EUCAARI ion spectrometer measurements at 12 European sites - analysis of new particle formation events

H.E. Manninen (1) , T. Nieminen (1) , E. Asmi (2) , S. Gagné (1) , S. Hakkinen (1) , K. Lehtipalo (1) , P. Aalto (1) , M. Vana (1, 3) , A. Mirme (3) , S. Mirme (3) , U. Hõrrak (3) , C. Plass-Dülmer (4) , G. Stange (4) , G. Kiss (5) , A. Hoffer (5) , N. Toro (5) , M. Moerman (6) , B. Henzing (6) , G. de Leeuw (1, 2, 6) , M. Brinkenberg (7) , G.N. Kouvarakis (8) , A. Bougiatioti (8) , N. Mihalopoulos (8) , C. O'Dowd (9) , D. Ceburnis (9) , A. Arneth (10) , B. Svenningsson (11) , E. Swietlicki (11) , L. Tarozzi (12) , S. Decesari (12) , M. C. Facchini (12) , W. Birmili (13) , A. Sonntag (13) , A. Wiedensohler (13) , J. Boulon (14) , K. Sellegri (14) , Paolo Laj (15) , M. Gysel (16) , N. Bukowiecki (16) , E. Weingartner (16) , G. Wehrle (16) , A. Laaksonen (2, 17) , A. Hamed (17) , J. Joutsensaari (17) , T. Petäjä (1) , V.-M. Kerminen (1, 2) , M. Kulmala (1, 11, 18)

1 Department of Physics [Helsinki]
2 FMI - Finnish Meteorological Institute
3 Institute of Physics [Tartu]
4 MOHp - Meteorologisches Observatorium Hohenpeißenberg
5 Air Chemistry Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
6 TNO - Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research
7 KNMI - Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute
8 ECPL - Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory [Heraklion]
9 NUI Galway - National University of Ireland [Galway]
10 Department of Physical Geography and Ecosystems Analysis
11 Department of Physics
12 ISAC - CNR Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate
13 TROPOS - Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research
14 LaMP - Laboratoire de météorologie physique
15 LGGE - Laboratoire de glaciologie et géophysique de l'environnement
16 LAC - Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry [Paul Scherrer Institute]
17 Department of Physics
18 ITM - Department of Applied Environmental Science [Stockholm]

We present comprehensive results on continuous atmospheric cluster and particle measurements in the size range ~1-42 nm within the European Integrated project on Aerosol Cloud Climate and Air Quality interactions (EUCAARI) project. We focused on characterizing the spatial and temporal variation of new particle formation events and relevant particle formation parameters across Europe. Different types of air ion and cluster mobility spectrometers were deployed at 12 field sites across Europe from March 2008 to May 2009. The measurements were conducted in a wide variety of environments, including coastal and continental locations as well as sites at different altitudes (both in the boundary layer and the free troposphere). New particle formation events were detected at all of the 12 field sites during the year-long measurement period. From the data, nucleation and growth rates of newly formed particles were determined for each environment. In a case of parallel ion and neutral cluster measurements, we could also estimate the relative contribution of ion-induced and neutral nucleation to the total particle formation. The formation rates of charged particles at 2 nm accounted for 1-30% of the corresponding total particle formation rates. As a significant new result, we found out that the total particle formation rate varied much more between the different sites than the formation rate of charged particles. This work presents, so far, the most comprehensive effort to experimentally characterize nucleation and growth of atmospheric molecular clusters and nanoparticles at ground-based observation sites on a continental scale.

Domains: Geomorphology

H.E. Manninen, T. Nieminen, E. Asmi, S. Gagné, S. Hakkinen, et al.. EUCAARI ion spectrometer measurements at 12 European sites - analysis of new particle formation events. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 2010, 10 (16), pp.7907-7927. ⟨10.5194/acp-10-7907-2010⟩. ⟨insu-00653508⟩