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Abstract Frequency and intensity of warm and moist air-mass intrusions into the Arctic have increased over the past decades and have been related to sea ice melt. During our year-long expedition in the remote central Arctic Ocean, a record-breaking increase in temperature, moisture and downwelling-longwave radiation was observed in mid-April 2020, during an air-mass intrusion carrying air pollutants from northern Eurasia. The two-day intrusion, caused drastic changes in the aerosol size distribution, chemical composition and particle hygroscopicity. Here we show how the intrusion transformed the Arctic from a remote low-particle environment to an area comparable to a central-European urban setting. Additionally, the intrusion resulted in an explosive increase in cloud condensation nuclei, which can have direct effects on Arctic clouds’ radiation, their precipitation patterns, and their lifetime. Thus, unless prompt actions to significantly reduce emissions in the source regions are taken, such intrusion events are expected to continue to affect the Arctic climate. 

The main nucleating vapor in the atmosphere is thought to be sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄), stabilized by ammonia (NH₃). However, in marine and polar regions, NH₃is generally low, and H₂SO₄is frequently found together with iodine oxoacids [HIO_x, i.e., iodic acid (HIO₃) and iodous acid (HIO₂)]. In experiments performed with the CERN CLOUD (Cosmics Leaving OUtdoor Droplets) chamber, we investigated the interplay of H₂SO₄and HIO_xduring atmospheric particle nucleation. We found that HIO_xgreatly enhances H₂SO₄(-NH₃) nucleation through two different interactions. First, HIO₃strongly binds with H₂SO₄in charged clusters so they drive particle nucleation synergistically. Second, HIO₂substitutes for NH₃, forming strongly bound H₂SO₄-HIO₂acid-base pairs in molecular clusters. Global observations imply that HIO_xis enhancing H₂SO₄(-NH₃) nucleation rates 10- to 10,000-fold in marine and polar regions.

 

Abstract. Aerosol particles have an important role in Earth'sradiation balance and climate, both directly and indirectly throughaerosol–cloud interactions. Most aerosol particles in the atmosphere areweakly charged, affecting both their collision rates with ions and neutralmolecules, as well as the rates by which they are scavenged by other aerosolparticles and cloud droplets. The rate coefficients between ions and aerosolparticles are important since they determine the growth rates and lifetimesof ions and charged aerosol particles, and so they may influence cloudmicrophysics, dynamics, and aerosol processing. However, despite theirimportance, very few experimental measurements exist of charged aerosolcollision rates under atmospheric conditions, where galactic cosmic rays inthe lower troposphere give rise to ion pair concentrations of around 1000 cm−3. Here we present measurements in the CERN CLOUD chamber of therate coefficients between ions and small (<10 nm) aerosol particlescontaining up to 9 elementary charges, e. We find the rate coefficient of asingly charged ion with an oppositely charged particle increases from 2.0(0.4–4.4) × 10−6 cm3 s−1 to 30.6 (24.9–45.1) × 10−6 cm3 s−1 for particles with charges of 1 to9 e, respectively, where the parentheses indicate the ±1σuncertainty interval. Our measurements are compatible with theoreticalpredictions and show excellent agreement with the model ofGatti and Kortshagen (2008). 

Abstract. Currently, the complete chemical characterization of nanoparticles(< 100 nm) represents an analytical challenge, since these particlesare abundant in number but have negligible mass. Several methods forparticle-phase characterization have been recently developed to betterdetect and infer more accurately the sources and fates of sub-100 nmparticles, but a detailed comparison of different approaches is missing.Here we report on the chemical composition of secondary organic aerosol(SOA) nanoparticles from experimental studies of α-pinene ozonolysisat −50, −30, and −10 ∘C and intercompare the results measured by differenttechniques. The experiments were performed at the Cosmics Leaving OUtdoorDroplets (CLOUD) chamber at the European Organization for Nuclear Research(CERN). The chemical composition was measured simultaneously by fourdifferent techniques: (1) thermal desorption–differential mobility analyzer(TD–DMA) coupled to a NO3- chemical ionization–atmospheric-pressure-interface–time-of-flight (CI–APi–TOF) massspectrometer, (2) filter inlet for gases and aerosols (FIGAERO) coupled to anI− high-resolution time-of-flight chemical ionization mass spectrometer(HRToF-CIMS), (3) extractive electrospray Na+ ionizationtime-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-TOF), and (4) offline analysis offilters (FILTER) using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC)and heated electrospray ionization (HESI) coupled to an Orbitraphigh-resolution mass spectrometer (HRMS). Intercomparison was performed bycontrasting the observed chemical composition as a function of oxidationstate and carbon number, by estimating the volatility and comparing thefraction of volatility classes, and by comparing the thermal desorptionbehavior (for the thermal desorption techniques: TD–DMA and FIGAERO) andperforming positive matrix factorization (PMF) analysis for the thermograms.We found that the methods generally agree on the most important compoundsthat are found in the nanoparticles. However, they do see different parts ofthe organic spectrum. We suggest potential explanations for thesedifferences: thermal decomposition, aging, sampling artifacts, etc. Weapplied PMF analysis and found insights of thermal decomposition in theTD–DMA and the FIGAERO. 

