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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.

 

Biogenic vapors form new particles in the atmosphere, affecting global climate. The contributions of monoterpenes and isoprene to new particle formation (NPF) have been extensively studied. However, sesquiterpenes have received little attention despite a potentially important role due to their high molecular weight. Via chamber experiments performed under atmospheric conditions, we report biogenic NPF resulting from the oxidation of pure mixtures of β-caryophyllene, α-pinene, and isoprene, which produces oxygenated compounds over a wide range of volatilities. We find that a class of vapors termed ultralow-volatility organic compounds (ULVOCs) are highly efficient nucleators and quantitatively determine NPF efficiency. When compared with a mixture of isoprene and monoterpene alone, adding only 2% sesquiterpene increases the ULVOC yield and doubles the formation rate. Thus, sesquiterpene emissions need to be included in assessments of global aerosol concentrations in pristine climates where biogenic NPF is expected to be a major source of cloud condensation nuclei.

 

The remote central Arctic during summertime has a pristine atmosphere with very low aerosol particle concentrations. As the region becomes increasingly ice-free during summer, enhanced ocean-atmosphere fluxes of aerosol particles and precursor gases may therefore have impacts on the climate. However, large knowledge gaps remain regarding the sources and physicochemical properties of aerosols in this region. Here, we present insights into the molecular composition of semi-volatile aerosol components collected in September 2018 during the MOCCHA (Microbiology-Ocean-Cloud-Coupling in the High Arctic) campaign as part of the Arctic Ocean 2018 expedition with the Swedish Icebreaker Oden . Analysis was performed offline in the laboratory using an iodide High Resolution Time-of-Flight Chemical Ionization Mass Spectrometer with a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS). Our analysis revealed significant signal from organic and sulfur-containing compounds, indicative of marine aerosol sources, with a wide range of carbon numbers and O : C ratios. Several of the sulfur-containing compounds are oxidation products of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a gas released by phytoplankton and ice algae. Comparison of the time series of particulate and gas-phase DMS oxidation products did not reveal a significant correlation, indicative of the different lifetimes of precursor and oxidation products in the different phases. This is the first time the FIGAERO-HRToF-CIMS was used to investigate the composition of aerosols in the central Arctic. The detailed information on the molecular composition of Arctic aerosols presented here can be used for the assessment of aerosol solubility and volatility, which is relevant for understanding aerosol–cloud interactions. 

Abstract Iodine is a reactive trace element in atmospheric chemistry that destroys ozone and nucleates particles. Iodine emissions have tripled since 1950 and are projected to keep increasing with rising O 3 surface concentrations. Although iodic acid (HIO 3 ) is widespread and forms particles more efficiently than sulfuric acid, its gas-phase formation mechanism remains unresolved. Here, in CLOUD atmospheric simulation chamber experiments that generate iodine radicals at atmospherically relevant rates, we show that iodooxy hypoiodite, IOIO, is efficiently converted into HIO 3 via reactions (R1) IOIO + O 3  → IOIO 4 and (R2) IOIO 4  + H 2 O → HIO 3  + HOI +  (1) O 2 . The laboratory-derived reaction rate coefficients are corroborated by theory and shown to explain field observations of daytime HIO 3 in the remote lower free troposphere. The mechanism provides a missing link between iodine sources and particle formation. Because particulate iodate is readily reduced, recycling iodine back into the gas phase, our results suggest a catalytic role of iodine in aerosol formation. 

Intense new particle formation events are regularly observed under highly polluted conditions, despite the high loss rates of nucleated clusters. Higher than expected cluster survival probability implies either ineffective scavenging by pre-existing particles or missing growth mechanisms. Here we present experiments performed in the CLOUD chamber at CERN showing particle formation from a mixture of anthropogenic vapours, under condensation sinks typical of haze conditions, up to 0.1 s −1 . We find that new particle formation rates substantially decrease at higher concentrations of pre-existing particles, demonstrating experimentally for the first time that molecular clusters are efficiently scavenged by larger sized particles. Additionally, we demonstrate that in the presence of supersaturated gas-phase nitric acid (HNO 3 ) and ammonia (NH 3 ), freshly nucleated particles can grow extremely rapidly, maintaining a high particle number concentration, even in the presence of a high condensation sink. Such high growth rates may explain the high survival probability of freshly formed particles under haze conditions. We identify under what typical urban conditions HNO 3 and NH 3 can be expected to contribute to particle survival during haze. 

Aerosol particles negatively affect human health while also having climatic relevance due to, for example, their ability to act as cloud condensation nuclei. Ultrafine particles (diameter D p < 100 nm) typically comprise the largest fraction of the total number concentration, however, their chemical characterization is difficult because of their low mass. Using an extractive electrospray time-of-flight mass spectrometer (EESI-TOF), we characterize the molecular composition of freshly nucleated particles from naphthalene and β-caryophyllene oxidation products at the CLOUD chamber at CERN. We perform a detailed intercomparison of the organic aerosol chemical composition measured by the EESI-TOF and an iodide adduct chemical ionization mass spectrometer equipped with a filter inlet for gases and aerosols (FIGAERO-I-CIMS). We also use an aerosol growth model based on the condensation of organic vapors to show that the chemical composition measured by the EESI-TOF is consistent with the expected condensed oxidation products. This agreement could be further improved by constraining the EESI-TOF compound-specific sensitivity or considering condensed-phase processes. Our results show that the EESI-TOF can obtain the chemical composition of particles as small as 20 nm in diameter with mass loadings as low as hundreds of ng m −3 in real time. This was until now difficult to achieve, as other online instruments are often limited by size cutoffs, ionization/thermal fragmentation and/or semi-continuous sampling. Using real-time simultaneous gas- and particle-phase data, we discuss the condensation of naphthalene oxidation products on a molecular level.