Hygroscopicity of Water-Soluble Organic Compounds in Atmospheric Aerosols:  Amino Acids and Biomass Burning Derived Organic Species

2005 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 1555-1562 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Nin Chan ◽  
Man Yee Choi ◽  
Nga Lee Ng ◽  
Chak K. Chan
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kanishtha Dubey ◽  
Shubha Verma

<p>The study investigates the chemical composition and source of aerosol origin at a semi-urban (Kharagpur–Kgp) and urban (Kolkata–Kol) region during the period February 2015 to January 2016 and September 2010 to August 2011 respectively. Major water-soluble inorganic aerosols (WSII) were determined using Ion chromatography and carbonaceous aerosols (CA) using OC–EC analyser. A multivariate factor analysis Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) was used in resolving source of aerosols at the study locations. Seasonal analysis of WSII at Kgp and Kol indicated relative dominance of calcium at both the places followed by sodium, chloride, and magnesium ions. Non-sea salt potassium (nss–K<sup>+</sup>), a biomass burning tracer was found higher at Kol than at Kgp. Sum of secondary aerosols sulphate (SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup>), nitrate (NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup>) and ammonium (NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>) was higher at Kol than Kgp with relative concentration of SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2-</sup> being higher than NO<sub>3</sub><sup>-</sup> at Kgp which was vice-versa at Kol. Examination of carbonaceous aerosols showed three times higher concentration of organic carbon (OC) than elemental carbon (EC) with monthly mean of OC/EC ratio > 2, indicating likely formation of secondary organic carbon formation. Seasonal influence of biomass burning inferred from nss–K<sup>+</sup> (OC/EC) ratio relationship indicated dissimilarity in seasonality of biomass burning at Kgp (Kol). PMF resolved sources for Kgp constituted of secondary aerosol emissions, biomass burning, fugitive dust, marine aerosols, crustal dust and emissions from brick kilns while for Kol factors constituted of burning of waste, resuspended paved road dust, coal combustion, sea spray aerosols, vehicular emissions and biomass burning.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1959-1973 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Zhu ◽  
K. Kawamura ◽  
B. Kunwar

Abstract. Biomass burning (BB) largely modifies the chemical composition of atmospheric aerosols on the globe. We collected aerosol samples (TSP) at Cape Hedo, on subtropical Okinawa Island, from October 2009 to February 2012 to study anhydrosugars as BB tracers. Levoglucosan was detected as the dominant anhydrosugar followed by its isomers, mannosan and galactosan. We found a clear seasonal trend of levoglucosan and mannosan with winter maxima and summer minima. Positive correlation was found between levoglucosan and nss-K+ (r = 0.38, p < 0.001); the latter is another BB tracer. The analyses of air mass trajectories and fire spots demonstrated that the seasonal variations of anhydrosugars are caused by long-range transport of BB emissions from the Asian continent. We found winter maxima of anhydrosugars, which may be associated with open burning and domestic heating and cooking in northern and northeastern China, Mongolia and Russia and with the enhanced westerly winds. The monthly averaged levoglucosan / mannosan ratios were lower (2.1–4.8) in May–June and higher (13.3–13.9) in November–December. The lower values may be associated with softwood burning in northern China, Korea and southwestern Japan whereas the higher values are probably caused by agricultural waste burning of maize straw in the North China Plain. Anhydrosugars comprised 0.22% of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and 0.13% of organic carbon (OC). The highest values to WSOC (0.37%) and OC (0.25%) were found in winter, again indicating an important BB contribution to Okinawa aerosols in winter. This study provides useful information to better understand the effect of East Asian biomass burning on the air quality in the western North Pacific Rim.


2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (18) ◽  
pp. 25581-25616 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Zhu ◽  
K. Kawamura

Abstract. Biomass burning (BB) largely modifies the chemical compositions of atmospheric aerosols on the globe. We collected aerosol samples (TSP) at Cape Hedo, subtropical Okinawa Island from October 2009 to February 2012 to study anhydrosugars as BB tracers. Levoglucosan was detected as the dominant anhydrosugar followed by its isomers, mannosan and galactosan. We found a clear seasonal trend of levoglucosan and mannosan with winter maxima and summer minima. Positive correlation was found between levoglucosan and nss-K+ (r = 0.38, p < 0.001); the latter is another BB tracer. The analyses of air mass trajectories and fire spots demonstrated that the seasonal variations of anhydrsosugsars are caused by a long-range transport of BB emissions from the Asian continent. We found winter maxima of anhydrosugars, which may be associated with open burning and domestic heating and cooking in north and northeast China, Mongolia and Russia and with the enhanced westerly. The monthly averaged levoglucosan/mannosan ratios were lower (2.1–4.8) in May–June and higher (13.3–13.9) in November–December. The lower values may be associated with softwood burning in north China, Korea and southwest Japan whereas the higher values are probably caused by agriculture waste burning of maize straw in the North China Plain. Anhydrosugars comprised 0.22% of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and 0.13% of organic carbon (OC). The highest values to WSOC (0.37%) and OC (0.25%) were found in winter, again indicating an important BB contribution to Okinawa aerosols in winter. This study provides useful information to better understand the effect of East Asian biomass burning on the air quality in the western North Pacific Rim.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 4193-4207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Decesari ◽  
Marco Paglione ◽  
Matteo Rinaldi ◽  
Manuel Dall'Osto ◽  
Rafel Simó ◽  
...  

