Ternary nucleation of H₂SO₄, NH₃, and H₂O in the atmosphere
Abstract
Classical theory of binary homogeneous nucleation is extended to the ternary system H₂SO₄-NH₃-H₂O. For NH₃ mixing ratios exceeding about 1 ppt, the presence of NH₃ enhances the binary H₂SO₄-H₂O nucleation rate by several orders of magnitude. The Gibbs free energies of formation of the critical H₂SO₄-NH₃-H₂O cluster, as calculated by two independent approaches, are in substantial agreement. The finding that the H₂SO₄-NH₃-H₂O ternary nucleation rate is independent of relative humidity over a large range of H₂SO₄ concentrations has wide atmospheric consequences. The limiting component for ternary H₂SO₄-NH₃-H₂O nucleation is, as in the binary H₂SO₄-H₂O case, H₂SO₄; however, the H₂SO₄ concentration needed to achieve significant nucleation rates is several orders of magnitude below that required in the binary case.
Additional Information
This work was supported, in part, by Academy of Finland projects 43975 and 36594, by European Union project ENV 4-CT97-0405, NASA through interagency agreement W-18,429, and by National Science Foundation grant ATM-9614105.Additional details
- Alternative title
- Ternary nucleation of H2SO4, NH3, and H2O in the atmosphere
- Eprint ID
- 119454
- Resolver ID
- CaltechAUTHORS:20230222-175085400.7
- 43975
- Academy of Finland
- 36594
- Academy of Finland
- ENV 4-CT97-0405
- European Union
- W-18,429
- NASA
- ATM-9614105
- NSF
- Created
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2023-02-22Created from EPrint's datestamp field
- Updated
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2023-02-22Created from EPrint's last_modified field