Sulfur Chemistry in the Marine Atmosphere and Its Influence on Aerosol Formation and Growth

Abstract

Long Term Goals. Our long-term research goal is to understand how aerosols are produced and grow in the marine atmosphere with special emphasis on processes in the boundary and buffer layers. Specifically we want to understand in detail how dimethyl sulfide emitted by the oceans is oxidized in the marine atmosphere and how the products produced are involved in the formation and growth of atmospheric particles. We want to understand the importance of new particles formed in the free troposphere and brought into the boundary and buffer layers by subsidence. Finally we want to determine the influence of anthropogenic sulfur compounds, mainly sulfur dioxide, on the growth and formation of atmospheric particles especially in the near-shore environment. Objective. Our first objective was to develop a comprehensive photochemical model of the chemistry of dimethyl sulfide and its oxidation products. Our second objective was to determine the impact of this chemistry on the formation and growth of new particles in the boundary and buffer layers. A third objective was to evaluate the importance of anthropogenic and volcanic sources of sulfur compounds, particularly SO2, on the formation and growth of atmospheric particles. A final and fourth objective was the evaluation of the importance of new particles formed from oxidized SO2 in the free troposphere that are brought into the boundary and buffer layers by subsidence.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Sep 30, 1997
Accession Number
ADA619084

Entities

People

  • Alan Bandy
  • James Ianni

Organizations

  • Drexel University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Materials and Manufacturing Processes

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Atmospheres
  • Boundaries
  • Chemical Reaction Properties
  • Chemical Reactions
  • Chemistry
  • Christmas Island
  • Dielectric Gases
  • Diurnal Variations
  • Environment
  • Free Energy
  • Marine Atmospheres
  • Nucleation
  • Particles
  • Rate Of Formation
  • Sulfur
  • Sulfur Compounds
  • Troposphere

Fields of Study

  • Environmental science

Readers

  • Aerosol Science/Aerosol Physics
  • Combustion science or combustion engineering.
  • Ocean-Atmosphere Mesoscale Modeling, Data Assimilation, and Flux Boundary Layers