient PM is associated with multiple diseases and accounts for millions of premature deaths today. Although recognized as an important public health problem, PM’s toxicity and toxicological mechanisms are yet to be understood. Various methodologies and assays (i.e., procedures to determine the composition, quantity, or quality of a substance or a mixture) have been developed or employed to understand the components and characteristics of PM that best determine its toxicity. Efforts have also been spent to study the mechanisms of cellular signaling, stress, response, and physiological change, as well as complex multi-tissue effects upon PM exposure. These assays are diverse, spanning from in vitro acellular assays (i.e., chemical assays) to in vitro cellular and in vivo assays. Given that various methodologies and assays have been developed or employed, this digital primer aims to introduce the methodologies and fundamental principles used to study atmospheric aerosols’ toxicity and emerging new techniques. A comprehensive literature review of the scientific findings using these methodologies and assays is not the focus of this primer. The target audiences are senior undergraduates or beginning graduate students unfamiliar with aerosol science and toxicity measurements. An introductory overview of atmospheric aerosols and the motivations to study their toxicity before a detailed discussion of methodologies and assays in the toxicity research of atmospheric aerosols is provided. Beyond this, Toxicity of Atmospheric Aerosols: Methodologies & Assays serves as an assembly of the various methodologies and assays used in the toxicity research of atmospheric aerosols, saving readers time compared to searching from scattered resources.

Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosols in Atmospheric Liquid Water

Formation of Secondary Organic Aerosols in Atmospheric Liquid Water PDF Author: Marwa M. H. El-Sayed
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 748

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Book Description
The formation of secondary organic aerosols through aqueous processes (aqSOA) has been identified as an important route in forming organic aerosols; however, many aspects of this formation are still uncertain. One main uncertainty is the nature by which these aqueous compounds are formed, whether the formation is reversible, irreversible, or a mixture of both. To date, there are no ambient measurements to quantify or constrain the relative contributions of reversible/irreversible aqSOA. Hence, we have developed an online method to simultaneously measure water-soluble organic carbon in the gas (WSOCg) and particle (WSOCp) phases to characterize the reversible and irreversible uptake of water-soluble organic gases to aerosol liquid water (ALW) across the different seasons in Maryland located in the eastern United States.

Multiphase Environmental Chemistry in the Atmosphere

Multiphase Environmental Chemistry in the Atmosphere PDF Author: Sherri W. Hunt
Publisher: ACS Symposium
ISBN: 9780841233638
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
This book highlights new cross-disciplinary advances in aerosol chemistry that involve more than one phase, for example, unique chemical processes occurring on gas-solid and liquid-solid interfaces.

Formation Mechanisms of Water-soluble Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Aerosols

Formation Mechanisms of Water-soluble Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Aerosols PDF Author: Xiaofeng Huang
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Atmospheric aerosols
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description