HR: 1340h
AN: A43C-1439 [Abstracts]
TI: Assessment of the Relative Importance of Atmospheric Aging on CCN Activity Derived from Field Observations
AU: * Furutani, H
EM: hfurutani@ucsd.edu
AF: University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
AU: * Furutani, H
EM: hfurutani@ucsd.edu
AF: University of Tokyo, 1-15-1 Minamidai, Nakano-ku, Tokyo, 164-8639, Japan
AU: Dall'osto, M
EM: mxd266@bham.ac.uk
AF: University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2TT, United Kingdom
AU: Roberts, G C
EM: greg@fiji.ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
AU: Prather, K A
EM: kprather@ucsd.edu
AF: University of California at San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
AU: Prather, K A
EM: kprather@ucsd.edu
AF: Scripps Institution of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, United States
AB:
The effect of atmospheric aging on the cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) activity of atmospheric aerosols was
studied by comparing different air masses with different degrees of aging along the southern coast of California
over the Pacific Ocean during a research cruise on the R/V Roger Revelle from November 2-19, 2004. Activation
diameters (Dact) were calculated using the measured CCN concentrations, condensation nuclei (CN)
concentrations, and particle size distributions. Measurements of single particle size and chemistry, as well as
black carbon (BC) concentrations with an aethalometer, were made to provide further insight into aerosol
chemistry. A gradient of aerosol concentrations was encountered: along the coast of California, the highest BC
and CN concentrations (1000~6000 ng/m3 and 2000~15000 cm-3) were measured which
decreased as the ship moved away from shore to much lower values (<100 ng/m3, ~300 cm-3).
In all regions, external mixtures of organic carbon, elemental carbon, sea salt, and dust aerosols frequently
associated with nitrate and sulfate were observed. A correlation plot between the CCN/CN ratio and Dact
exhibits a clear linear correlation, showing a distinct relationship between the extent of anthropogenic aging and
CCN activity with the most highly aged air masses showing the highest CCN activity and smallest Dact.
These results show changes in aerosol chemistry due to atmospheric aging play an important role in
determining the CCN activity of atmospheric aerosols. The present study demonstrates that variations in aerosol
chemistry must be taken into account in models to adequately account for the physicochemical properties of
atmospheric aerosols and their CCN activity.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0320 Cloud physics and chemistry
DE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting