Size distribution of Antarctic submicron aerosols

Abstract

The most important finding is that the bimodal size distribution with a trough at around 10-6 cm in radius is seen in almost all observations. This gives evidence of new particle formations in the Antarctic troposphere. Based on simplified theoretical calculations, it is concluded that the production rate of new particles is about 4 × 10-4 cm-3 s-1 in the summer in Antarctica which for instance could be yielded by homogeneous conversion of an SO2 concentration of 1 μg m-3 at a rate of 0.5% hr-1. The most plausible precursors of SO2 involved in this process seem to be rather inert gases such as COS, CS2, etc. DMS plays a small role in this new particle formation process, although it does play an important role in maintaining the aerosol mass concentration in the Antarctic atmosphere. -from Author