Collaborative Research: The Effects of Anthropogenic-Biogenic Interactions on Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation

这项研究是一项名为SOAS（南方氧化剂和气溶胶研究）的广泛社区实验的组成部分，该实验旨在进一步研究美国东南部大气环境下植物排放物（生物源性挥发性有机化合物；BVOCs）的光氧化。整个项目将于2013年夏季在阿拉巴马州进行合作实地实验，研究主要生物烯烃及其氧化产物的光化学性质。该地点被选为植被中大量BVOCs混合并与人为（污染）化合物相互作用，协同产生二次有机气溶胶（SOA）的区域。许多关于SOA的问题仍然存在，以及人为和生物化合物如何在农村大气中形成SOA。例如，一个主要的焦点是确定人为排放是增强还是抑制生物源性SOA的形成，以及这两种途径发生的程度。这些研究人员开发的一系列先进的质谱和流动反应器技术是解决这些问题的有力工具。SOA可能损害亚微米大小气溶胶的很大一部分，因此可能在气候强迫、大气能见度、酸沉积以及对人类健康的影响方面发挥重要但知之甚少的作用。

This research is a component of a broad community experiment named SOAS (Southern Oxidant and Aerosol Study) designed to further investigate the photo-oxidation of the emissions (biogenic volatile organic compounds; BVOCs) of plants in the context of the atmospheric environment of the South East United States. The overall project will investigate the photochemistry of the dominant biogenic alkenes and their oxidation products, during a collaborative field experiment planned for summer, 2013 in Alabama. This site was chosen as a region where substantial BVOCs from vegetation mix and interact with anthropogenic (pollution) compounds, synergistically resulting in the production of secondary organic aerosols (SOA). Many questions remain regarding SOA, and how anthropogenic and biogenic compounds interact in its formation in rural atmospheres. For example, a major focus is to determine whether anthropogenic emissions enhance or inhibit biogenic SOA formation, as well as the extent to which either pathway takes place. A range of advanced mass spectrometric and flow reactor techniques developed by these researchers are powerful tools with which to address such questions.SOA may compromise a major fraction of submicron sized aerosols, and thus may play important but poorly understood roles in climate forcing, atmospheric visibility, acid deposition, as well as in human health effects.