Molecular compositions of marine organic aerosols over the Bohai and Yellow Seas: Influence of primary emission and secondary formation

To understand the influences of continental emissions on marine aerosols from East Asia, the total suspended particle (TSP) samples were collected from the Yellow Sea (YS) and Bohai Sea (BS) of China through a cruise campaign during the spring of 2018. >100 individual organic compounds were identified and determined in the samples, and they were classified into 6 major groups according to the functionality and sources. The mass concentrations of total quantified organic compounds in BS (307.6 +/- 268.3 ng m(-3)) was approximately 3 times those of YS (111.0 +/- 97.3 ng m(-3)). Organic compounds from biomass burning (23.2 +/- 34.2 ng m(-3)), marine/microbial source (23.1 +/- 6.2 ng m(-3)) and fossil fuel combustion (21.4 +/- 11.3 ng m(-3)) were the most abundant in the YS samples, whereas primary biological origins (90.0 +/- 107.1 ng m(-3)), biomass burning (52.1 +/- 39.1 ng m(-3)) and fossil fuel combustion (41.9 +/- 20.1 ng m(-3)) were the most important organic species in BS marine aerosols. The concentrations of total biogenic secondary organic aerosol (BSOA) tracers including six isoprene SOA (SOA(I)), three monoterpene SOA (SOA(M)), and one beta-caryophyllene SOA (SOA(C)) were 2.4 +/- 1.5 ng m(-3) and 7.3 +/- 4.4 ng m(-3) in the YS and BS samples, respectively. A strong correlation between BSOA tracers and levoglucosan was shown in the marine aerosol samples, indicating that biomass burning emissions could also promote BSOA formations. The spatial distribution of chemical and source characteristics suggests a relatively large impacts of continental emissions to the BS aerosols. Based on the tracer-based method, the biomass burning (YS: 4.9 +/- 6.8%; BS: 8.8 +/- 8.0%) was the largest contributor to OC, followed by primary biogenic OC (YS: 0.59 +/- 0.44%; BS: 2.9 +/- 3.0%) and biogenic secondary OC (YS: 0.45 +/- 0.23%; BS: 1.0 +/- 0.59%). This study suggests important contributions of biomass burning emissions to organic aerosols in the YS and BS marine atmosphere, although marine source, fossil fuel combustion and secondary formation was also substantial.

Automated summary

This study investigates the influences of continental emissions on marine aerosols in the Yellow Sea and Bohai Sea of China. The results show that biomass burning is the major contributor to organic aerosols in these marine atmospheres.