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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-3129</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Measurement report: Seasonal Secondary and Biomass-Burning Aerosol Sources and Enhancements of Cloud Condensation Nuclei at a Central US Background Site</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zawadowicz</surname>
<given-names>Maria Anna</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4234-0954</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Dobracki</surname>
<given-names>Amie</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Uin</surname>
<given-names>Janek</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2001-0508</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Trojanowski</surname>
<given-names>Rebecca</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Environmental Science and Technologies, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>Rainmaker Technology Corporation, El Segundo, CA 90245</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>Interdisciplinary Science, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY 11973</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>27</day>
<month>07</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>26</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Maria Anna Zawadowicz et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3129/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3129/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3129/egusphere-2026-3129.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-3129/egusphere-2026-3129.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Long-term measurements of aerosol chemistry are essential for understanding seasonal source variability and aerosol&amp;ndash;climate interactions in continental environments. We present a multi-year (2021&amp;ndash;2023) analysis of submicron aerosol composition at the U.S. Department of Energy Southern Great Plains (SGP) site using co-located Aerosol Chemical Speciation Monitor (ACSM), Interagency Monitoring of Protected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) network filter measurements, and supporting optical, size-distribution, and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) observations. Organic aerosol (OA), nitrate (NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;), ammonium (NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;), sulfate (SO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;), and mineral dust exhibited pronounced seasonal cycles. NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt; and NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; dominated winter aerosol mass, consistent with thermodynamic partitioning of ammonium nitrate (NH&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt;NO&lt;sub&gt;3&lt;/sub&gt;), while OA and SO&lt;sub&gt;4&lt;/sub&gt; peaked in spring and summer, reflecting enhanced photochemistry and biogenic precursor emissions.&lt;/p&gt;
&lt;p&gt;Positive Matrix Factorization with a rolling-window ME-2 framework resolved biomass-burning OA (BBOA), semi-volatile oxygenated OA (SVOOA), and low-volatility oxygenated OA (LVOOA). SVOOA and LVOOA together dominated annual OA mass, with strong summer maxima, while BBOA contributed episodically during fire events. We identified 168 biomass- burning episodes using BBOA spikes detected using rolling-median residual spike detection. Fire plumes increased aerosol absorption coefficient modestly but enhanced CCN number concentrations by up to a factor of four. HYSPLIT and satellite fire products indicate dominant contributions from Great Plains grassland and cropland burns, with additional forest and distant sources. These results provide a comprehensive characterization of aerosol seasonal behavior and biomass-burning impacts in the central United States, demonstrating the value of long-term, high-time-resolution mass-spectrometric observations.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>U.S. Department of Energy</funding-source>
<award-id>DE-SC0012704</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
</article-meta>
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