Microlayer source of oxygenated volatile organic compounds in the summertime marine Arctic boundary layer

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
• Main Authors: Mungall, Emma, Abbatt, Jonathan P. D., Wentzell, Jeremy J. B., Lee, Alex K. Y., Thomas, Jennie L., Blais, Marjolaine, Gosselin, Michel, Miller, Lisa A., Papakyriakou, Tim, Willis, Megan D., Liggio, John
• Other Authors: Department of Chemistry University of Toronto, University of Toronto, Air Quality Processes Research Section, Environment and Climate Change Canada, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Singapore, National University of Singapore (NUS), TROPO - LATMOS, Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS), Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de la MER de Rimouski (ISMER), Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR), Institute of Ocean Sciences Sidney (IOS), Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO), Centre for Earth Observation Science Winnipeg, University of Manitoba Winnipeg
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2017
• Subjects: Marine boundary layer; Oxygenated volatile organic compounds; Sea surface micro layer; Arctic; chemical ionization mass spectrometry; [PHYS.PHYS.PHYS-AO-PH]Physics [physics]/Physics [physics]/Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]
• Online Access: https://insu.hal.science/insu-01630704; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1620571114

International audience A biogeochemical connection between the atmosphere and the ocean is demonstrated whereby a marine source of oxygenated volatile organic compounds is identified. Compounds of this type are involved in the formation of secondary organic aerosol, which remains one of the most poorly understood components of Earth’s climate system due in part to the diverse sources of its volatile organic compound precursors. This is especially the case for marine environments, where there are more oxygenated volatile organic compounds than can be accounted for by known sources. Although it was observed in the summertime Arctic, this connection may be widespread and important to our understanding of secondary organic aerosol in other remote marine environments, with implications for our understanding of global climate.