FICUS-ZHANG

In this project, we will use the tethered balloon systems (TBS) to collect vertically resolved aerosol samples at DOE’s Southern Great Plains (SGP) ARM observatory during a few flights in the winter, summer, and fall of 2024. During the flights, aerosol samples will be collected from ground level to up to ~ 1-km altitude. The collected samples will be analyzed using the environmental transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and the nanospray desorption electrospray ionization coupled to high-resolution mass spectrometry (nano-DESI-HRMS) available at the EMSL facility and the ion mobility spectrometry time-of-flight mass spectrometry (IMS-MS) at the University of California, Riverside to characterize organosulfates and organonitrates in the collected aerosols on the molecular and isomeric levels. The analysis will provide vertical distributions of organosulfates and organonitrates, hence helping to examine hypothesized aerosol processes such as organosulfate formation through multiphase reactions and organonitrate hydrolysis in aqueous aerosols with increased elevation. The analysis will also reveal the different aerosol compositions at ground level and the upper troposphere near clouds. The results could provide key insights into aerosol-cloud interaction affected by these two classes of hygroscopic species and help constrain aerosols’ climate impacts.

Timeline