The project ATM-0744636 studied the organic fraction of aerosol in marine regions, including both research and educational activities.  The research activities consisted of measurements and analyses of atmospheric particles.  The educational activities included a number of training activities for graduate students and a junior scientist, as well as outreach to the public through internet and an academic enrichment program for high school students. The findings are reported in 12 peer-reviewed publications.

Our measurements have quantified the amount and types of organic compounds through measurements in the VOCALS-REx 2008 and the CalNex 2010 field campaigns.  Analysis of samples collected on board the NOAA R/V Ronald Brown off the western coast Chile as part of VOCALS-REx 2008 campaign and during the CalNex cruise in 2010 on the R/V Atlantis included Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS), and Scanning Transmission X-Ray Microscopy Near-Edge X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (STXM-NEXAFS) to measure the aerosol concentration of elements, organic functional groups, and organic mass. Specifically these three techniques (FTIR, AMS, STXM-NEXAFS) measured the following three properties of particles: (1) organic mass and organic-mass-to-organic-carbon ratios by FTIR and AMS; (2) organic functional groups (alkane, alkene, aromatic, alcohol, carbonyl, organonitrogen, and organosulfur) by FTIR and orrganic mass fragments by AMS; and (3) single-particle organic composition and morphology by STXM-NEXAFS.  These measurements provided some of the first measurements of organic functional groups in atmospheric particles in the Southern Hemisphere, complementing the sparse existing measurements in Australia, South America, and Africa. The measured organic composition has been analyzed using state-of-the-art microphysical and thermodynamic models.  With a one-year supplement, we have verified our measurement techniques with an improved inlet system. This work has contributed to our ongoing collaboration on aerosol-cloud-climate interactions with NOAA investigators.

As a result of these measurements, this project has made substantial advances in understanding the composition of marine organic aerosol particles, including a clear quantitative assessment of the contribution of carbohydrates from bubble bursting at the sea surface microlayer.  There are 12 peer-reviewed publications that reported important aspects of this finding: preliminary evidence for marine organics in cloud droplets (Hawkins et al., 2008), consistency of multiple measurement techniques for marine organics (Russell et al., 2009), evidence for marine organics at California and Northeastern coastal sites (Bahadur et al., 2010; Hawkins and Russell, 2010a; Liu et al., 2011; Day et al., 2010), identification of marine organic components in the southeastern Pacific as part of VOCALS-REx (Hawkins et al., 2010b), single particle characterization of marine organic particles (Takahama et al., 2010; Hawkins and Russell, 2010b), broad chemical consistency in marine organics in four ocean regions (Russell et al., 2010), influence of ship emissions and other pollution on marine organic aerosol (Frossard et al., 2011), and finally improved quantification of marine organics by identification of hydrate contributions (Frossard and Russell, 2012).  The measurements of the Russell group also supported several collaborative studies led by other groups, with six published to date (Allen et al., 2011; Wood et al., 2011; Yang et al., 2011; Lapina et al., 2011; Bates et al., 2012; Shepson et al., 2012).

This project provided the opportunity for three graduate students and a postdoc to participate in multinational scientific teams as part of two NOAA field studies, VOCALS-REx and CalNex 2010.  Th...

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