New Particle Formation Above a Loblolly Pine Forest at a New Tower Site in Central Virginia

Abstract:

We present initial results investigating the environmental controls on new particle formation events at a new research site in central Virginia. The Sweet Briar College Land-Atmosphere Research Station (SBC-LARS) became operational in July, 2014 and features a 37-meter tower within a ~30 year-old loblolly pine plantation that is surrounded by mixed deciduous forest at the eastern edge of the Blue Ridge Mountains. The tower supports meteorological instruments at three different heights (2, 26, and 37 meters) and two air sampling inlets located above the canopy. The inlets draw air samples into a climate-controlled shed where precursor gas concentrations (ozone, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen oxides) are determined by gas analyzers. Aerosol size distributions between 10 and 470 nm are measured every 3 minutes by a Scanning Mobility Particle Sizer (SMPS). For this study, aerosol size distributions from July through November 2014 were analyzed along with HYSPLIT backwards trajectories, meteorological measurements, gas concentrations, and the condensational sink, to investigate controls on new particle formation. This station and corresponding dataset will contribute to a better understanding of the contribution of biogenic and anthropogenic emissions to aerosol formation in the southeastern United States.