This dataset contains spectral albedo data recorded on the sea ice surface June-September, 2020, during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition expedition in the Central Arctic Ocean. Measurements were made in three modes: (i) along ‘albedo lines’, between 60-200 meters (m) in length, with measurements every 5 meters, (ii) at specific ‘library sites,’ or (iii) ‘experiments’. Albedo lines were chosen with the aim of crossing representative surface conditions during the summer sea ice evolution, including snow-covered ridges, bare ice, and ponded ice. Included in the dataset are classification of the surface cover and depth for most measurements. Spectral albedo data was collected using an Analytical Spectral Devices (ASD) FieldSpec Pro spectroradio meter with a custom spectralon cosine collector. Incident and reflected values were recorded subsequently, with 10 scans averaged for each.Processing of the data includes calculating an albedo from the relative values of incident and reflected scans, and completing quality control to (i) correct for parabolic offset between sensors, (ii) add flag quantifying variability of incident light that may be used to filter scans, (iii) remove scans with physically unrealistic values or slopes, and (iv) remove and filter noisy parts of the spectrum. This dataset is collocated with the broadband albedo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2KK94D36) and albedo photo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2B27PS3N). 

This dataset contains the corresponding photos of the albedo data recorded on the sea ice surface June-September, 2020, during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition expedition in the Central Arctic Ocean. The corresponding measurements were made in three modes: (i) along ‘albedo lines’, between 60-200 meters (m) in length, with measurements every 5 meters (or 10 meters on leg 3), (ii) at specific ‘library sites,’ or (iii) ‘experiments’. Albedo lines were chosen with the aim of crossing representative surface conditions during the summer sea ice evolution, including snow-covered ridges, bare ice, and ponded ice. Included in the dataset are classification of the surface cover and depth for most measurements. This dataset is collocated with the spectral albedo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2FT8DK8Z) and broadband albedo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2KK94D36). 

This dataset contains broadband albedo measurements made on the sea ice surface from approximately 1-meter (m) elevation during April – September 2020 as part of the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition in the Central Arctic Ocean. Measurements were made in three modes: (i) along ‘albedo lines’, between 60-200 meters (m) in length, with measurements every 5 meters (or 10 meters on leg 3), (ii) at specific ‘library sites,’ or (iii) ‘experiments’. Albedo lines were chosen with the aim of crossing representative surface conditions during the summer sea ice evolution, including snow-covered ridges, bare ice, and ponded ice. Included in the dataset are classification of the surface cover and depth for most measurements. Broadband albedo data was collected using a Kipp and Zonen albedometer. This dataset is collocated with the spectral albedo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2FT8DK8Z) and albedo photo dataset (doi.org/10.18739/A2B27PS3N). 

Abstract New particle formation in the upper free troposphere is a major global source of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) 1–4 . However, the precursor vapours that drive the process are not well understood. With experiments performed under upper tropospheric conditions in the CERN CLOUD chamber, we show that nitric acid, sulfuric acid and ammonia form particles synergistically, at rates that are orders of magnitude faster than those from any two of the three components. The importance of this mechanism depends on the availability of ammonia, which was previously thought to be efficiently scavenged by cloud droplets during convection. However, surprisingly high concentrations of ammonia and ammonium nitrate have recently been observed in the upper troposphere over the Asian monsoon region 5,6 . Once particles have formed, co-condensation of ammonia and abundant nitric acid alone is sufficient to drive rapid growth to CCN sizes with only trace sulfate. Moreover, our measurements show that these CCN are also highly efficient ice nucleating particles—comparable to desert dust. Our model simulations confirm that ammonia is efficiently convected aloft during the Asian monsoon, driving rapid, multi-acid HNO 3 –H 2 SO 4 –NH 3 nucleation in the upper troposphere and producing ice nucleating particles that spread across the mid-latitude Northern Hemisphere. 

Abstract. Biogenic organic precursors play an important role inatmospheric new particle formation (NPF). One of the major precursor speciesis α-pinene, which upon oxidation can form a suite of productscovering a wide range of volatilities. Highly oxygenated organic molecules(HOMs) comprise a fraction of the oxidation products formed. While it isknown that HOMs contribute to secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation,including NPF, they have not been well studied in newly formed particles dueto their very low mass concentrations. Here we present gas- and particle-phase chemical composition data from experimental studies of α-pinene oxidation, including in the presence of isoprene, at temperatures(−50 and −30 ∘C) and relativehumidities (20 % and 60 %) relevant in the upper free troposphere. Themeasurements took place at the CERN Cosmics Leaving Outdoor Droplets (CLOUD)chamber. The particle chemical composition was analyzed by a thermaldesorption differential mobility analyzer (TD-DMA) coupled to a nitratechemical ionization–atmospheric pressure interface–time-of-flight(CI-APi-TOF) mass spectrometer. CI-APi-TOF was used for particle- and gas-phase measurements, applying the same ionization and detection scheme. Ourmeasurements revealed the presence of C8−10 monomers and C18−20dimers as the major compounds in the particles (diameter up to∼ 100 nm). Particularly, for the system with isoprene added,C5 (C5H10O5−7) and C15 compounds(C15H24O5−10) were detected. This observation is consistentwith the previously observed formation of such compounds in the gas phase. However, although the C5 and C15 compounds do not easily nucleate,our measurements indicate that they can still contribute to the particlegrowth at free tropospheric conditions. For the experiments reported here,most likely isoprene oxidation products enhance the growth of particleslarger than 15 nm. Additionally, we report on the nucleation rates measuredat 1.7 nm (J1.7 nm) and compared with previous studies, we found lowerJ1.7 nm values, very likely due to the higher α-pinene andozone mixing ratios used in the present study.