Contribution of Isoprene Oxidation Products to Marine Aerosol over the North-East Atlantic

• Published in: Advances in Meteorology
• Main Authors: Tatu Anttila, Baerbel Langmann, Saji Varghese, Colin O'Dowd
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Advances in Meteorology 2010
• Subjects: North Atlantic; North East Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/482603

Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation through isoprene oxidation was investigated with the regional-scale climate model REMOTE. The applied modeling scheme includes a treatment for marine primary organic aerosol emissions, aerosol microphysics, and SOA formation through the gas/particle partitioning of semivolatile, water-soluble oxidation products. The focus was on SOA formation taking place over the North-East Atlantic during a period of high biological activity. Isoprene SOA concentrations were up to ~5 ng m−3 over North Atlantic in the base case model runs, and isoprene oxidation made a negligible contribution to the marine organic aerosol (OA) mass. In particular, isoprene SOA did not account for the observed water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) concentrations over North Atlantic. The performed model calculations, together with results from recent field measurements, imply a missing source of SOA over remote marine areas unless the isoprene oxidation products are considerably less volatile than the current knowledge indicates.