Formation and chemical evolution of SOA in two different environments: A dual chamber study

Abstract. A dual chamber system was deployed in two different environments to study the potential of ambient air, that was directly injected into the chambers, to form secondary organic and inorganic aerosol. A total of 16 experiments took place during March 2022 in a polluted environment in the Po Valley, Italy which is dominated by anthropogenic emissions. Another 15 experiments were conducted in the Pertouli forest, Greece which is dominated by biogenic emissions. In both campaigns, ambient air containing highly oxidized (average O:C 0.7–0.8) aerosol was the starting point of the experiments and its chemical evolution under the presence of OH radicals was followed. In the Po Valley SOA formation was observed in all experiments but one and the formed SOA ranged from 0.1 to 10 μg m-3. Experiments conducted under more polluted conditions (usually at night and early morning) had significantly higher SOA formation, with the concentration of the organic aerosol at the end being about four times higher than the initial. Also, production of 4–230 μg m-3 of ammonium nitrate was observed in all experiments due to the high levels of ammonia in this area. The produced SOA increased as the ambient relative humidity increased, but there was not a clear relationship between the SOA and temperature. Higher SOA production was observed when the PM1 levels in Po Valley were high. Contrary to the Po Valley, only one experiment in the Pertouli forest resulted in the formation of detectable SOA (about 1 μg m-3). This experiment was characterized by higher ambient concentrations of both monoterpenes and isoprene. In two experiments, some SOA was formed, but its concentration dropped below detection levels after 30 min. This behavior is consistent with local formation in a chamber that was not well mixed. Although both environments have OA with O:C in the range of 0.7–0.8, the atmosphere of the two sites had very different potentials of forming SOA. In the Po Valley, the system reacts rapidly forming large amounts of SOA, while in Pertouli the corresponding SOA formation chemistry appears to have been practically terminated before the beginning of most experiments, so there is little additional SOA formation potential left.