Global variability in atmospheric new particle formation mechanisms

Bin Zhao (), Neil M. Donahue, Kai Zhang, Lizhuo Mao, Manish Shrivastava, Po-Lun Ma, Jiewen Shen, Shuxiao Wang, Jian Sun, Hamish Gordon, Shuaiqi Tang, Jerome Fast, Mingyi Wang, Yang Gao, Chao Yan, Balwinder Singh, Zeqi Li, Lyuyin Huang, Sijia Lou, Guangxing Lin, Hailong Wang, Jingkun Jiang, Aijun Ding, Wei Nie, Ximeng Qi, Xuguang Chi and Lin Wang
Additional contact information
Bin Zhao: Tsinghua University
Neil M. Donahue: Carnegie Mellon University
Kai Zhang: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Lizhuo Mao: Tsinghua University
Manish Shrivastava: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Po-Lun Ma: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Jiewen Shen: Tsinghua University
Shuxiao Wang: Tsinghua University
Jian Sun: National Center for Atmospheric Research
Hamish Gordon: Carnegie Mellon University
Shuaiqi Tang: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Jerome Fast: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Mingyi Wang: California Institute of Technology
Yang Gao: Ocean University of China
Chao Yan: Nanjing University
Balwinder Singh: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Zeqi Li: Tsinghua University
Lyuyin Huang: Tsinghua University
Sijia Lou: Nanjing University
Guangxing Lin: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Hailong Wang: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Jingkun Jiang: Tsinghua University
Aijun Ding: Nanjing University
Wei Nie: Nanjing University
Ximeng Qi: Nanjing University
Xuguang Chi: Nanjing University
Lin Wang: Fudan University

Nature, 2024, vol. 631, issue 8019, 98-105

Abstract: Abstract A key challenge in aerosol pollution studies and climate change assessment is to understand how atmospheric aerosol particles are initially formed1,2. Although new particle formation (NPF) mechanisms have been described at specific sites3–6, in most regions, such mechanisms remain uncertain to a large extent because of the limited ability of atmospheric models to simulate critical NPF processes1,7. Here we synthesize molecular-level experiments to develop comprehensive representations of 11 NPF mechanisms and the complex chemical transformation of precursor gases in a fully coupled global climate model. Combined simulations and observations show that the dominant NPF mechanisms are distinct worldwide and vary with region and altitude. Previously neglected or underrepresented mechanisms involving organics, amines, iodine oxoacids and HNO3 probably dominate NPF in most regions with high concentrations of aerosols or large aerosol radiative forcing; such regions include oceanic and human-polluted continental boundary layers, as well as the upper troposphere over rainforests and Asian monsoon regions. These underrepresented mechanisms also play notable roles in other areas, such as the upper troposphere of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Accordingly, NPF accounts for different fractions (10–80%) of the nuclei on which cloud forms at 0.5% supersaturation over various regions in the lower troposphere. The comprehensive simulation of global NPF mechanisms can help improve estimation and source attribution of the climate effects of aerosols.

Date: 2024
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07547-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:631:y:2024:i:8019:d:10.1038_s41586-024-07547-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07547-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().