Aerosol formation acts as a sink for gas-phase atmospheric species that controls their atmospheric lifetime and environmental effects. To investigate aerosol formation and evolution in the ...Netherlands, a hybrid positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis was conducted using observations from May, June, and September 2021 collected in the rural site of Cabauw in the central part of the Netherlands. The hybrid input matrix consists of the full organic mass spectrum acquired from a time-of-flight aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ToF-ACSM), ACSM inorganic species concentrations, and binned particle size distribution concentrations from a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). These hybrid PMF analyses discerned four factors that describe aerosol composition variations: two size-driven factors that are related to new particle formation (NPF) and growth (F4 and F3), as well as two bulk factors driven by composition, not size (F2 and F1). The distribution of chemical species across these factors shows that different compounds are responsible for nucleation and growth of new particles. The smallest-diameter size factor (F4) contains ammonium sulfate and organics and typically peaks during the daytime. Newly formed particles, represented by F4, are mainly correlated with wind from the southwesterly-westerly and easterly sectors that transport sulfur oxides (SO.sub.x ), ammonia (NH.sub.3 ), and organic precursors to Cabauw. As the particles grow from F4 to F3 and to bulk factors, nitrate and organics play an increasing role, and the particle loading diurnal cycle shifts from daytime to a nighttime maximum. Greater organics availability makes secondary organic aerosol (SOA) more influential in summertime aerosol growth, principally due to volatility differences produced by seasonal variation in photooxidation and temperature.
Aerosol formation acts as a sink for gas-phase
atmospheric species that controls their atmospheric lifetime and
environmental effects. To investigate aerosol formation and evolution in the
...Netherlands, a hybrid positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis was
conducted using observations from May, June, and September 2021 collected in
the rural site of Cabauw in the central part of the Netherlands. The hybrid input matrix
consists of the full organic mass spectrum acquired from a time-of-flight
aerosol chemical speciation monitor (ToF-ACSM), ACSM inorganic species
concentrations, and binned particle size distribution concentrations from a
scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). These hybrid PMF analyses discerned
four factors that describe aerosol composition variations: two size-driven
factors that are related to new particle formation (NPF) and growth (F4 and
F3), as well as two bulk factors driven by composition, not size (F2 and F1). The
distribution of chemical species across these factors shows that different
compounds are responsible for nucleation and growth of new particles. The
smallest-diameter size factor (F4) contains ammonium sulfate and organics
and typically peaks during the daytime. Newly formed particles, represented
by F4, are mainly correlated with wind from the southwesterly–westerly and
easterly sectors that transport sulfur oxides (SOx), ammonia
(NH3), and organic precursors to Cabauw. As the particles grow from F4
to F3 and to bulk factors, nitrate and organics play an increasing role, and
the particle loading diurnal cycle shifts from daytime to a nighttime
maximum. Greater organics availability makes secondary organic aerosol (SOA)
more influential in summertime aerosol growth, principally due to volatility
differences produced by seasonal variation in photooxidation and
temperature.
