Evaluation of nucleation theories in a sulfur-rich environment

Six nucleation parameterizations are tested using the Dynamic Model for Aerosol Nucleation (DMAN). Weak, moderate, and strong nucleation events together with days without nucleation from the Pittsburgh Air Quality Study (PAQS) were selected for the evaluation. The ability of the different theories to reproduce the occurrence or lack of a nucleation event was evaluated. The ternary sulfuric acid-ammonia-water theory was the only one that was successful for all tests. Sensitivity tests of the remaining parameterizations suggest that increasing or decreasing the corresponding nucleation rates does not change the overall performance of the parameterizations when both the nucleation and non-nucleation days are included in the tests.