Chemical transport models often underestimate inorganic aerosol acidity in remote regions of the atmosphere

The acidity of inorganic aerosols in remote areas is often higher than predicted by chemical transport models, which may lead to an underestimation of direct radiative cooling, according to global aircraft observations of pH and ammonium balance in aerosols The inorganic fraction of fine particles affects numerous physicochemical processes in the atmosphere. However, there is large uncertainty in its burden and composition due to limited global measurements. Here, we present observations from eleven different aircraft campaigns from around the globe and investigate how aerosol pH and ammonium balance change from polluted to remote regions, such as over the oceans. Both parameters show increasing acidity with remoteness, at all altitudes, with pH decreasing from about 3 to about -1 and ammonium balance decreasing from almost 1 to nearly 0. We compare these observations against nine widely used chemical transport models and find that the simulations show more scatter (generally R-2 < 0.50) and typically predict less acidic aerosol in the most remote regions. These differences in observations and predictions are likely to result in underestimating the model-predicted direct radiative cooling effect for sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium aerosol by 15-39%.

Automated summary

Observations show that the acidity of inorganic aerosols in remote areas is often higher than predicted by chemical transport models, leading to a potential underestimation of direct radiative cooling effects. Aerosol pH and ammonium balance increase with remoteness, and these differences between observations and predictions may result in underestimating direct radiative cooling effects for sulfate, nitrate, and ammonium aerosols.