Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation
To date, the relative contribution of primary marine organic matter to the subset of atmospheric particles that nucleate cloud droplets is highly uncertain. Here, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements were conducted on aerosolized sea surface microlayer (SML) samples collected from the North...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2021-01-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Marine Science |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.596225/full |
| _version_ | 1818821638189219840 |
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| author | Brianna N. Hendrickson Sarah D. Brooks Daniel C. O. Thornton Richard H. Moore Ewan Crosbie Luke D. Ziemba Craig A. Carlson Nicholas Baetge Jessica A. Mirrielees Alyssa N. Alsante |
| author_facet | Brianna N. Hendrickson Sarah D. Brooks Daniel C. O. Thornton Richard H. Moore Ewan Crosbie Luke D. Ziemba Craig A. Carlson Nicholas Baetge Jessica A. Mirrielees Alyssa N. Alsante |
| author_sort | Brianna N. Hendrickson |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | To date, the relative contribution of primary marine organic matter to the subset of atmospheric particles that nucleate cloud droplets is highly uncertain. Here, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements were conducted on aerosolized sea surface microlayer (SML) samples collected from the North Atlantic Ocean during the NASA North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES), κ values were predicted for three representative high molecular weight (HMW) organic components of marine aerosol: 6-glucose, humic acid, and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). The predicted κ values for pure organic aerosols varied by only ±0.01 across all of the organics chosen. For the desalted SML samples, calculations assuming an organic composition of entirely RuBisCO provided the closest predicted κ values for the desalted SML samples with a mean κ value of 0.53 ± 0.10. These results indicate that it is the sea salt in the SML which drives the cloud formation potential of marine aerosols. While the presence of organic material from the ocean surface waters may increase aerosol mass due to enrichment processes, cloud formation potential of mixed organic/salt primary marine aerosols will be slightly weakened or unchanged compared to sea spray aerosol. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:11:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-8760e67d7013485eb7202ec93cbf8c98 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2296-7745 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-18T23:11:22Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Marine Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-8760e67d7013485eb7202ec93cbf8c982022-12-21T20:48:19ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Marine Science2296-77452021-01-01710.3389/fmars.2020.596225596225Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud FormationBrianna N. Hendrickson0Sarah D. Brooks1Daniel C. O. Thornton2Richard H. Moore3Ewan Crosbie4Luke D. Ziemba5Craig A. Carlson6Nicholas Baetge7Jessica A. Mirrielees8Alyssa N. Alsante9Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United StatesNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United StatesNational Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, United StatesDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA, United StatesDepartment of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesDepartment of Oceanography, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United StatesTo date, the relative contribution of primary marine organic matter to the subset of atmospheric particles that nucleate cloud droplets is highly uncertain. Here, cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) measurements were conducted on aerosolized sea surface microlayer (SML) samples collected from the North Atlantic Ocean during the NASA North Atlantic Aerosols and Marine Ecosystems Study (NAAMES), κ values were predicted for three representative high molecular weight (HMW) organic components of marine aerosol: 6-glucose, humic acid, and ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (RuBisCO). The predicted κ values for pure organic aerosols varied by only ±0.01 across all of the organics chosen. For the desalted SML samples, calculations assuming an organic composition of entirely RuBisCO provided the closest predicted κ values for the desalted SML samples with a mean κ value of 0.53 ± 0.10. These results indicate that it is the sea salt in the SML which drives the cloud formation potential of marine aerosols. While the presence of organic material from the ocean surface waters may increase aerosol mass due to enrichment processes, cloud formation potential of mixed organic/salt primary marine aerosols will be slightly weakened or unchanged compared to sea spray aerosol.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.596225/fullmicrolayeraerosolcloud condensation nucleicloud formationdesaltingorganic compounds |
| spellingShingle | Brianna N. Hendrickson Sarah D. Brooks Daniel C. O. Thornton Richard H. Moore Ewan Crosbie Luke D. Ziemba Craig A. Carlson Nicholas Baetge Jessica A. Mirrielees Alyssa N. Alsante Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation Frontiers in Marine Science microlayer aerosol cloud condensation nuclei cloud formation desalting organic compounds |
| title | Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation |
| title_full | Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation |
| title_fullStr | Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation |
| title_short | Role of Sea Surface Microlayer Properties in Cloud Formation |
| title_sort | role of sea surface microlayer properties in cloud formation |
| topic | microlayer aerosol cloud condensation nuclei cloud formation desalting organic compounds |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2020.596225/full |
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