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Biogenic Potassium Salt Particles as Seeds for Secondary Organic Aerosol in the Amazon

  1. Christopher Pöhlker1,*,
  2. Kenia T. Wiedemann2,3,4,
  3. Bärbel Sinha5,6,
  4. Manabu Shiraiwa1,7,
  5. Sachin S. Gunthe1,8,
  6. Mackenzie Smith3,
  7. Hang Su1,
  8. Paulo Artaxo2,
  9. Qi Chen3,
  10. Yafang Cheng1,
  11. Wolfgang Elbert1,
  12. Mary K. Gilles9,
  13. Arthur L. D. Kilcoyne10,
  14. Ryan C. Moffet8,11,
  15. Markus Weigand12,
  16. Scot T. Martin3,
  17. Ulrich Pöschl1,*,
  18. Meinrat O. Andreae1
  1. 1Biogeochemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz 55020, Germany.
  2. 2Institute of Physics, University of São Paulo, São Paulo 05508-900, Brazil.
  3. 3School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
  4. 4Ecology and Evolutionary Biology Department, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
  5. 5Particle Chemistry Department, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz 55020, Germany.
  6. 6Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, S.A.S. Nagar, Manauli PO, India.
  7. 7Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
  8. 8Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Division, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai 600036, India.
  9. 9Chemical Science Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
  10. 10Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
  11. 11Department of Chemistry, University of the Pacific, Stockton, CA 95211, USA.
  12. 12Max Planck Institute for Intelligent Systems, Stuttgart 70569, Germany.
  1. ↵*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: c.pohlker{at}mpic.de (C.P.); u.poschl{at}mpic.de (U.P.)
Science  31 Aug 2012:
Vol. 337, Issue 6098, pp. 1075-1078
DOI: 10.1126/science.1223264

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Abstract

The fine particles serving as cloud condensation nuclei in pristine Amazonian rainforest air consist mostly of secondary organic aerosol. Their origin is enigmatic, however, because new particle formation in the atmosphere is not observed. Here, we show that the growth of organic aerosol particles can be initiated by potassium-salt–rich particles emitted by biota in the rainforest. These particles act as seeds for the condensation of low- or semi-volatile organic compounds from the atmospheric gas phase or multiphase oxidation of isoprene and terpenes. Our findings suggest that the primary emission of biogenic salt particles directly influences the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei and affects the microphysics of cloud formation and precipitation over the rainforest.

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  • Biogenic Potassium Salt Particles as Seeds for Secondary Organic Aerosol in the Amazon

    By Christopher Pöhlker, Kenia T. Wiedemann, Bärbel Sinha, Manabu Shiraiwa, Sachin S. Gunthe, Mackenzie Smith, Hang Su, Paulo Artaxo, Qi Chen, Yafang Cheng, Wolfgang Elbert, Mary K. Gilles, Arthur L. D. Kilcoyne, Ryan C. Moffet, Markus Weigand, Scot T. Martin, Ulrich Pöschl, Meinrat O. Andreae

    Science : 1075-1078

    Potassium salt particles account for the previously mysterious initiation sites of aerosol growth above the Amazonian rainforest.

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