Abstract
Aerosols produced over forests impair visibility and may affect climate by scattering and absorbing solar radiation and by serving as cloud condensation nuclei. Here, we introduce, to our knowledge, a new route to secondary organic aerosol formation from isoprene and its gas-phase oxidation products, methacrolein and methacrylic acid, namely, multiphase acid-catalysed oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, a perfect analogue to atmospheric sulphate formation. We demonstrate that the formation of major secondary organic aerosol components that are present in natural forest aerosols collected at K-puszta, Hungary, during the summer of 2003, namely, 2-methyltetrols and 2,3-dihydroxymethacrylic acid, can be explained by this mechanism.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 4093-4098 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Atmospheric Environment |
Volume | 38 |
Issue number | 25 |
Early online date | 20 Jul 2004 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Aug 2004 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Secondary organic aerosol
- Biogenic hydrocarbons
- Isoprene
- Photo-oxidation