Aerosol Liquid Water Promotes the Formation of Water-Soluble Organic Nitrogen in Submicrometer Aerosols in a Suburban Forest

Water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) affects the formation, chemical transformations, hygroscopicity, and acidity of organic aerosols as well as biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen. However, large uncertainties exist in the origins and formation processes of WSON. Submicrometer aerosol particles were...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental science & technology 2020-02, Vol.54 (3), p.1406-1414
Main Authors: Xu, Yu, Miyazaki, Yuzo, Tachibana, Eri, Sato, Kei, Ramasamy, Sathiyamurthi, Mochizuki, Tomoki, Sadanaga, Yasuhiro, Nakashima, Yoshihiro, Sakamoto, Yosuke, Matsuda, Kazuhide, Kajii, Yoshizumi
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acidity
Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Ammonium
Anthropogenic factors
Biogeochemical cycles
Forests
Human influences
Hygroscopicity
Night
Nighttime
Nitrogen
Organic chemistry
Organic compounds
Organic nitrogen
Sulfates
VOCs
Volatile Organic Compounds
Water
Water chemistry
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Summary:Water-soluble organic nitrogen (WSON) affects the formation, chemical transformations, hygroscopicity, and acidity of organic aerosols as well as biogeochemical cycles of nitrogen. However, large uncertainties exist in the origins and formation processes of WSON. Submicrometer aerosol particles were collected at a suburban forest site in Tokyo in summer 2015 to investigate the relative impacts of anthropogenic and biogenic sources on WSON formations and their linkages with aerosol liquid water (ALW). The concentrations of WSON (ave. 225 ± 100 ngN m–3) and ALW exhibited peaks during nighttime, which showed a significant positive correlation, suggesting that ALW significantly contributed to WSON formation. Further, the thermodynamic predictions by ISORROPIA-II suggest that ALW was primarily driven by anthropogenic sulfate. Our analysis, including positive matrix factorization, suggests that aqueous-phase reactions of ammonium and reactive nitrogen with biogenic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play a key role in WSON formation in submicrometer particles, which is particularly significant in nighttime, at the suburban forest site. The formation of WSON associated with biogenic VOCs and ALW was partly supported by the molecular characterization of WSON. The overall result suggests that ALW is an important driver for the formation of aerosol WSON through a combination of anthropogenic and biogenic sources.
ISSN:0013-936X
1520-5851
DOI:10.1021/acs.est.9b05849