Single Atmospheric Particle Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

Atmospheric aerosols originate from various anthropogenic and natural sources; thereby, they exhibit diverse morphology, size, and chemical properties. Such physical and chemical properties determine their dynamic behavior in the atmosphere. A large degree of uncertainty still exists, however, as to how these atmospheric particles interact with the ecosystems and climate. Another important property of aerosols that controls their behavior and environmental impact is related to how particles of different origins are mixed together in the atmosphere. Following various aging processes, materials of different origins (i.e., size, shape and composition) are commonly found mixed within the same particle. Such hybrid particles can exert a very different environmental impact compared to their pure component parents. For example, an internal mixture of black (e.g., soot) and white (e.g., (NH₄)₂SO₄) particles do not simply cancel out each other in terms of their light absorbing and scattering properties. Water-soluble coating on originally hydrophobic mineral dust can have a significant impact both on their ability to act as CCN and as IN.

This Special Issue is motivated by the urgent need to better measure, track, and predict the mixing states of atmospheric particles. Traditionally, electron microscopy has been employed to analyze individual particles. However, due to the labor-intensive nature of the method, not many studies succeeded in presenting results based on a statistically relevant number of particles at high enough temporal and spatial resolutions. Detection of biological or organic materials from individual particles is still very challenging. Here, we would like to invite contributions presenting recent advances both in off-line and on-line single particle analysis and their application to atmospheric aerosols. Off-line analysis may include various and new microscopic and spectroscopic techniques (e.g., SEM, TEM, EDX, Raman, FT-IR, and AFM), while on-line method may involve, but is not limited to, the development of state-of-the-art, single particle mass spectrometry, or counting instruments that can distinguish particle mixing states. Efforts to bridge the significant gap between the results of single particle analysis and numerical modeling are also welcome.

Dr. Atsushi Matsuki
Guest Editor

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• aerosol
• individual particle analysis
• SEM
• TEM
• EDX
• Raman
• FT-IR
• AFM
• aerosol mass spectrometry
• mixing state