title: Aerosol formation: atmospheric particles from organic vapours.
abstract: Aerosol particles produced over forested areas may affect climate by acting as nuclei for cloud condensation, but their composition (and hence the chemical species that drive their production) remains an open question. Here we show, to our knowledge for the first time, that these newly formed particles (3-5 nm in diameter) are composed primarily of organic species, such as cis-pinonic acid and pinic acid, produced by oxidation of terpenes in organic vapours released from the canopy.
authors.affiliation: Division of Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Physical Sciences, PO Box 64, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland. colin.odowd@cmas.demon.co.uk
authors.forename: Colin D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: O'Dowd
authors.forename: Pasi
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aalto
authors.forename: Kaarle
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hmeri
authors.forename: Markku
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kulmala
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hoffmann