Abstract. Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) affects the earth's radiation balance and global climate. High-elevation areas are sensitive to global climate change. However, at present, SOA origins and seasonal variations are understudied in remote high-elevation areas. In this study, particulate samples were collected from July 2012 to July 2013 at the remote Nam Co (NC) site, Central Tibetan Plateau and analyzed for SOA tracers from biogenic (isoprene, monoterpenes and β-caryophyllene) and anthropogenic (aromatics) precursors. Among these compounds, isoprene SOA (SOAI) tracers represented the majority (26.6 ± 44.2 ng m−3), followed by monoterpene SOA (SOAM) tracers (0.97 ± 0.57 ng m−3), aromatic SOA (SOAA) tracer (2,3-dihydroxy-4-oxopentanoic acid, DHOPA, 0.25 ± 0.18 ng m−3) and β-caryophyllene SOA tracer (β-caryophyllenic acid, 0.09 ± 0.10 ng m−3). SOAI tracers exhibited high concentrations in the summer and low levels in the winter. The similar temperature dependence of SOAI tracers and isoprene emission suggested that the seasonal variation of SOAI at the NC site was mainly influenced by isoprene emission. The ratio of high-NOx to low-NOx products of isoprene (2-methylglyceric acid to 2-methyltetrols) was the highest in the winter and the lowest in the summer, due to the influence of temperature and relative humidity. The seasonal variation of SOAM tracers was impacted by monoterpenes emission and tracers partitioning. The similar temperature dependence of SOAM tracers and monoterpenes emission was only observed during winter to spring. SOAM tracer levels did not elevate with increased temperature in the summer, probably resulting from the counteraction of temperature effects on gas/particle partitioning and monoterpenes emission. The concentrations of DHOPA were 1–2 orders of magnitude lower than those reported in the urban regions of the world. Due to the transport of air pollutants from the adjacent Bangladesh and the eastern India, DHOPA presented relatively higher levels in the summer. In the winter when air masses mainly came from the northwestern India, mass fractions of DHOPA in total tracers increased, although its concentrations declined. The SOA-tracer method was applied to estimated secondary organic carbon (SOC) from these four precursors. The annual average of SOC was 0.22 ± 0.29 μg C m−3, with the biogenic SOC (sum of isoprene, monoterpenes and β-caryophyllene) accounting for 75%. In the summer, isoprene was the major precursor with its SOC contributions of 81%. In the winter when the emission of biogenic precursors largely dropped, the contributions of aromatic SOC increased. Our study implies that anthropogenic pollutants emitted in the Indian subcontinent could transport to the TP and have impact on SOC over the remote NC.
Seasonal variation of secondary organic aerosol in Nam Co, Central Tibetan Plateau