Role of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation

dc.contributor.authorKirkby, Jasper
dc.contributor.authorCurtius, Joachim
dc.contributor.authorAlmeida, João
dc.contributor.authorDunne, Eimear
dc.contributor.authorDuplissy, Jonathan
dc.contributor.authorEhrhart, Sebastian
dc.contributor.authorFranchin, Alessandro
dc.contributor.authorGagné, Stéphanie
dc.contributor.authorIckes, Luisa
dc.contributor.authorKürten, Andreas
dc.contributor.authorKupc, Agnieszka
dc.contributor.authorMetzger, Axel
dc.contributor.authorRiccobono, Francesco
dc.contributor.authorRondo, Linda
dc.contributor.authorSchobesberger, Siegfried
dc.contributor.authorTsagkogeorgas, Georgios
dc.contributor.authorWimmer, Daniela
dc.contributor.authorAmorim, Antonio
dc.contributor.authorBianchi, Federico
dc.contributor.authorBreitenlechner, Martin
dc.contributor.authorDavid, André
dc.contributor.authorDommen, Josef
dc.contributor.authorDownard, Andrew
dc.contributor.authorEhn, Mikael
dc.contributor.authorFlagan, Richard C.
dc.contributor.authorHaider, Stefan
dc.contributor.authorHansel, Armin
dc.contributor.authorHauser, Daniel
dc.contributor.authorJud, Werner
dc.contributor.authorJunninen, Heikki
dc.contributor.authorKreissl, Fabian
dc.contributor.authorKvashin, Alexander
dc.contributor.authorLaaksonen, Ari
dc.contributor.authorLehtipalo, Katrianne
dc.contributor.authorLima, Jorge
dc.contributor.authorLovejoy, Edward R.
dc.contributor.authorMakhmutov, Vladimir
dc.contributor.authorMathot, Serge
dc.contributor.authorMikkilä, Jyri
dc.contributor.authorMinginette, Pierre
dc.contributor.authorMogo, Sandra
dc.contributor.authorNieminen, Tuomo
dc.contributor.authorOnnela, Antti
dc.contributor.authorPereira, Paulo
dc.contributor.authorPetäjä, Tuukka
dc.contributor.authorSchnitzhofer, Ralf
dc.contributor.authorSeinfeld, John H.
dc.contributor.authorSipilä, Mikko
dc.contributor.authorStozhkov, Yuri
dc.contributor.authorStratmann, Frank
dc.contributor.authorTomé, Antonio
dc.contributor.authorVanhanen, Joonas
dc.contributor.authorViisanen, Yrjo
dc.contributor.authorVrtala, Aron
dc.contributor.authorWagner, Paul E.
dc.contributor.authorWalther, Hansueli
dc.contributor.authorWeingartner, Ernest
dc.contributor.authorWex, Heike
dc.contributor.authorWinkler, Paul M.
dc.contributor.authorCarslaw, Kenneth S.
dc.contributor.authorWorsnop, Douglas R.
dc.contributor.authorBaltensperger, Urs
dc.contributor.authorKulmala, Markku
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-13T11:56:11Z
dc.date.available2024-08-13T11:56:11Z
dc.date.issued2011-08-24
dc.description.abstractAtmospheric aerosols exert an important influence on climate through their effects on stratiform cloud albedo and lifetime and the invigoration of convective storms. Model calculations suggest that almost half of the global cloud condensation nuclei in the atmospheric boundary layer may originate from the nucleation of aerosols from trace condensable vapours, although the sensitivity of the number of cloud condensation nuclei to changes of nucleation rate may be small. Despite extensive research, fundamental questions remain about the nucleation rate of sulphuric acid particles and the mechanisms responsible, including the roles of galactic cosmic rays and other chemical species such as ammonia. Here we present the first results from the CLOUD experiment at CERN. We find that atmospherically relevant ammonia mixing ratios of 100 parts per trillion by volume, or less, increase the nucleation rate of sulphuric acid particles more than 100–1,000-fold. Time-resolved molecular measurements reveal that nucleation proceeds by a base-stabilization mechanism involving the stepwise accretion of ammonia molecules. Ions increase the nucleation rate by an additional factor of between two and more than ten at ground-level galactic-cosmic-ray intensities, provided that the nucleation rate lies below the limiting ion-pair production rate. We find that ion-induced binary nucleation of H2SO4–H2O can occur in the mid-troposphere but is negligible in the boundary layer. However, even with the large enhancements in rate due to ammonia and ions, atmospheric concentrations of ammonia and sulphuric acid are insufficient to account for observed boundary-layer nucleation.
dc.identifier.doi10.1038/nature10343
dc.identifier.issn0028-0836
dc.identifier.issn1476-4687
dc.identifier.urihttps://irf.fhnw.ch/handle/11654/46601
dc.language.isoen
dc.publisherSpringer
dc.relation.ispartofNature
dc.subject.ddc550 - Geowissenschaften
dc.titleRole of sulphuric acid, ammonia and galactic cosmic rays in atmospheric aerosol nucleation
dc.type01A - Beitrag in wissenschaftlicher Zeitschrift
dc.volume476
dspace.entity.typePublication
fhnw.InventedHereNo
fhnw.ReviewTypeAnonymous ex ante peer review of a complete publication
fhnw.affiliation.hochschuleHochschule für Technik und Umwelt FHNWde_CH
fhnw.affiliation.institutlnstitut für Sensorik und Elektronikde_CH
fhnw.openAccessCategoryClosed
fhnw.pagination429-433
fhnw.publicationStatePublished
relation.isAuthorOfPublication05dd9a19-7a24-4325-805a-2d121483b168
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery05dd9a19-7a24-4325-805a-2d121483b168
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