The impact of relative humidity on the size distribution and chemical processes of major water-soluble inorganic ions in the megacity of Chongqing, China

Lu Wang, Dongsheng Ji, Yi Li, Meng Gao, Shili Tian, Tianxue Wen, Zirui Liu, Lili Wang, Peng Xu, Changsheng Jiang, Yuesi Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To investigate the impacts of relative humidity (RH) on the size distribution and evolution of water-soluble inorganic ions (WSIIs) in Chongqing, China, size-resolved aerosols were collected using nine-stage viable Andersen cascade impactors bi-weekly from June 2012 to May 2014. The WSIIs (SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, K+, Na+, Cl−, Ca2+, Mg2+ and F−) were analyzed. The SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ peaks shifted from 0.43–0.65μm particles at 40–60% RH to 0.65–1.1μm particles at 70–90% RH. For K+, Na+ and Cl−, the peak concentrations were in the size range of 0.65–2.1μm and increased as the RH increased from 40 to 90%. However, the Ca2+, Mg2+ and F− peaks at all RH levels were mainly concentrated in the coarse mode, and their concentrations did not increase as regularly as those of SO42−, NO3− and NH4+. All of the results suggest that RH was likely an important factor in determining the size distributions of the WSIIs. SO42−, NO3− and NH4+ increased linearly in all size ranges as a function of RH (40–90%). Additionally, SO42− presented the highest rate of mass increase at 1.8μg/m3/10% RH in 1.1
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)19-29
Number of pages11
JournalAtmospheric Research
Volume192
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2017

User-Defined Keywords

  • Relative humidity
  • Size distribution
  • Water-soluble inorganic ions
  • Chemical processes
  • Chongqing

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