Dicarboxylic acids, oxoacids, benzoic acid, <i>α</i>-dicarbonyls, WSOC, OC, and ions in spring aerosols from Okinawa Island in the western North Pacific Rim: size distributions and formation processes

oleh: D. K. Deshmukh, D. K. Deshmukh, K. Kawamura, K. Kawamura, M. Lazaar, M. Lazaar, B. Kunwar, S. K. R. Boreddy

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: Copernicus Publications 2016-04-01

Deskripsi

Size-segregated aerosols (nine stages from &lt; 0.43 to &gt; 11.3 µm in diameter) were collected at Cape Hedo, Okinawa, in spring 2008 and analyzed for water-soluble diacids (C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>12</sub>), <i>ω</i>-oxoacids (<i>ω</i>C<sub>2</sub>–<i>ω</i>C<sub>9</sub>), pyruvic acid, benzoic acid, and <i>α</i>-dicarbonyls (C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>3</sub>) as well as water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC), organic carbon (OC), and major ions (Na<sup>+</sup>, NH<sub>4</sub><sup>+</sup>, K<sup>+</sup>, Mg<sup>2+</sup>, Ca<sup>2+</sup>, Cl<sup>−</sup>, NO<sub>3</sub><sup>−</sup>, SO<sub>4</sub><sup>2−</sup>, and MSA<sup>−</sup>). In all the size-segregated aerosols, oxalic acid (C<sub>2</sub>) was found to be the most abundant species, followed by malonic and succinic acids, whereas glyoxylic acid (<i>ω</i>C<sub>2</sub>) was the dominant oxoacid and glyoxal (Gly) was more abundant than methylglyoxal. Diacids (C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>5</sub>), <i>ω</i>C<sub>2</sub>, and Gly as well as WSOC and OC peaked at fine mode (0.65–1.1 µm) whereas azelaic (C<sub>9</sub>) and 9-oxononanoic (<i>ω</i>C<sub>9</sub>) acids peaked at coarse mode (3.3–4.7 µm). Sulfate and ammonium were enriched in fine mode, whereas sodium and chloride were in coarse mode. Strong correlations of C<sub>2</sub>–C<sub>5</sub> diacids, <i>ω</i>C<sub>2</sub> and Gly with sulfate were observed in fine mode (<i>r</i> =  0.86–0.99), indicating a commonality in their secondary formation. Their significant correlations with liquid water content in fine mode (<i>r</i> =  0.82–0.95) further suggest an importance of the aqueous-phase production in Okinawa aerosols. They may also have been directly emitted from biomass burning in fine mode as supported by strong correlations with potassium (<i>r</i> =  0.85–0.96), which is a tracer of biomass burning. Bimodal size distributions of longer-chain diacid (C<sub>9</sub>) and oxoacid (<i>ω</i>C<sub>9</sub>) with a major peak in the coarse mode suggest that they were emitted from the sea surface microlayers and/or produced by heterogeneous oxidation of biogenic unsaturated fatty acids on sea salt particles.