Ammonia Partitioning into the Condensed Phase in Winter Time Conditions

Secondary aerosol (SOA) formation has been linked to health problems and environmental damage in regions impacted by the emission of gaseous NH3 and SO2. SOA formation, (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3, in the presence of NO NO2, is favored under high relative humidity and low temperature and low temperature conditions. In the East and Mid Atlantic regions of the United States humidity is low in wintertime. Utilizing ambient concentration data of gaseous NO, NO2, SO2 and NH3 collected aboard a survey aircraft we examined the partitioning of gaseous NH3 towards aerosol products. The calculated mixing ratio of gaseous SO2/NH3 correlated with relative humidity will give an indication of the potential SOA formation when the mixing ratio of other reactants is small in the region of interest. The data obtained originates from a series of night and day survey flights on a C-130 aircraft that occurred from February 3 to March 13, 2015 over the Eastern coastal region of the United States extending from New York to Florida. NOx was obtained from the Airborne Ring-down Nitrogen Oxide Laser Detector (ARNOLD) instrument (NOAA) and Thermal Dissociation-Laser Induced Fluorescence (TD-LIF) (UC Berkley). SO2 measurements were done using the TECO 43C SO2 analyzer and for NH3 measurements the an Ammonia Analyzer - Trace (NH3) (Los Gatos Research). Estimates of aerosol dry deposition fluxes are presented.