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NOVEL MEASUREMENTS OF VOLATILITY- AND POLARITY-SEPARATED ORGANIC AEROSOL COMPOSITION AND ASSOCIATED HYGROSCOPICITY TO INVESTIGATE THE INFLUENCE OF MIXED ANTHROPOGENIC-BIOGENIC EMISSIONS ON ATMOSPHERIC AGING PROCESSES
Impact/Purpose:
Coupling of anthropogenic and biogenic emissions and subsequent atmospheric aging processes are hypothesized to be the leading single contribution to global organic aerosol (OA) mass concentrations, and is also perhaps the least understood single contribution to OA. Improved understanding of this coupling is a high priority topic in the field of atmospheric chemistry in order to determine mitigation strategies for OA control, a pollutant that alters climate and causes detrimental health effects. The primary objective of this proposed work is to better characterize the controlling factors in enhanced secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from combined anthropogenic and biogenic emission sources through innovative laboratory and field studies using novel instrumentation.
Description:
Through the proposed study, novel measurements of compositional and hygroscopic changes during SOA formation and transformation under various mixtures of biogenic- anthropogenic sources will be obser\led: 1) under unperturbed conditions, allowing meteorology to deliver various emission mixtures (SOAS), 2) in a laboratory setting, with complete control over oxidant levels, emission types, specific particle coatings, etc., and 3) with ambient emissions of gases/particles, but having the option to perturb the oxidation level, or add specific biogenic or anthropogenic gases/particles to the photochemical reaction mixture (East St. Louis). This study design will lead to many new insights on the formation processes and atmospheric transformations of SOA produced from mixed biogenic-anthropogenic emissions, and the associated potential for climate interactions.