Chemical Imaging and Ice Nucleation Properties of Individual Arctic Atmospheric Particles
EMSL Project ID
51363
Abstract
The proposed project will address critical gaps in our understanding of the Arctic aerosol sources, chemical composition, and ice nucleation properties through chemical imaging and ice nucleation particle analysis of samples collected during three Department of Energy Atmospheric Radiation Measurement (DOE ARM) field campaigns: APUN (Aerosols in the Polar Utqiagvik Night, Nov. - Dec. 2018, near Utqiagvik, Alaska), Secondary Aerosol Formation in an Arctic Oil Field (Mar. - Apr. 2020, Oliktok Point, Alaska), and MOSAiC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate, Oct. 2019 - Sep. 2020, High Arctic icebreaker). The overarching goal of these field campaigns is to address the significant gaps in aerosol observational data in the Arctic, which is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth. This proposal supports PI Pratt's DOE Early Career Award and addresses two EMSL FY 2021 Focus Topics in the Environmental Transformations and Interactions Area: "Determine the physical and chemical properties that make some aerosols more efficient ice-nucleating particles than others" and "Understand the processes that result in the formation and growth of organic aerosols and aging processes that result in changes in their chemical, physical and optical properties." These analyses will provide insights into how changing natural and anthropogenic emissions, along with atmospheric processing, are driving aerosol interactions with radiation and clouds in the Arctic region. Model estimates of atmospheric aerosol radiative forcing are currently limited in part by the dearth of measurement data available for evaluation; therefore, it is estimated that this project will ultimately lead to improved estimates of aerosol-climate feedbacks. The microscopy measurement capabilities, available at EMSL with the leading researchers in the use of this instrumentation for aerosol analysis, are essential to the success of the proposed project. Chemical imaging analyses will focus on computer-controlled scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (CCSEM-EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), and NanoSIMS. The custom ice nucleation environmental SEM (IN-SEM) platform at EMSL will provide unique knowledge of physical and chemical properties of individual ice nucleating particles. Access to these EMSL resources is necessary and paramount to the success of this project, which is expected to yield significant insights into our understanding of aerosol composition, ice nucleating particle properties, and resulting aerosol-climate feedbacks in the rapidly changing Arctic.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2020-10-01
End Date
2022-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members