Abstract. The concentrations of submicron aerosol particles in maritime regions around Antarctica are influenced by the extent of sea ice. This effect is two ways: on one side, sea ice regulates the production of particles by sea spray (primary aerosols); on the other side, it hosts complex communities of organisms emitting precursors for secondary particles. Past studies documenting the chemical composition of fine aerosols in Antarctica indicate various potential primary and secondary sources active in coastal areas, in offshore marine regions, and in the sea ice itself. In particular, beside the well-known sources of organic and sulfur material originating from the oxidation of dimethylsulfide (DMS) produced by microalgae, recent findings obtained during the 2015 PEGASO cruise suggest that nitrogen-containing organic compounds are also produced by the microbiota colonizing the marginal ice zone. To complement the aerosol source apportionment performed using online mass spectrometric techniques, here we discuss the outcomes of offline spectroscopic analysis performed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. In this study we (i) present the composition of ambient aerosols over open-ocean waters across bioregions, and compare it to the composition of (ii) seawater samples and (iii) bubble-bursting aerosols produced in a sea-spray chamber onboard the ship. Our results show that the process of aerosolization in the tank enriches primary marine particles with lipids and sugars while depleting them of free amino acids, providing an explanation for why amino acids occurred only at trace concentrations in the marine aerosol samples analyzed. The analysis of water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) in ambient submicron aerosol samples shows distinct NMR fingerprints for three bioregions: (1) the open Southern Ocean pelagic environments, in which aerosols are enriched with primary marine particles containing lipids and sugars; (2) sympagic areas in the Weddell Sea, where secondary organic compounds, including methanesulfonic acid and semivolatile amines abound in the aerosol composition; and (3) terrestrial coastal areas, traced by sugars such as sucrose, emitted by land vegetation. Finally, a new biogenic chemical marker, creatinine, was identified in the samples from the Weddell Sea, providing another confirmation of the importance of nitrogen-containing metabolites in Antarctic polar aerosols.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (23) ◽  
pp. 11401-11413 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. He ◽  
B. Zielinska ◽  
R. Balasubramanian

Abstract. An intensive field study was conducted in the urban atmosphere of Singapore to investigate the composition of organic compounds in both gaseous and particulate phases during the period of August to early November 2006. 17 atmospheric samples were collected. These samples were subjected to accelerated solvent extraction with a mixture of dichloromethane and acetone and separated into functional group fractions for analyses by GC/MS. Over 180 organic compounds belonging to three major fractions (n-alkanes, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – PAHs, and polar organic compounds – POCs) were identified and quantified. The characteristics and abundance of the n-alkanes, PAHs, mono and dicarboxylic acids, methoxylated phenols and other POCs were determined. The composition of these organic compounds fluctuated temporally with most of them being relatively higher in October than those in other months of the sampling period. 3-D backward air mass trajectory analyses together with the carbon preference index (CPI), molecular diagnostic ratios and molecular markers were used to investigate the origin of organic species measured in this study. Based on these diagnostic tools, the increased abundance of atmospheric organic species during October could be attributed to the occurrence of regional smoke haze episodes due to biomass burning in Indonesia. Among the POCs investigated, phthalic acid and cis-pinonic acid were abundant during October 2006. These two acids showed strong linear relationships with maximum daily ozone concentrations throughout the entire sampling period. This correlation with ozone suggested that the secondary aerosol constituents such as phthalic and cis-pinonic acids were probably formed through O3-induced photochemical transformation.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 273 ◽  
Author(s):  
Magda Claeys ◽  
Reinhilde Vermeylen ◽  
Farhat Yasmeen ◽  
Yadian Gómez-González ◽  
Xuguang Chi ◽  
...  

Environmental contextOne of the most important classes of water-soluble organic compounds in continental fine and tropical biomass burning aerosol is humic-like substances (HULIS), which contain components with strong polar, acidic and chromophoric properties. We focus on the chemical characterisation of HULIS and provide evidence that nitro-aromatic catecholic compounds are among the major species of HULIS. This indicates that volatile aromatic hydrocarbons emitted during biomass burning are important gas-phase precursors for HULIS. AbstractHumic-like substances (HULIS) are ubiquitously present in the troposphere and make up a major fraction of continental fine-sized water-soluble organic compounds. They are regarded as material with strong polar, acidic and chromophoric properties; however, structural information at the individual component level is rather limited. In the present study, we have characterised HULIS from different locations using liquid chromatography coupled to photodiode array detection and negative ion electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry. Aerosol samples with particles less than 2.5 μm in diameter (PM2.5) were collected in Budapest and K-puszta, Hungary, during 2007 and 2008 spring and summer periods, and in Rondônia, Brazil, during a 2002 biomass burning experiment. Major components of the Budapest 2007 and Brazil 2002 HULIS corresponded to chromophoric substances, of which 4-nitrocatechol (molecular weight (MW) 155) was identified as the most abundant organic species and less abundant ones were attributed to mono- and dimethyl nitrocatechols (MWs 169 and 183). The mass concentrations of 4-nitrocatechol in the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) of the Budapest 2007 and day- and night-time Brazil 2002 HULIS were 0.46, 0.50 and 1.80 %. Abundant components of K-puszta 2008 HULIS were assigned to α-pinene secondary organic aerosol (SOA) tracers, i.e. 3-methyl-1,2,3-butanetricarboxylic acid and terpenylic acid; their mass concentrations in the HULIS WSOC were 0.75 and 0.40 %. Tere- and ortho-phthalic acids (MW 166) were major components of the Budapest and K-puszta HULIS, but only minor ones of the Brazil 2002 biomass burning HULIS, consistent with a source that is different from biomass burning and likely related to open waste burning of phthalate ester-containing material such as plastic.


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