Aerosol Composition in the Los Angeles Basin Studied by High Resolution Aerosol Mass Spectrometry

Atmospheric aerosols impact climate and health, but their sources and composition are poorly understood. To address this knowledge gap, a high-resolution aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) and complementary instrumentation were deployed during the 2010 CalNex campaign to characterize aerosol composition in the Los Angeles (LA) area. Total mass concentrations as well as the species concentrations measured by the AMS compare well with most other instruments. Nitrate dominates in the mornings, but its concentration is reduced in the afternoon when organic aerosols (OA) increase and dominate. The diurnal variations in concentrations are strongly influenced by emission transport from the source-rich western basin. The average OA to enhanced CO ratio increases with photochemical age from 25 to 80 μg m-3 ppm-1, which indicates significant secondary OA (SOA) production and that a large majority of OA is secondary in aged air. The ratio values are similar to those from Mexico City as well as New England and the Mid-Atlantic States. Positive matrix factorization (PMF) is used to assess the concentrations of different OA components. The major OA classes are oxygenated OA (OOA, a surrogate for total SOA), and hydrocarbon-like OA (HOA, a surrogate for primary combustion OA). Several subclasses of OA are identified as well including diesel-influenced HOA (DI-HOA) and non-diesel HOA. DI-HOA exhibits low concentrations on Sundays consistent with the well-known weekday/weekend effect in LA. PMF analysis finds that OOA is 67% of the total OA concentration. A strong correlation between OOA and Ox (O3 + NO2) concentrations is observed with a slope of 0.15 that suggests the production of fresh SOA in Pasadena. Plotting the OA elemental ratios in a Van Krevelen diagram (H:C vs. O:C) yields a slope of -0.6, which is less steep than that observed in Riverside during the SOAR-2005 campaign. The difference in slopes may be attributed to the highly oxidized HOA present in Pasadena that is transported from the western basin over 3-4 hours. Also, the Pasadena slope is consistent with recent studies of SOA aging via fragmentation reactions leading to carboxylic acids and/or concurrent functionalization with carboxylic acids and alcohols.