A study of secondary organic aerosol formation in the anthropogenic‐influenced southeastern United States

The formation of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in an anthropogenic‐influenced region in the southeastern United States is investigated by a comparison with urban plumes in the northeast. The analysis is based on measurements of fine‐particle organic compounds soluble in water (WSOC) as a measure of secondary organic aerosol. Aircraft measurements over a large area of northern Georgia, including the Atlanta metropolitan region, and in plumes from New York City and surrounding urban regions in the northeast show that fine‐particle WSOC are spatially correlated with vehicle emission tracers (e.g., CO), yet the measurements indicate that vehicles do not directly emit significant particulate WSOC. In addition to…

• NS
  National Science Foundation
• UE
  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• NO
  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration