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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-486
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-486
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
10 Feb 2026
| 10 Feb 2026
Status: this preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
Critical Role of Dust Induced Electrostatic Coagulation in the Evolution of Aerosol Size Distributions in the Atmosphere
Abstract. Coagulation modifies the particle size distributions (PSD) of atmospheric aerosols, affecting their optical properties, cloud droplet activation, and gravitational deposition. While Coulomb forces may impact coagulation processes between charged aerosols, such as dust, most coagulation models neglect the effects of aerosol charge. Here, we address the lack of single-particle charge measurements for dust aerosols by developing a method to retrieve their joint size-charge distributions. By incorporating aerosol charge into the coagulation kernel, simulations in a dust-only scenario at typical environmental concentrations show that, on hourly timescales, electrostatic force leads to a reduction of up to ~64 % in number concentration relative to Brownian coagulation. Moreover, electrostatic coagulation between dust and ambient sub-500 nm aerosols modifies the latter's PSD by ~10 % compared with Brownian coagulation. These results strongly suggest that electrostatic coagulation should be considered in air quality models.
How to cite. Quan, L., Zhang, R., Dai, G., Jiang, X., Wang, X., Ma, X., Liu, X., Gao, Q., Lu, X., and Wang, X.: Critical Role of Dust Induced Electrostatic Coagulation in the Evolution of Aerosol Size Distributions in the Atmosphere, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-486, 2026.
Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.
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Status: open (until 24 Mar 2026)
Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor
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- RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2026-486', Anonymous Referee #1, 23 Feb 2026 reply
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RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2026-486', Anonymous Referee #2, 28 Feb 2026
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This manuscript highlights the important role of electrostatic interactions in aerosol coagulation and their impact on the resulting PSD evolution. The study uses DMA–APS measurements to obtain joint size–charge distributions of aerosols, enabling characterization of single-particle charge properties. Based on this information, the authors combine coagulation modeling with numerical simulations, demonstrating a significant role of highly charged aerosols in the coagulation process. These results help improve understanding of atmospheric aerosol microphysical processes. Overall, the experimental design and modeling framework are generally reasonable; however, several key methodological aspects—such as size conversion, charge data processing, and model parameter assumptions—require further clarification to improve the transparency and reproducibility of the study. In addition, the applicability of some results should be more clearly defined.
- The manuscript assumes a dynamic shape factor of χ=1 in the conversion from aerodynamic diameter to electrical mobility diameter. Since mineral dust aerosols are typically irregular in shape, this assumption may introduce a systematic shift in the mapped diameter and therefore alter aerosolbin assignment in the joint size–charge distribution. Given that the reported electrostatic enhancement depends on this joint distribution, please clarify how adopting representative χ values for mineral dust (χ>1) would shift the size range associated with highly charged aerosols, and whether such shifts could affect the qualitative conclusions regarding PSD evolution. Clarifying this point would help readers assess the sensitivity of the results to aerosol morphology assumptions.
- The manuscript uses linear interpolation along the charge axis to fill missing charge-bin concentrations. Since the high-charge tail is inherently sparsely populated, this region is typically sensitive to data-processing methods. When linear interpolation is applied, high-charge bins that would otherwise be zero or undetectable may be assigned non-zero concentrations, thereby artificially smoothing and elevating the tail of the distribution. Given that the reported electrostatic enhancement depends on the fraction and distribution of highly charged aerosols, this treatment may affect the fraction of highly charged aerosols and consequently influence the related analysis results. The authors are therefore encouraged to clarify the robustness of this interpolation step for subsequent analysis results.
- In the mixed-system simulations, the inclusion of electrostatic interactions leads to an approximately 10% difference in the peak ambient sub-500 nm aerosol number concentration compared with simulations without electrostatic effects. The authors are encouraged to clarify in the Results and Discussion section of the manuscript the significance of this difference for the evaluation of environmental impacts such as radiative forcing and CCN number concentration, and whether it should be highlighted in the discussion of the results or regarded as only a secondary effect within the model. Providing such clarification would help readers better understand the implications of this difference for atmospheric applications.
- The study adopts a closed-box framework, in which no new aerosol input is considered. Under this assumption, aerosolcharges gradually neutralize and decay through coagulation. However, during real atmospheric transport, dust plumes may continuously introduce newly emitted or mixed-in aerosols that can retain relatively high initial charge. Given that the reported electrostatic enhancement depends on the presence of highly charged aerosols, the authors are encouraged to clarify whether such continuous input of highly charged aerosols could delay charge decay and sustain stronger electrostatic coagulation, thereby affecting the reported PSD evolution.
- In Fig. 3, the caption refers to aerodynamic diameter, whereas the main text indicates that aerosol sizes were converted to mobility diameter. To avoid potential confusion, the authors are encouraged to clarify in the caption which diameter is shown on the x-axis and to ensure consistent terminology between the text and the figure.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-486-RC2
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Luoqiu Quan
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Ruoyu Zhang
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Gui Dai
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xinghua Jiang
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xiangyang Wang
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xiewen Ma
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xinyu Liu
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Qianqian Gao
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xiaohui Lu
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Xiaofei Wang
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Particle Pollution and Prevention, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Shanghai Institute of Pollution Control and Ecological Security, Shanghai 200092, China
Fudan Zhangjiang Institute, Shanghai 201203, China
Short summary
Dust aerosols in the atmosphere often carry electric charges, which can change how they collide and grow. We measured these charges and found that electrical forces can speed up aerosol removal compared with traditional assumptions. This effect alters aerosol numbers and lifetimes and may influence air quality, cloud formation, and climate predictions.
Dust aerosols in the atmosphere often carry electric charges, which can change how they collide...
This paper aims to address a critical gap in atmospheric aerosol modeling by investigating how electrostatic forces influence coagulation processes of dust particles. The authors applied DMA-APS to retrieve joint size-charge distributions of dust aerosols, which can potentially overcome the lack of single-particle charge measurements. By incorporating aerosol charge into the coagulation kernel, their simulations reveal significant electrostatic effects on particle size distribution. Although the topic of paper is interesting, I have doubts on the methodology used in this work, which need to be cleared before a second round of review.
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