title: Aerosol mass spectrometric features of biogenic SOA: observations from a plant chamber and in rural atmospheric environments.
abstract: Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is known to form from a variety of anthropogenic and biogenic precursors. Current estimates of global SOA production vary over 2 orders of magnitude. Since no direct measurement technique for SOA exists, quantifying SOA remains a challenge for atmospheric studies. The identification of biogenic SOA (BSOA) based on mass spectral signatures offers the possibility to derive source information of organic aerosol (OA) with high time resolution. Here we present data from simulation experiments. The BSOA from tree emissions was characterized with an Aerodyne quadrupole aerosol mass spectrometer (Q-AMS). Collection efficiencies were close to 1, and effective densities of the BSOA were found to be 1.3 +/- 0.1 g/cm(3). The mass spectra of SOA from different trees were found to be highly similar. The average BSOA mass spectrum from tree emissions is compared to a BSOA component spectrum extracted from field data. It is shown that overall the spectra agree well and that the mass spectral features of BSOA are distinctively different from those of OA components related to fresh fossil fuel and biomass combustions. The simulation chamber mass spectrum may potentially be useful for the identification and interpretation of biogenic SOA components in ambient data sets.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Chemie und Dynamik der Geosphäre, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany. A.Kiendler-Scharr@fz-juelich.de
authors.forename: Astrid
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kiendler-Scharr
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Thorsten
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hohaus
authors.forename: Einhard
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kleist
authors.forename: Amewu
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mensah
authors.forename: Thomas F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Mentel
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spindler
authors.forename: Ricarda
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Uerlings
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tillmann
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wildt
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols / Q000032:analysis*; D001272:Atmosphere / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D009930:Organic Chemicals / Q000032:analysis*; D010316:Particle Size; D013997:Time Factors; D014197:Trees / Q000737:chemistry*; D014835:Volatilization
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D009930:Organic Chemicals