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Simulating marine new particle formation and growth using the m7 modal aerosol dynamics modal

Monahan, Ciaran
Vuollekoski, Henri
Kulmala, Markku
O'Dowd, Colin
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Publication Date
2010-01-01
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Article
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Citation
Monahan, Ciaran; Vuollekoski, Henri; Kulmala, Markku; O'Dowd, Colin (2010). Simulating marine new particle formation and growth using the m7 modal aerosol dynamics modal. Advances in Meteorology ,
Abstract
A modal atmospheric aerosol model (M7) is evaluated in terms of predicting marine new particle formation and growth. Simulations were carried out for three different nucleation schemes involving (1) kinetic self-nucleation of OIO (2) nucleation via OIO activation by H2SO4 and (3) nucleation via OIO activation by H2SO4 plus condensation of a low-volatility organic vapour. Peak OIO and H2SO4 vapour concentrations were both limited to 6 x 10(6) molecules cm(-3) at noontime while the peak organic vapour concentration was limited to 12x10(6) molecules cm(-3). All simulations produced significant concentrations of new particles in the Aitken mode. From a base case particle concentration of 222 cm(-3) at radii > 15 nm, increases in concentrations to 366 cm(-3) were predicted from the OIO-OIO case, 722 cm(-3) for the OIO-H2SO4 case, and 1584 cm(-3) for the OIO-H2SO4 case with additional condensing organic vapours. The results indicate that open ocean new particle production is feasible for clean conditions; however, new particle production becomes most significant when an additional condensable organic vapour is available to grow the newly formed particles to larger sizes. Comparison to sectional model for a typical case study demonstrated good agreement and the validity of using the modal model.
Funder
Publisher
Hindawi Limited
Publisher DOI
10.1155/2010/689763
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Ireland