ACPD Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ACPD 1680-7375 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/acpd-11-387-2011 Organic condensation – a vital link connecting aerosol formation to climate forcing Riipinen I. 1 2 Pierce J. R. 3 Yli-Juuti T. 2 Nieminen T. 2 Häkkinen S. 2 Ehn M. 2 Junninen H. 2 Lehtipalo K. 2 Petäjä T. 2 Slowik J. 4 Chang R. 4 Shantz N. C. 5 Abbatt J. 4 Leaitch W. R. 5 Kerminen V.-M. 2 6 Worsnop D. R. 2 7 Pandis S. N. 1 8 Donahue N. M. 1 Kulmala M. 2 Center for Atmospheric Particle Studies (CAPS), Carnegie Mellon University, 15213, Pittsburgh, PA, USA Department of Physics, University of Helsinki, 00014, Helsinki, Finland Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, B3H 3J5, Halifax, NS, Canada Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto, M5S 3H6, Toronto, ON, Canada Science and Technology Branch, Environment Canada, M3H 5T4, Toronto, ON, Canada Finnish Meteorological Institute, 00880, Helsinki, Finland Aerodyne Research Inc., 01821, Billerica, MA, USA Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, 26500, Patra, Greece 06 01 2011 11 1 387 423 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/387/2011/acpd-11-387-2011.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/11/387/2011/acpd-11-387-2011.pdf

Atmospheric aerosol particles influence global climate as well as impair air quality through their effects on atmospheric visibility and human health. Ultrafine (<100 nm) particles often dominate aerosol numbers, and nucleation of atmospheric vapors is an important source of these particles. To have climatic relevance, however, the freshly-nucleated particles need to grow in size. We combine observations from two continental sites (Egbert, Canada and Hyytiälä, Finland) to show that condensation of organic vapors is a crucial factor governing the lifetimes and climatic importance of the smallest atmospheric particles. We demonstrate that state-of-the-science organic gas-particle partitioning models fail to reproduce the observations, and propose a modeling approach that is consistent with the measurements. We demonstrate the large sensitivity of climatic forcing of atmospheric aerosols to these interactions between organic vapors and the smallest atmospheric nanoparticles – highlighting the need for representing this process in global climate models.

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