Iodine observed in new particle formation events in the Arctic atmosphere during ACCACIA

Accurately accounting for new particle formation (NPF) is crucial to our ability to predict aerosol number concentrations in many environments and thus cloud properties, which is in turn vital in simulating radiative transfer and climate. Here we present an analysis of NPF events observed in the Gre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
Main Authors: Allan, James, Williams, Paul I, Najera, J, Whitehead, James, Flynn, M J, Taylor, Jonathan, Liu, Dantong, Darbyshire, E, Carpenter, L J, Chance, R, Mcfiggans, Gordon
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
aerosol mass-spectrometer
marine boundary-layer
positive matrix factorization
oxidation-products
hygroscopic growth
molecular-iodine
eastern atlantic
sulfuric-acid
size range
global ccn
Arctic
Greenland
Greenland Sea
Sea ice
Online Access:https://research.manchester.ac.uk/en/publications/5a67f816-dc2b-41c0-889d-b89a8cef702e
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5599-2015
Description
Summary:Accurately accounting for new particle formation (NPF) is crucial to our ability to predict aerosol number concentrations in many environments and thus cloud properties, which is in turn vital in simulating radiative transfer and climate. Here we present an analysis of NPF events observed in the Greenland Sea during the summertime as part of the Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic (ACCACIA) project. While NPF events have been reported in the Arctic before, we were able, for the first time, to detect iodine in the growing particles using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) during a persistent event in the region of the coastal sea-ice near Greenland. Given the potency of iodine as a nucleation precursor, the results imply that iodine was responsible for the initial NPF, a phenomenon that has been reported at lower latitudes and associated with molecular iodine emissions from coastal macroalgae. The initial source of iodine in this instance is not clear, but it was associated with air originating approximately 1 day previously over melting coastal sea-ice. These results show that atmospheric models must consider iodine as a source of new particles in addition to established precursors such as sulfur compounds.

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