The promotion effect of nitrous acid on aerosol formation in wintertime in Beijing: the possible contribution of traffic-related emissions
Yongchun Liu, Yusheng Zhang, Chaofan Lian, Chao Yan, Zeming Feng, Feixue Zheng, Xiaolong Fan, Yan Chen, Weigang Wang, Biwu Chu, Yonghong Wang, Jing Cai, Wei Du, Kaspar R. Daellenbach, Juha Kangasluoma, Federico Bianchi, Joni Kujansuu, Tuukka Petäjä, Xuefei Wang, Bo Hu, Yuesi Wang, Maofa Ge, Hong He, Markku Kulmala
Abstract
Abstract. Secondary aerosols are a major component of PM2.5, yet their formation mechanisms in the ambient atmosphere are still unclear. Based on field measurements in downtown Beijing, we show that the photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO) may promote the formation of organic and nitrate aerosols in winter in Beijing, which is supported by the fact that the mass concentrations of organic and nitrate aerosols linearly increase as a function of HONO consumed from early morning to noon. The increased nitrate content also leads to the formation of ammonium particulate matter through enhancing the neutralization of nitrate and sulfate by ammonia. We further illustrate that during pollution events in winter in Beijing, over 50 % of the ambient HONO may be related to traffic-related emissions, including direct emissions and formation via the reaction between OH and vehicle-emitted NO. Overall, our results indicate that traffic-related HONO may play an important role in the oxidative capacity and in turn contribute to haze formation in winter in Beijing. The mitigation of HONO and NOx emissions from vehicles may be an effective way to reduce the formation of secondary aerosols and severe haze events in winter in Beijing.