A PRELIMINARY-STUDY OF THE EFFECT OF AMMONIA ON PARTICLE NUCLEATION IN THE MARINE BOUNDARY-LAYER

A ternary nucleation model for the H2SO4-NH3-H2O system is presented in an effort to examine the effect of NH3 on heteromolecular homogeneous nucleation in the marine boundary layer (MBL). The results from this nucleation model suggest that ammonia could, in fact, enhance the nucleation rate over that of the binary system, H2SO4-H2O. The magnitude of this enhancement is introduced as an enhancement ratio, which, in principle, is applicable to any binary nucleation rate for H2SO4-H2O. Also presented are preliminary results from a simple aerosol model using this enhancement ratio. These results suggest that under conditions typical of the marine environment it may be possible to produce enough particles to balance the various particle sinks characteristic of the MBL.