Particles and Clouds

Nitrous acid/nitrite can also be oxidized in the aqueous solutions found in the atmosphere in the form of fogs, clouds, and particles. Nitrite is well known to be slowly oxidized in the dark to nitrate by dissolved oxygen in the liquid phase. However, it has been reported that the rate of this oxidation increases remarkably during freezing of the solution containing the nitrite (Takenaka et al., 1992, 1996). Figure 7.11, for example, shows the rate of nitrate formation in a nitrite solution at 25°C and in one with the cooling bath at — 21°C (Takenaka et al., 1992). This unusual phenomenon has also been observed with respect to the... 

The chemical composition of fogs, clouds, and particles (see Chapter 9) varies as a function of particle size. For example, Figure 8.19 shows the concentrations of the major cations and anions measured in small and large cloud droplets at La Jolla peak in southern California (Collett et al., 1994, 1999). The large drops are enriched in soil and sea salt derived species such as Mg2+, Ca2+, Na+, and Cl whereas the smaller particles contain higher concentrations of sulfate and H+,... 

Of the remaining 70 % of solar radiation (corresponding to 240 W m ), however, less than half (30%) actually reaches the earth s surface directly. The remaining 40 % is scattered by clouds and particles in the atmosphere, from which a part of the diffuse radiation (25%) is also transmitted to the earth s surface. Hence the total of direct solar radiation and diffuse sky radiation received by a unit horizontal surface is called global radiation. 

What is the approximate lowering of the centroid of a dispersing cloud of particles at 2 km from the source whose mass medium diameter is 30 ptm and whose particle density is 1 g cm in a 5 m s wind ... 

Water is constantly evaporated from rivers, lakes, and oceans, and released from vegetation through evapo-transpiration. Water vapor travels through the atmosphere, eventually forming small droplets or ice crystals in clouds. Some particles grow sufficiently... 

Vei y small solid fuel particles such as sawdust, agricultural grains, or coal dust can sustain flames when they are suspended in air. In fact, very serious fires have occurred in grain storage towers and coal mines because of the flammability of suspended dusts. The combustion of the individual particles follows the usual pattern of solid particle burning— devolatization and char burning. The combustion of the whole cloud of particles is similar to spray combustion and its characteristics depend on the nature of the fuel, size of the particles, and the number of particles in a given volume. 

Condensation occurs when air temperatures cool. The cooling occurs in one of two ways. Either the air vapor cools as it rises and expands or as it comes into contact with a cool object such as a cold landmass or an ice-covered area. Air rises for several reasons. It can be forced up as it encounters a cooler, denser body of air, or when it meets mountains or other raised land masses. It can rise as it meets a very warm surface, like a desert, and become more buoyant than the surrounding air. Air also can be forced to rise by storms—during tornadoes particles of air circling to the center of a cyclone collide and are forced up. When the water vapor collides with a cold object, it can become fog, dew, or frost as it condenses. The vapor cools as it rises into the atmosphere and condenses to form clouds and, sometimes, rain. 

The standard unit normally used for measuring dust particles is the micron (pm one-thousandth of a millimeter). The smallest particle visible to the unaided eye is between 50 and 100 pm and the most dangerous sizes are between 0.2 and 5 pm. Particles larger than this are usually unable to penetrate the lung defenses and smaller ones settle out too slowly. Some dusts can be both toxic and fibrous (e.g. asbestos) and are therefore harmful even outside these parameters. It may therefore be assumed that dusts which are visible (i.e. between 50 and 100 pm), are quite safe. However, this is not the case, as dust clouds never consist solely of particles of one size. Analysis would show percentages of all sizes, and it is for this reason that special care is needed in measuring dust clouds and concentrations. 

In addition to these molecules, atoms are present, as shown by absorptions of Ca, Na, K, Fe, and other atoms. There are some absorptions that have not been identified but these may be due to small solid particles. How these particular molecules and atoms happen to be present in these almost nonexistent clouds and what other molecules and atoms are there, yet to be detected, is a matter for wondering. But wondering is at once the pleasure and the driving force of science. 

Upward diffusion of water vapor through the cold temperatures of the tropopause is very inefficient in fact, the upper limit of cloud formation often occurs at the tropopause. Thus the stratosphere is so dry as to prevent rain formation, and particles and gases have very much longer residence times there than in the troposphere. Stratospheric removal requires diffusion back through the tropopause, which then may be followed by precipitation scavenging. 

Condensed phase interactions can be divided roughly into two further categories chemical and physical. The latter involves all purely physical processes such as condensation of species of low volatility onto the surfaces of aerosol particles, adsorption, and absorption into liquid cloud and rainwater. Here, the interactions may be quite complex. For example, cloud droplets require a CCN, which in many instances is a particle of sulfate produced from SO2 and gas-particle conversion. If this particle is strongly acidic (as is often the case) HNO3 will not deposit on the aerosol particle rather, it will be dissolved in liquid water in clouds and rain. Thus, even though HNO3 is not very soluble in... 

An unknown event disturbed the equilibrium of the interstellar cloud, and it collapsed. This process may have been caused by shock waves from a supernova explosion, or by a density wave of a spiral arm of the galaxy. The gas molecules and the particles were compressed, and with increasing compression, both temperature and pressure increased. It is possible that the centrifugal forces due to the rotation of the system prevented a spherical contraction. The result was a relatively flat, rotating disc of matter, in the centre of which was the primeval sun. Analogues of the early solar system, i.e., protoplanetary discs, have been identified from the radiation emitted by T Tauri stars (Koerner, 1997). 

The mean particle density of ISM is 106 particles per cubic meter there are, however, great variations from this mean value. Between the spiral arms of the Milky Way, there are between 104 and 105 hydrogen atoms per cubic metre in the dark clouds and the HII regions, there are 10s—1010. Up to 1012—1014 hydrogen atoms per cubic metre are present in regions with OH sources and in certain infrared objects. 

According to this concept, it is expected that polymer molecules, especially high molecular weight polymers, give an increased adsorption at a temperature close to the cloud point, and particles with the thick(or dense) adsorption layer of polymer formed out of a poor solvent would show strong protection against flocculation. 

Sander, R. Modeling atmospheric chemistry Interactions between gas-phase species and liquid cloud/aerosol particles, Surv. Geophys., 20, 1-31, 1999. 

A beta particle is an electron and can be represented as either 3or e. This electron comes from the nucleus, not the electron cloud, and results from the conversion of a neutron into a proton and an electron q11 — > jp + °e. 

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