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Acidity of Aerosol Particles in the Rural Atmosphere

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Abstract

Estimates for the acidity of aerosol particles in the rural atmosphere over Wingene (Belgium) are presented. The results of processing monitoring data using data of the control of meteorological conditions, gas impurities, ion composition, and mass concentration of aerosol particles, as well as the use of thermodynamic methods showed that the level of acidity of aerosol particles in the atmosphere is unexpectedly high (\(\mathrm{pH}\approx 3.5{-}4.3\)) despite their sampling in the background area. It is found that the variability of particle acidity is mainly determined by fluctuations in relative humidity and the content of gas-phase ammonia in the air. In this case, the lower the relative humidity is, the higher the acidity of particles is, which reflects the variability of moisture content in particles and the solubility of ammonium nitrate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Talrose Institute for Energy Problems of Chemical Physics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334, Moscow, Russia

    A. N. Yermakov

  2. Marchuk Institute of Numerical Mathematics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119333, Moscow, Russia

    A. E. Aloyan & V. O. Arutyunyan

Authors
  1. A. N. Yermakov
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  2. A. E. Aloyan
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  3. V. O. Arutyunyan
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Correspondence to A. N. Yermakov.

Additional information

Translated from Meteorologiya i Gidrologiya, 2021, No. 11, pp. 56-63. https://doi.org/10.52002/0130-2906-2021-11-56-63.

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Yermakov, A.N., Aloyan, A.E. & Arutyunyan, V.O. Acidity of Aerosol Particles in the Rural Atmosphere. Russ. Meteorol. Hydrol. 46, 762–767 (2021). https://doi.org/10.3103/S1068373921110054

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