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Global analysis of continental boundary layer new particle formation based on long-term measurements

Nieminen, Tuomo ; Kerminen, Veli Matti ; Petäjä, Tuukka ; Aalto, Pasi P. ; Arshinov, Mikhail ; Asmi, Eija ; Baltensperger, Urs ; Beddows, David C.S. ; Paul Beukes, Johan and Collins, Don , et al. (2018) In Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 18(19). p.14737-14756
Abstract

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is an important phenomenon in terms of global particle number concentrations. Here we investigated the frequency of NPF, formation rates of 10 nm particles, and growth rates in the size range of 10–25 nm using at least 1 year of aerosol number size-distribution observations at 36 different locations around the world. The majority of these measurement sites are in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the NPF frequency has a strong seasonal variability. At the measurement sites analyzed in this study, NPF occurs most frequently in March–May (on about 30 % of the days) and least frequently in December-February (about 10 % of the... (More)

Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is an important phenomenon in terms of global particle number concentrations. Here we investigated the frequency of NPF, formation rates of 10 nm particles, and growth rates in the size range of 10–25 nm using at least 1 year of aerosol number size-distribution observations at 36 different locations around the world. The majority of these measurement sites are in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the NPF frequency has a strong seasonal variability. At the measurement sites analyzed in this study, NPF occurs most frequently in March–May (on about 30 % of the days) and least frequently in December-February (about 10 % of the days). The median formation rate of 10 nm particles varies by about 3 orders of magnitude (0.01–10 cm−3 s−1) and the growth rate by about an order of magnitude (1–10 nm h−1). The smallest values of both formation and growth rates were observed at polar sites and the largest ones in urban environments or anthropogenically influenced rural sites. The correlation between the NPF event frequency and the particle formation and growth rate was at best moderate among the different measurement sites, as well as among the sites belonging to a certain environmental regime. For a better understanding of atmospheric NPF and its regional importance, we would need more observational data from different urban areas in practically all parts of the world, from additional remote and rural locations in North America, Asia, and most of the Southern Hemisphere (especially Australia), from polar areas, and from at least a few locations over the oceans.

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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
volume
18
issue
19
pages
20 pages
publisher
Copernicus GmbH
external identifiers
  • scopus:85049754613
ISSN
1680-7316
DOI
10.5194/acp-18-14737-2018
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6c3651d6-cc10-42ab-90c7-7643c2d90888
date added to LUP
2019-05-03 13:50:26
date last changed
2022-04-25 23:12:27
@article{6c3651d6-cc10-42ab-90c7-7643c2d90888,
  abstract     = {{<p>Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) is an important phenomenon in terms of global particle number concentrations. Here we investigated the frequency of NPF, formation rates of 10&amp;thinsp;nm particles, and growth rates in the size range of 10&amp;ndash;25&amp;thinsp;nm using at least 1 year of aerosol number size-distribution observations at 36 different locations around the world. The majority of these measurement sites are in the Northern Hemisphere. We found that the NPF frequency has a strong seasonal variability. At the measurement sites analyzed in this study, NPF occurs most frequently in March&amp;ndash;May (on about 30&amp;thinsp;% of the days) and least frequently in December-February (about 10&amp;thinsp;% of the days). The median formation rate of 10&amp;thinsp;nm particles varies by about 3 orders of magnitude (0.01&amp;ndash;10&amp;thinsp;cm&amp;minus;3&amp;thinsp;s&amp;minus;1) and the growth rate by about an order of magnitude (1&amp;ndash;10&amp;thinsp;nm&amp;thinsp;h&amp;minus;1). The smallest values of both formation and growth rates were observed at polar sites and the largest ones in urban environments or anthropogenically influenced rural sites. The correlation between the NPF event frequency and the particle formation and growth rate was at best moderate among the different measurement sites, as well as among the sites belonging to a certain environmental regime. For a better understanding of atmospheric NPF and its regional importance, we would need more observational data from different urban areas in practically all parts of the world, from additional remote and rural locations in North America, Asia, and most of the Southern Hemisphere (especially Australia), from polar areas, and from at least a few locations over the oceans.</p>}},
  author       = {{Nieminen, Tuomo and Kerminen, Veli Matti and Petäjä, Tuukka and Aalto, Pasi P. and Arshinov, Mikhail and Asmi, Eija and Baltensperger, Urs and Beddows, David C.S. and Paul Beukes, Johan and Collins, Don and Ding, Aijun and Harrison, Roy M. and Henzing, Bas and Hooda, Rakesh and Hu, Min and Hõrrak, Urmas and Kivekäs, Niku and Komsaare, Kaupo and Krejci, Radovan and Kristensson, Adam and Laakso, Lauri and Laaksonen, Ari and Richard Leaitch, W. and Lihavainen, Heikki and Mihalopoulos, Nikolaos and Németh, Zoltán and Nie, Wei and O'Dowd, Colin and Salma, Imre and Sellegri, Karine and Svenningsson, Birgitta and Swietlicki, Erik and Tunved, Peter and Ulevicius, Vidmantas and Vakkari, Ville and Vana, Marko and Wiedensohler, Alfred and Wu, Zhijun and Virtanen, Annele and Kulmala, Markku}},
  issn         = {{1680-7316}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  month        = {{10}},
  number       = {{19}},
  pages        = {{14737--14756}},
  publisher    = {{Copernicus GmbH}},
  series       = {{Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics}},
  title        = {{Global analysis of continental boundary layer new particle formation based on long-term measurements}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14737-2018}},
  doi          = {{10.5194/acp-18-14737-2018}},
  volume       = {{18}},
  year         = {{2018}},
}