Biogenic Potassium Salt Particles as Seeds for Secondary Organic Aerosol in the Amazon
2012
Pöhlker, Christopher | Wiedemann, Kenia T. | Sinha, Bärbel | Shiraiwa, Manabu | Gunthe, Sachin S. | Smith, Mackenzie | Su, Hang | Artaxo Netto, Paulo Eduardo | Chen, Qi | Cheng, Yafang | Elbert, Wolfgang | Gilles, Mary K. | Kilcoyne, Arthur L. D. | Moffet, Ryan C. | Weigand, Markus | Martin, Scot T. | Pöschl, Ulrich | Andreae, Meinrat O.
Salty Origins of Fresh Water Cloud droplets above the Amazonian rain forest form mostly around organic aerosols, but the source of the aerosols has been a mystery. Pöhlker et al. (p. 1075) report that particles rich in potassium salts emitted by Amazonian vegetation can act as the seeds for the growth of organic aerosol particles that function as condensation nuclei for water droplets. These specks of biogenic salts provide a surface for the condensation of low- or semi-volatile organic compounds formed by the atmospheric oxidation of isoprene and terpenes, molecules produced in great abundance by many kinds of Amazonian plants.
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