The hygroscopic properties of KBr, KCl, and KI nanoparticles having diameters from 8 to 60 nm were measured using a tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer. In all cases, the deliquescence and efflorescence relative humidity values increased with decreasing particle diameter. The associated growth factors also decreased with decreasing particle diameter, in agreement with predictions by Köhler theory. Overall, the theoretically predicted growth factors agreed well with the measurements, i.e., within ±3% uncertainty. For KCl particles having sizes down to 15 nm, however, a dynamic shape factor of 1.08, corresponding to non-spherical crystalline particles prior deliquescence, was inferred for agreement between measurements and theory. By comparison, KBr and KI within the same size range warranted shape factors of unity, equivalent to a sphere. These results contribute to an understanding of nanosize behavior widely relevant to material sciences as well as atmospheric aerosol particles over the oceans.@en

The unprecedented growth in aviation during the last years has resulted in a notable increase of local air pollution related to airports. The impacts of aviation on air quality can be extremely high particularly around airports serving remote insular regions with pristine atmospheric environments. Here we report measurements that show how the atmospheric aerosol is affected by the activity at a small airport in a remote region. More specifically, we provide measurements performed at the airport of Mytilene, Greece, a regional yet international airport that serves the entire island of Lesvos; the third largest island of the country. The measurements show that the activity during landing, taxiing and take-off of the aircrafts accounted for up to a 10-fold increase in particulate matter (PM) mass concentration in the vicinity of the airport. The number concentration of particles having diameters from 10 to 500 nm also increased from ca. 4 × 10² to 8 × 10⁵ particles cm^− 3, while the mean particle diameter decreased to 20 nm when aircrafts were present at the airport. Elemental analysis on particle samples collected simultaneously at the airport and at a remote site 3 km away, showed that the former were significantly influenced by combustion sources, and specifically from the engines of the aircrafts. Our results show that despite their small size, local airports serving remote insular regions should be considered as important air pollution hotspots, raising concerns for the exposure of the people working and leaving in their vicinities to hazardous pollutants.

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Previous long-term observations have shown that nanoparticle formation events are common in the summer-time high Arctic and linked to local photochemical activity. However, current knowledge is limited with respect to the chemical precursors of resulting nanoparticles and the compounds involved in their subsequent growth. Here we report case-study measurements during new particle formation (NPF) events of the particle size distribution (diameter > 7 nm) and for the first time the volatility of monodisperse particles having diameter ≤40 nm, providing indirect information about their composition. Volatility measurements provide indirect evidence that a predominant fraction of the 12 nm particle population is ammoniated sulfates in the summertime high Arctic. Our observations further suggest that the majority of the sub-40 nm particle population during NPF events does not exist in the form of sulfuric acid but rather as partly or fully neutralized ammoniated sulfates.

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Long-range transportation of air pollutants from industrial and urban environments can significantly affect the quality of the air in remote regions. In this study, we investigate episodes of particulate transport (PT) from Eurasia to the remote environment of Northeastern Mediterranean, i.e., the region of the North Aegean Sea (NAS), during the summer when the synoptic Etesian wind conditions prevail. A temporary monitoring station was set up at a remote region on the island of Lemnos, which is located at the center of the NAS at a distance of ca. 250 km from the continent. Measurements of the aerosol particle size distributions, the total number and mass concentrations, as well as the chemical composition of the particles were conducted from 27 August to 10 September 2011. During this period, the wind speeds were high (typically higher than 5.5 ms-1) with a direction that mostly ranged from north to northeast (68% frequency). Winds having direction ranging from northwest to south were less frequent (7% frequency), while the rest of the cases were characterized as calm (i.e., wind speeds less than 1 m s-1; 25% frequency). Seven PT episodes were observed during the sampling period. When the wind direction was northeastern we observed up to a six-fold increase in particle number concentration of nucleation mode, while the peak size of the particles decreased from 100 to 20 nm. Interestingly, the nucleation-mode particles grew from ca. 15 to 25 nm with rates of ca. 9.0 nm h-1, which are representative of polluted areas. Analysis of the chemical composition of particle samples collected on filters during the PT episodes shows that the concentration of sulfates and nitrates increased by ca. 60%, while the OC/EC ratio increased by ca. 22% compared to the rest of the sampling period. Back-trajectory analysis for the period during the episodes shows that the air masses arriving at the station passed over the greater Istanbul area and the Black Sea 9 to 12 h before reaching our station. These observations provide strong evidence that the air quality in the remote region of the NAS can be significantly affected by the transportation of particulate pollution during the summer period, having potentially important effects upon human health and climate in the region.@en

Differential mobility analyzers (DMAs) are widely used to determine the size of aerosol particles, and to probe their size-dependent physicochemical properties when two are employed in tandem. A limitation of tandem DMA (TDMA) systems is their long measuring cycle when the properties of more than one monodisperse population of particles need to be probed. In this work, we propose a simple modification of the classical cylindrical DMA by including three monodisperse-particle outlets in its central electrode (namely, the 3MO-DMA), with the objective of using it as the first DMA in TDMA systems for reducing their measuring cycle. The performance of the 3MO-DMA at different flow conditions was evaluated using laboratory-generated aerosol particles, and compared with theoretical predictions. The theory predicted accurately (i.e., within 3%) the geometric mean diameters of the three distinct populations, as well as the resolutions of the first and the third outlet, under all experimental conditions. For the second outlet, the resolution was 10% to 74% lower than that predicted theoretically depending on the sheath-to-aerosol flow ratio. Nevertheless, the geometric standard deviation of the monodisperse aerosol from all the outlets was less than 1.09, which is sufficient for using the 3MO-DMA designed and tested in this work as a first DMA to produce a monodisperse aerosol flow containing three distinct particle populations in TDMA systems.@en