Hygroscopicity and cloud condensation nucleus activity of marine aerosol particles over the western North Pacific

Abstract

Hygroscopic growth of aerosol particles at 85% relative humidity and the number fraction of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN; 0.42%, 0.23%, and 0.10% supersaturation) as a function of dry diameter (24.1-359 nm) were measured simultaneously on board R/V Hakuho-Maru over the western North Pacific during August-September 2008. Highly hygroscopic and unimodal growth distributions were observed, except for aerosols, which showed lower hygroscopic growth over the northern Pacific. The measured particle hygroscopicity, CCN activation diameters, and chemical composition data suggest the dominance of internally mixed sulfate aerosols. Backward air mass trajectory analysis exhibits an intrusion of free tropospheric aerosol, which was likely influenced by Kasatochi's volcanic plume and which was linked to the low-hygroscopicity event. Frequent observation of the Hoppel minimum suggests that in-cloud processing over the Pacific enhanced and/or maintained the high hygroscopicity of accumulation mode particles. The CCN activation diameters predicted from median hygroscopic growth factors (g median) agreed well with those determined from the CCN efficiency spectra, without assuming surface tension reduction caused by organics or enhancement of bulk hygroscopicity at high RH caused by sparingly soluble or polymeric compounds. The CCN spectra predicted from g median and measured CCN activation diameters suggest that the high CCN activities of particles over the North Pacific are sustained by high hygroscopicity, while sporadic changes of aerosol origins produce the diversity of the aerosol properties. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.