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    Chemistry of new particle growth in mixed urban and biogenic emissions - Insights from CARES
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2014) Setyan, A.; Song, C.; Merkel, M.; Knighton, W.B.; Onasch, T.B.; Canagaratna, M.R.; Worsnop, D.R.; Wiedensohler, A.; Shilling, J.E.; Zhang, Q.
    Regional new particle formation and growth events (NPEs) were observed on most days over the Sacramento and western Sierra foothills area of California in June 2010 during the Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effect Study (CARES). Simultaneous particle measurements at both the T0 (Sacramento, urban site) and the T1 (Cool, rural site located ~40 km northeast of Sacramento) sites of CARES indicate that the NPEs usually occurred in the morning with the appearance of an ultrafine mode at ~15 nm (in mobility diameter, Dm, measured by a mobility particle size spectrometer operating in the range 10-858 nm) followed by the growth of this modal diameter to ~50 nm in the afternoon. These events were generally associated with southwesterly winds bringing urban plumes from Sacramento to the T1 site. The growth rate was on average higher at T0 (7.1 ± 2.7 nm h−1) than at T1 (6.2 ± 2.5 nm h−1), likely due to stronger anthropogenic influences at T0. Using a high-resolution time-of-flight aerosol mass spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS), we investigated the evolution of the size-resolved chemical composition of new particles at T1. Our results indicate that the growth of new particles was driven primarily by the condensation of oxygenated organic species and, to a lesser extent, ammonium sulfate. New particles appear to be fully neutralized during growth, consistent with high NH3 concentration in the region. Nitrogen-containing organic ions (i.e., CHN+, CH4N+, C2H3N+, and C2H4N+) that are indicative of the presence of alkyl-amine species in submicrometer particles enhanced significantly during the NPE days, suggesting that amines might have played a role in these events. Our results also indicate that the bulk composition of the ultrafine mode organics during NPEs was very similar to that of anthropogenically influenced secondary organic aerosol (SOA) observed in transported urban plumes. In addition, the concentrations of species representative of urban emissions (e.g., black carbon, CO, NOx, and toluene) were significantly higher whereas the photo-oxidation products of biogenic VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and the biogenically influenced SOA also increased moderately during the NPE days compared to the non-event days. These results indicate that the frequently occurring NPEs over the Sacramento and Sierra Nevada regions were mainly driven by urban plumes from Sacramento and the San Francisco Bay Area, and that the interaction of regional biogenic emissions with the urban plumes has enhanced the new particle growth. This finding has important implications for quantifying the climate impacts of NPEs on global scale.
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    Formation of organic aerosol in the Paris region during the MEGAPOLI summer campaign: Evaluation of the volatility-basis-set approach within the CHIMERE model
    (Göttingen : Copernicus, 2013) Zhang, Q.J.; Beekmann, M.; Drewnick, F.; Freutel, F.; Schneider, J.; Crippa, M.; Prevot, A.S.H.; Baltensperger, U.; Poulain, L.; Wiedensohler, A.; Sciare, J.; Gros, V.; Borbon, A.; Colomb, A.; Michoud, V.; Doussin, J.-F.; Denier Van Der Gon, H.A.C.; Haeffelin, M.; Dupont, J.-C.; Siour, G.; Petetin, H.; Bessagnet, B.; Pandis, S.N.; Hodzic, A.; Sanchez, O.; Honoré, C.; Perrussel, O.
    Simulations with the chemistry transport model CHIMERE are compared to measurements performed during the MEGAPOLI (Megacities: Emissions, urban, regional and Global Atmospheric POLlution and climate effects, and Integrated tools for assessment and mitigation) summer campaign in the Greater Paris region in July 2009. The volatility-basis-set approach (VBS) is implemented into this model, taking into account the volatility of primary organic aerosol (POA) and the chemical aging of semi-volatile organic species. Organic aerosol is the main focus and is simulated with three different configurations with a modified treatment of POA volatility and modified secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation schemes. In addition, two types of emission inventories are used as model input in order to test the uncertainty related to the emissions. Predictions of basic meteorological parameters and primary and secondary pollutant concentrations are evaluated, and four pollution regimes are defined according to the air mass origin. Primary pollutants are generally overestimated, while ozone is consistent with observations. Sulfate is generally overestimated, while ammonium and nitrate levels are well simulated with the refined emission data set. As expected, the simulation with non-volatile POA and a single-step SOA formation mechanism largely overestimates POA and underestimates SOA. Simulation of organic aerosol with the VBS approach taking into account the aging of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) shows the best correlation with measurements. High-concentration events observed mostly after long-range transport are well reproduced by the model. Depending on the emission inventory used, simulated POA levels are either reasonable or underestimated, while SOA levels tend to be overestimated. Several uncertainties related to the VBS scheme (POA volatility, SOA yields, the aging parameterization), to emission input data, and to simulated OH levels can be responsible for this behavior. Despite these uncertainties, the implementation of the VBS scheme into the CHIMERE model allowed for much more realistic organic aerosol simulations for Paris during summertime. The advection of SOA from outside Paris is mostly responsible for the highest OA concentration levels. During advection of polluted air masses from northeast (Benelux and Central Europe), simulations indicate high levels of both anthropogenic and biogenic SOA fractions, while biogenic SOA dominates during periods with advection from Southern France and Spain.