Aqueous-Phase Chemistry of In-Cloud Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation

本项目主要研究有机前体（包括乙二醛、甲基乙二醛和乙酸）在水相中反应形成的二次有机气溶胶（SOA）。中心假设是，小型有机物的云处理是大气中SOA的重要来源。pi将1)进行水相光化学批量反应，以研究可能产生SOA的关键水相反应的产物、途径和动力学；2)在定时实验过程中蒸发反应溶液的液滴，以提供SOA产量的数据；3)将结果纳入云内化学模型；4)对通过云处理形成的SOA的全球贡献提供改进的估计。由此产生的化学模型将提供给其他人，以纳入旨在研究气候变化、能见度和区域空气质量的全球或区域模型。这项工作更广泛的影响包括为博士后研究员提供“教员实习机会”，为研究生提供支持和指导，并为少数民族本科生介绍研究。这项工作还将公开提供云内“化学模块”供建模者使用。最终，这项工作将有助于全球和区域的空气质量管理。

This project focuses on secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation by reactions of organic precursors (including glyoxal, methylglyoxal, and acetic acid) in the aqueous phase. The central hypothesis is that cloud processing of small organics is a substantial source of SOA in the atmosphere. The PIs will 1) conduct aqueous phase photochemical batch reactions to investigate the products, pathways and kinetics of key aqueous-phase reactions likely to produce SOA, 2) evaporate droplets of reaction solutions over the course of timed experiments to provide data on SOA yields, 3) incorporate the results into an in-cloud chemical model, and 4) provide an improved estimate of the global contribution of SOA formed through cloud processing. The resulting chemical model will be available to others for incorporation into global or regional models designed to study climate change, visibility, and regional air quality.The broader impacts of this work include a "faculty internship opportunity" for a postdoctoral researcher, support and mentoring for a graduate student, and an introduction to research for a minority undergraduate student. This work will also make publicly available an in-cloud "chemical module" for use by modelers. Ultimately, this work will aid air quality management, both globally and regionally.