Source apportionment of cloud condensation nuclei in the China's marginal seas during the spring of 2021

¹ Sanya Oceanographic Institution (OUC), Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology (MoE), and Frontiers Science Center for Deep Ocean Multispheres and Earth System, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China
² Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Laoshan Laboratory, Qingdao, 266237, China

^* Corresponding author: xhyao@ouc.edu.cn

Abstract

Assessing the aerosol-cloud indirect climate influence requires determining the concentrations of cloud condensation nuclei (N_ccn) and atmospheric particles (N_cn). Due to the rapid industrialization in East Asia, the concentration of pollutants in the atmosphere has significantly increased. Influenced by prevailing monsoon, these pollutants will be transported to the China's marginal seas, which are downwind of the East Asian continent. In this study, based on ship-based observations from the China's marginal seas during the spring of 2021, average N_cn was recorded as 4.4±1.1×10³ cm^-3 and N_ccn values at 0.2%, 0.4%, and 0.6% SS were 1.8±0.4×10³ cm^-3, 2.4±0.8×10³ cm^-3, and 2.5±0.7×10³ cm^-3, respectively. Then, we used the Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) analysis approach to allocate the sources of N_ccn based on ship-based observations from China's marginal seas in the spring of 2021. There are five factors identified: continental emissions, different degrees of ship exhaust, and nucleation mode.