Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 6 3 2006 10.5194/acpd-6-4213-2006 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/4213/2006/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/4213/2006/acpd-6-4213-2006.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/6/4213/2006/acpd-6-4213-2006.pdf 4213 4249 2006-05-29 Organics in the Northeastern Pacific and their impacts on aerosol hygroscopicity in the subsaturated and supersaturated regimes K. K. Crahan D. A. Hegg D. S. Covert J. L. Santarpia H. Jonsson G. Buzorius D. Collins Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Seattle, WA, USA Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD, USA CIRPAS, Department of Research, NPS, Marina, CA, USA Texas A&M University, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, College Station, TX, USA Aerosol samples were collected by aircraft during the summer of 2004 in the Northeastern Pacific and compared to measurements of aerosol hygroscopicity. Chemical speciation analyses of the samples revealed that a significant portion of the marine aerosols was organic, and on average 8% of the total aerosol mass was insoluble organic material, tentatively attributed to natural marine emissions. Two chemical models were explored in an attempt to reproduce observed aerosol growth, both in the subsaturated and supersaturated regimes. Results suggest that at subsaturated relative humidities, the nonideal behavior of water activity with respect to aerosol chemistry is an important effect on aerosol growth. At supersaturations, the underprediction of critical supersaturations by all models suggests the hypothesis that formation of a complete monolayer by the insoluble organics may inhibit the activation of aerosols to form cloud droplets.