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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2787
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2787
04 Jul 2025
 | 04 Jul 2025

Atmospheric new particle formation in the eastern region of China: a mechanistic investigation at multiple sites

Jiaqi Jin, Runlong Cai, Yiliang Liu, Gan Yang, Yueyang Li, Chuang Li, Lei Yao, Jingkun Jiang, Xiuhui Zhang, and Lin Wang

Abstract. As a major source of cloud condensation nuclei, atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) events exert significant influences on the global climate. Among the various nucleation mechanisms that have been identified in diverse environments, sulfuric acid-amine nucleation is unique for its high efficiency to form stable clusters and drive intense nucleation. Despite the fact that this nucleation mechanism could explain observed NPF events at a number of megacity sites in China, its applicability to a larger regional scale remains unclear. Here, we analyzed characteristics of NPF events and influencing factors at three suburban sites in the eastern region of China based on measured and theoretically predicted particle formation rates and cluster concentrations. Results show that sulfuric acid-dimethylamine is a predominant nucleation mechanism at these sites, while atmospheric conditions including precursor concentrations and temperature causes the differences in NPF characteristics among different sites. This indicates the significance of the sulfuric acid-amine nucleation mechanism over a large spatial scale in the urban agglomerations in the eastern region of China. We also find that oxygenated organic molecules are likely involved in the formation of 1.7-nm new particles at these sites by contributing the initial growth of stable sulfuric acid clusters.

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Jiaqi Jin, Runlong Cai, Yiliang Liu, Gan Yang, Yueyang Li, Chuang Li, Lei Yao, Jingkun Jiang, Xiuhui Zhang, and Lin Wang

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Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2787', Anonymous Referee #1, 12 Aug 2025
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2025-2787', Anonymous Referee #2, 29 Aug 2025
Jiaqi Jin, Runlong Cai, Yiliang Liu, Gan Yang, Yueyang Li, Chuang Li, Lei Yao, Jingkun Jiang, Xiuhui Zhang, and Lin Wang
Jiaqi Jin, Runlong Cai, Yiliang Liu, Gan Yang, Yueyang Li, Chuang Li, Lei Yao, Jingkun Jiang, Xiuhui Zhang, and Lin Wang

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Short summary
Based on observed atmospheric new particle formation events at multiple sites in eastern China, we find that the dominant nucleation mechanism in this region is sulfuric acid-dimethylamine and the differences in the nucleation intensity among campaigns can be largely attributed to temperature and precursor concentrations. Our results also show that oxygenated organic molecules can make a great contribution to the initial growth of freshly nucleated particles in the real atmosphere.
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