Aerosol Particle Hygroscopicity and Aerosol Water Content is Driven by
Nitrate and Organics in the Particle Phase in Houston, TX.
Abstract
Aerosol particle hygroscopicity is a key indicator in determining the
aerosol water content (AWC) of a particle. As sulfate emissions
decrease, other particle components such as nitrate and organics
constitute a greater proportion of particle mass and become an
increasingly important driver for determining particle hygroscopicity.
However, there remains large uncertainty and limited field evidence
quantifying how nitrate, sulfate, and organics determine particle
hygroscopicity and AWC. This study aims to expand on the role that
nitrates and organics have in determining particle hygroscopicity and
AWC by using field measurements from the Tracking Aerosol Convection
Interactions Experiment (TRACER) campaign in Houston, TX, conducted from
2021 to 2022 at two concurrently measured field sites. This field data
is supplemented with model output from GEOS-Chem, which is used to
inform the thermodynamic models ISORROPIA-II and E-AIM-IV to determine
the hygroscopicity parameter (κ) and AWC of aerosol particles and their
controlling factors. Nitrate is found to be the largest chemical factor
influencing AWC. Organics must be included to accurately calculate κ,
and doing so closes a measurement-model gap of 0.2 ± 0.1 that arises
from inorganics-only estimations. Differences of less than 0.1 µg m-3 in
nitrate concentrations result in differences in the AWC of up to 7 ± 4
µg m-3. These results add evidence to the growing importance of nitrate
and organics in determining AWC and κ, with implications for
understanding cloud droplet formation and subsequent interactions.