Collaborative Research: Production Fluxes and Physicochemical Properties of Nascent Marine Aerosols: Implications for the Atmosphere and Upper Ocean

海洋气溶胶的产生是地球气候系统中的一个重要过程，对对流层的物理化学演化和上层海洋地球化学的反馈具有重要意义。新形成的海洋气溶胶以直径小于μ m、吸湿、富含有机物的颗粒为主，这些颗粒散射太阳辐射并充当凝结核。相关的海洋衍生有机物（OM）的光解产生活性氧和其他氧化物种。海洋气溶胶的产生和演变的性质、规模和后果是高度不确定的，排除了对对流层化学、上层海洋地球化学和气候的相关影响的可靠预测能力的发展。为了解决其中一些不确定性，纽约州立大学环境科学和林业学院、弗吉尼亚大学和斯克里普斯海洋学研究所的一个跨学科研究小组将参加2012年夏季从美国到百慕大的多学科研究航行，研究海洋气溶胶通量随海水特性的变化。 特别是，他们将通过比较用自己定制设计的UVA气溶胶发生器进行的测量与用NOAA SeaSweep气溶胶发生器和涡度协方差技术进行的平行测量来表征尺寸和成分分辨的海洋气溶胶。 将在两个或三个具有不同光学特征的观测站进行比较研究，这些观测站的海水成分不同。 这些结果还将与已有的类似数据进行比较，以产生更全面的综合结果，并作为开发气溶胶传输系统数值模型的基础。 该项目的一项重要成果是，将对UVA仪器产生的气溶胶材料进行全面定性，以供今后在海上开展气溶胶工作之用。拟议研究的结果预计将推动进一步研究表层海洋对新生和环境海洋气溶胶的大小分辨有机和无机成分和通量的影响，以及这些气溶胶在海洋边界层的多相化学和物理演化、海洋表层地球化学和地球辐射平衡中的相关影响。 该项目还将为一名或多名研究生和本科生提供培训和支助。

Production of primary marine aerosol at the ocean surface is a major process in the earth's climate system, with important implications for the physicochemical evolution of the troposphere and feedbacks on upper ocean biogeochemistry. Newly formed marine aerosol are number-dominated by sub-ìm diameter, hygroscopic, organic-rich particles that scatter solar radiation and serve as condensation nuclei. Photolysis of the associated marine-derived organic matter (OM) produces reactive oxygen species and other oxidized species. The nature, magnitude, and consequences of the production and evolution of marine aerosol are highly uncertain, precluding development of a reliable predictive capability for associated influences on tropospheric chemistry, upper ocean biogeochemistry, and climate. To address some of these uncertainties, an interdisciplinary research team from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the University of Virginia, and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography will participate on a multidisciplinary research cruise from the United States to Bermuda in the summer of 2012 to study fluxes of marine aerosols as a function of seawater characteristics. In particular they will characterize size- and composition-resolved marine aerosols by comparison of measurements made with their own custom-designed UVA aerosol generator with parallel measurements with the NOAA SeaSweep aerosol generator and eddy covariance techniques. Comparative studies will be carried out at two or three optically distinct stations with seawater characteristics that are compositionally distinct. These results will also be compared with similar data already in-hand to yield a more thorough synthesis and to serve as the basis for developing numerical models of the aerosol transport system. An important outcome of this project will be a thorough characterization of the aerosol material generated by the UVA instrument for future aerosol work at sea.Broader Impacts: Results of the proposed research are expected to advance further study of the influences of the surface ocean on the size-resolved organic and inorganic composition and flux of nascent and ambient marine aerosol, and the related influences of these aerosol in the multiphase chemical and physical evolution of the marine boundary layer, surface ocean biogeochemistry, and Earth's radiation balance. The project will also provide for the training and support of one or more graduate and undergraduate students.