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Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Formation, Properties and Evolution in the...
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Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Formation, Properties and Evolution in the Atmosphere

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Aerosols".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2019) | Viewed by 11131

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Annele Virtanen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Aerosol Physics Research Group, University of Eastern Finland, Yliopistokatu 2 P.O.Box 111. FI-80101 Joensuu, Finland
Interests: biogenic and anthropogenic SOA formation and properties; aerosol-cloud interactions; anthropogenic-biogenic interactions; laboratory and field studies; method development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) is formed– by definition –when low volatility oxidation products of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) deposit onto existing particles or form new particles. SOA accounts for a major fraction of the global atmospheric aerosol burden. Understanding the mechanism of formation and the properties of SOA is therefore important to estimate its effects on climate, air quality, and human health. However, atmospheric SOA is a complex mixture of organic species with a variety of chemical and physical properties, such as chemical composition, functional groups, volatility, hygroscopicity, phase state, and so on. Complexity arising from these diverse SOA characteristics challenges the description of the evolution of SOA particles in the atmosphere and further their contribution to indirect and direct radiative forcing.

Even though recent advances in measurement techniques have enabled more detailed studies on gas phase processes relevant to SOA formation and transformation, our achievements in the scientific understanding of the sources and fate of SOA in the atmosphere are still limited. Therefore, new and insightful studies based on both laboratory and field observations and on modeling are needed to better understand the sources, formation, and atmospheric evolution of anthropogenic and biogenic SOA particles and their contribution to radiative forcing. Manuscripts on all these aspects are welcome for this Special Issue.

Prof. Annele Virtanen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Biogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols
  • Anthropogenic Secondary Organic Aerosols
  • Volatile Organic Compounds
  • Hygroscopicity
  • Volatility
  • Physical-phase state
  • Field observations
  • Laboratory studies

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 5668 KiB  
Article
Differentiation of Particulate Matter Sources Based on the Chemical Composition of PM10 in Functional Urban Areas
by Dusan Jandacka and Daniela Durcanska
Atmosphere 2019, 10(10), 583; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10100583 - 26 Sep 2019
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3330
Abstract
Urban air quality is continuing to deteriorate. If we want to do something about this problem, we need to know the cause of the pollution. The big problem, not only in Europe, is the high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in the urban [...] Read more.
Urban air quality is continuing to deteriorate. If we want to do something about this problem, we need to know the cause of the pollution. The big problem, not only in Europe, is the high concentrations of particulate matter (PM) in the urban environment. The origin of these particles can be different, including combustion, transport, industry, natural resources, etc. Particulate matter includes a large amount of the finest PM fractions, which can remain in the air for a long time, easily enter respiratory tracks, and damage human health. Particulate matter is also produced by the abrasion of different parts of roads and vehicle fleets and from resuspension road dust, which concerns matter with larger aerodynamic diameters. For this reason, we carried out a series of measurements at various measuring stations in Žilina, Slovakia, during different measuring seasons. The main objective was to find out the diversity of particulate matter sources in Žilina. The search for the particulate matter origin was carried out by particulate matter measurements, determination of the particulate matter fraction concentrations (PM10, PM2.5, and PM1), an investigation on the effect of secondary factors on the particulate matter concentrations, chemical analyses, and multivariate statistical analyses. Varied behavior of the particulate matter with respect to the measurement station and the measurement season was found. Differences in the concentrations of investigated chemical elements contained in the PM were found. Significant changes in the concentrations of particulate matter are caused not only by primary sources (e.g., road traffic in the city of Žilina), but mainly by the negative events (combination of air pollution sources and meteorological conditions). Maximum concentrations of particulate matter PM10 were measured during the winter season at the measuring station on Komenského Street: PM10 126.2 µg/m3, PM2.5 97.7 µg/m3, and PM1 90.4 µg/m3 were obtained using the gravimetric method. The coarse fraction PM2.5-10 was mainly represented by the chemical elements Mg, Al, Si, Ca, Cr, Fe, and Ba, and the fine fraction PM2.5 was represented by the chemical elements K, S, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Zn. Road transport as a dominant source of PM10 was identified from all measurements in the city of Žilina by using the multivariate statistical methods of principal component analysis (PCA) and factor analysis (FA). Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Formation, Properties and Evolution in the Atmosphere)
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17 pages, 1467 KiB  
Article
Characterising Particulate Organic Nitrogen at A Savannah-Grassland Region in South Africa
by Wanda Booyens, Pieter G. Van Zyl, Johan P. Beukes, Jose Ruiz-Jimenez, Matias Kopperi, Marja-Liisa Riekkola, Ville Vakkari, Miroslav Josipovic, Markku Kulmala and Lauri Laakso
Atmosphere 2019, 10(9), 492; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10090492 - 26 Aug 2019
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 3915
Abstract
Although atmospheric organic N compounds are considered to be important, especially in new particle formation and their contribution to brown carbon, these species are not that well understood. This can be partially attributed to their chemical complexity. Therefore, the aim of this study [...] Read more.
Although atmospheric organic N compounds are considered to be important, especially in new particle formation and their contribution to brown carbon, these species are not that well understood. This can be partially attributed to their chemical complexity. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the characteristics of organic N compounds utilising comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (GCxGC-TOFMS) in aerosol samples that were collected at a savanna-grassland background region and to determine the possible sources. 135 atmospheric organic N compounds were tentatively characterised and semi-quantified, which included amines, nitriles, amides, urea, pyridine derivatives, amino acids, nitro-and nitroso compounds, imines, cyanates and isocyanates, and azo compounds. Amines contributed to 51% of the semi-quantified concentrations, while nitriles, pyridine derivatives, and amides comprised 20%, 11%, and 8%, respectively, of the semi-quantified concentrations. Amines, nitriles, amides, and pyridine derivatives concentrations were higher during the dry season, which were attributed to meteorology and open biomass burning. Anthropogenic sources impacting air masses measured at Welgegund, as well as regional agricultural activities, were considered as the major sources of amines, while the regional influence of household combustion was most likely the main source of nitriles, amides, and pyridine derivatives. The other organic N species were most likely related to the influence of local and regional agricultural activities. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Secondary Organic Aerosol (SOA) Formation, Properties and Evolution in the Atmosphere)
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