Isoprene nitrates drive new particle formation in Amazon's upper troposphere

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Curtius, Joachim; Heinritzi, Martin; Beck, Lisa J.; Poehlker, Mira L.; Tripathi, Nidhi; Krumm, Bianca E.; Holzbeck, Philip; Nussbaumer, Clara M.; Pardo, Lianet Hernandez; Klimach, Thomas; Barmpounis, Konstantinos; Andersen, Simone T.; Bardakov, Roman; Bohn, Birger; Cecchini, Micael A.; Chaboureau, Jean-Pierre; Dauhut, Thibaut; Dienhart, Dirk; Doerich, Raphael; Edtbauer, Achim; Giez, Andreas; Hartmann, Antonia; Holanda, Bruna A.; Joppe, Philipp; Kaiser, Katharina; Keber, Timo; Klebach, Hannah; Krueger, Ovid O.; Kuerten, Andreas; Mallaun, Christian; Marno, Daniel; Martinez, Monica; Monteiro, Carolina; Nelson, Carolina; Ort, Linda; Raj, Subha S.; Richter, Sarah; Ringsdorf, Akima; Rocha, Fabio; Simon, Mario; Sreekumar, Sreedev; Tsokankunku, Anywhere; Unfer, Gabriela R.; Valenti, Isabella D.; Wang, Nijing; Zahn, Andreas; Zauner-Wieczorek, Marcel; Albrecht, Rachel I.; Andreae, Meinrat O.; Artaxo, Paulo; Crowley, John N.; Fischer, Horst; Harder, Hartwig; Herdies, Dirceu L.; Machado, Luiz A. T.; Poehlker, Christopher; Poeschl, Ulrich; Possner, Anna; Pozzer, Andrea; Schneider, Johannes; Williams, Jonathan; Lelieveld, Jos
• 署名单位: Goethe University Frankfurt; Leibniz Association; Leibniz Institut fur Tropospharenforschung (TROPOS); Leipzig University; Max Planck Society; Stockholm University; Stockholm University; Helmholtz Association; Research Center Julich; Universidade de Sao Paulo; Institut de Recherche pour le Developpement (IRD); Universite de Toulouse; Universite Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier; Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS); LAERO; Helmholtz Association; German Aerospace Centre (DLR); Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas Espaciais (INPE); Institute Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazonia; Helmholtz Association; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; King Saud University; University of California System; University of California San Diego; Scripps Institution of Oceanography; Universidade de Sao Paulo; Universidade de Sao Paulo
• 刊物名称: Nature
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0028-4448
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08192-4
• 发表日期: 2024-12-05
• 关键词: tropical upper troposphere; volatile organic-compounds; size distributions; mass-spectrometer; airborne measurements; aerosol nucleation; nitrogen-oxides; boundary-layer; instrument; performance

摘要

New particle formation (NPF) in the tropical upper troposphere is a globally important source of atmospheric aerosols1, 2, 3-4. It is known to occur over the Amazon basin, but the nucleation mechanism and chemical precursors have yet to be identified2. Here we present comprehensive in situ aircraft measurements showing that extremely low-volatile oxidation products of isoprene, particularly certain organonitrates, drive NPF in the Amazonian upper troposphere. The organonitrates originate from OH-initiated oxidation of isoprene from forest emissions in the presence of nitrogen oxides from lightning. Nucleation bursts start about 2 h after sunrise in the outflow of nocturnal deep convection, producing high aerosol concentrations of more than 50,000 particles cm-3. We report measurements of characteristic diurnal cycles of precursor gases and particles. Our observations show that the interplay between biogenic isoprene, deep tropical convection with associated lightning, oxidation photochemistry and the low ambient temperature uniquely promotes NPF. The particles grow over time, undergo long-range transport and descend through subsidence to the lower troposphere, in which they can serve as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) that influence the Earth's hydrological cycle, radiation budget and climate1,4, 5, 6, 7-8.