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    Original Research Papers

    Characterization of new particle formation events at a background site in Southern Sweden: relation to air mass history

    Authors:

    A. Kristensson ,

    Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, SE; Copenhagen Centre for Atmospheric Research, Department of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen, DK
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    M. Dal Maso,

    Divison of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI; Research Centre Jülich, DE
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    E. Swietlicki,

    Division of Nuclear Physics, Lund University, SE
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    T. Hussein,

    Divison of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI
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    J. Zhou,

    School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology, Department of Oceanography, University of Hawaii at Manoa, US
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    V.-M. Kerminen,

    Finnish Meteorological Institute, FI
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    M. Kulmala

    Divison of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, University of Helsinki, FI
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    Abstract

    Particle formation events were analysed from aerosol number size distribution data collected at a background station in southern Sweden between February 2001 and May 2004. Events occurred on about 36% of all days and were favoured by high global radiation values. The clearest events (class I, 20% of all days) were observed when the formation rate of activated hypothetical clusters around 1 nm diameter, J1 was higher than 10(180*CondS-0.60), where CondS is the condensation sink (in s-1). The median condensable vapour concentration, observed formation rate at 3 nm, and growth rate during class I events were 3.0 × 107 cm-3, 1.1 cm-3 s-1 and 2.1 nm h-1, respectively. On 7% of all days, it was possible to observe growth of the newly formed particles exceeding 30 nm geometric mean diameter during event days in the evening, which is important for the regional particle population, and thereby the climate. A trajectory analysis revealed that cleaner air masses were relatively more important for the contribution of Aitken mode particles than polluted ones. Class I events were registered on 36% of all days when trajectories had passed over the open sea, indicating that ship traffic can contribute to particle formation and growth.

    How to Cite: Kristensson, A., Maso, M.D., Swietlicki, E., Hussein, T., Zhou, J., Kerminen, V.-M. and Kulmala, M., 2008. Characterization of new particle formation events at a background site in Southern Sweden: relation to air mass history. Tellus B: Chemical and Physical Meteorology, 60(3), pp.330–334. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1600-0889.2008.00345.x
      Published on 01 Jan 2008
    Peer Reviewed
     CC BY 4.0
     Accepted on 18 Feb 2008            Submitted on 30 Aug 2007

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