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Secondary organic aerosols (SOA) produced in the atmosphere from sequential oxidation of biogenic or anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (VOC) represent a significant part of the atmospheric organic aerosol. Aerosol particles can act as cloud condensation nuclei or can be scavenged by cloud droplets, where organic carbon undergo chemical and biological transformations. Due to its high complexity, a nontargeted analysis by FT-ICR MS (Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry) has been used to characterize the dissolved organic matter at a molecular level. SOA compounds have been detected in six aqueous samples collected in 2017 at the Puy de Dome station (PUY, France). SOA tracers, produced by VOC oxidation in environmental chambers or in ambient air and characterized in previous studies by mass spectrometry, were searched by FT-ICR MS in cloudwaters. Results clearly indicate the presence of oxidation products of isoprene, α- and β-pinene, and other monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes. I...

International audience; Airborne cesium isotopes (134Cs and 137Cs) released during the Fukushima nuclear accident were transported all around the world attached to particles and reached France about 12 days after the first explosion. Concentration of cesium isotopes in cloud water sampled at the summit of the Puy de Dôme mountain (1465 m a.s.l.) increased by a factor of at least 40. During the following weeks, the concentrations decreased more slowly in cloud water than in rain and in rain compared with what was found on the aerosol phase. Cesium-134 was detectable in the aerosol phase, in rain and in cloud water for 3 months, 11 months and 18 months after the accident, respectively. These kinetics are consistent with the washout scavenging of aerosol in the lower layers of the atmosphere that leads to a relative depletion of Fukushima-labeled aerosols at ground level. Airborne particles at high altitudes, i.e. where clouds form, have a longer residence time. This finding has implications on the different time scales at which a contamination may be transferred to the ground, depending if it is transferred via dry or wet deposition. This study highlights that cloud water is a relevant type of environmental sample to attest the presence of radionuclides on a longer time scale than for the aerosol phase, provided that the metrology is able to lower usual detection limits. Rainout efficiency was computed for 137Cs.

While atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) has been observed in various environments and was found to contribute significantly to the total aerosol particle concentration, the production of new particles over open seas is poorly documented in the literature. Nucleation events were detected and analysed over the Mediterranean Sea using two condensation particle counters and a scanning mobility particle sizer on board the ATR-42 research aircraft during flights conducted between 11 September and 4 November 2012 in the framework of the HYMEX (HYdrological cycle in Mediterranean EXperiment) project. The main purpose of the present work was to characterize the spatial extent of the NPF process, both horizontally and vertically. Our findings show that nucleation is occurring over large areas above the Mediterranean Sea in all air mass types. Maximum concentrations of particles in the size range 5–10 nm (N5–10) do not systematically coincide with lower fetches (time spent by the air mass over the sea before sampling), and significant N5–10 values are found for fetches between 0 and 60 h depending on the air mass type. These observations suggest that nucleation events could be more influenced by local precursors originating from emission processes occurring above the sea, rather than linked to synoptic history. Vertical soundings were performed, giving the opportunity to examine profiles of the N5–10 concentration and to analyse the vertical extent of NPF. Our observations demonstrate that the process could be favoured above 1000 m, i.e. frequently in the free troposphere, and more especially between 2000 and 3000 m, where the NPF frequency is close to 50 %. This vertical distribution of NPF might be favoured by the gradients of several atmospheric parameters, together with the mixing of two air parcels, which could also explain the occurrence of the process at preferential altitudes. In addition, increased condensation sinks collocated with high concentrations of small particles suggest the occurrence of NPF events promoted by inputs from the boundary layer, most probably associated with convective clouds and their outflow. After their formation, particles slowly grow at higher altitudes to diameters of at least 30 nm while not being greatly depleted or affected by coagulation. Our analysis of the particle size distributions suggests that particle growth could decrease with increasing altitude.