Vertical and horizontal distribution of regional new particle formation events in Madrid

The vertical profile of new particle formation (NPF) events was studied by comparing the aerosol size number distributions measured aloft and at surface level in a suburban environment in Madrid, Spain, using airborne instruments. The horizontal distribution and regional impact of the NPF events was investigated with data from three urban, urban background, and suburban stations in the Madrid metropolitan area. Intensive regional NPF episodes followed by particle growth were simultaneously recorded at three stations in and around Madrid during a field campaign in July 2016. The urban stations presented larger formation rates compared to the suburban station. Condensation and coagulation sinks followed a similar evolution at all stations, with higher values at urban stations. However, the total number concentration of particles larger than 2.5 nm was lower at the urban station and peaked around noon, when black carbon (BC) levels are at a minimum. The vertical soundings demonstrated that ultrafine particles (UFPs) are formed exclusively inside the mixed layer. As convection becomes more effective and the mixed layer grows, UFPs are detected at higher levels. The morning soundings revealed the presence of a residual layer in the upper levels in which aged particles (nucleated and grown on previous days) prevail. The particles in this layer also grow in size, with growth rates significantly smaller than those inside the mixed layer. Under conditions with strong enough convection, the soundings revealed homogeneous number size distributions and growth rates at all altitudes, which follow the same evolution at the other stations considered in this study. This indicates that UFPs are detected quasi-homogenously in an area spanning at least 17 km horizontally. The NPF events extend over the full vertical extension of the mixed layer, which can reach as high as 3000 m in the area, according to previous studies. On some days a marked decline in particle size (shrinkage) was observed in the afternoon, associated with a change in air masses. Additionally, a few nocturnal nucleation-mode bursts were observed at the urban stations, for which further research is needed to elucidate their origin. © Author(s) 2018.

This work was supported by the Spanish Ministry of Agriculture, Fishing, Food and Environment; the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; the Madrid City Council and Regional Government; FEDER funds under the project HOUSE (CGL2016-78594-R); the CUD of Zaragoza (project CUD 2016-05); the Government of Catalonia (AGAUR 2017 SGR44); and the Korean Ministry of Environment through “The Eco-Innovation project”. The funding received by ERA-PLANET (http://www.era-planet.eu, last access: 16 November 2018), the trans-national project SMURBS (http://www.smurbs.eu, last access: 16 November 2018) (Grant agreement No. 689443), and the support of the Academy of Finland via the Center of Excellence in Atmospheric Sciences are acknowledged. These results are part of a project (ATM-GTP/ERC) that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (Grant agreement No. 742206). The authors also acknowledge the Doctoral program of Atmospheric Sciences at the University of Helsinki (ATM-DP). Markku Kulmala acknowledges the support of the Academy of Finland via his Academy Professorship (no. 302958). We also thank the City Council of Majadahonda for logistic assistance, and the Instituto de Ciencias Agrarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Alava Ingenieros, TSI, Solma Environmental Solutions, and Airmodus for their support.

Peer reviewed