Application of advanced instrumentation has led to unprecedented identification and quantification of gaseous non-methane organic compounds (NMOCs) emitted from increasingly important source categories, such as biomass burning and consumer products. However, model representation of these newly identified compounds is challenging, because for many of the compounds relatively little is known about their atmospheric reactivity and subsequent formation of oxidation products, including their potential to form secondary organic aerosol (SOA). The reactivity of compounds with hydroxyl radical, the oxidation products that are formed, and the extent to which such products contribute to SOA (measured as an SOA yield) are typically used to assign individual compounds to lumped surrogates for representation in chemical transport models. Thus, lack of such information challenges the application of existing approaches. Further, such approaches do not typically consider compound solubility, which strongly influences fate and transport of compounds in the atmosphere. In this work, biomass burning emissions profiles were updated using recent laboratory data, and approaches for representing the diversity of measured compounds using existing and novel approaches for defining lumped model surrogates were explored. The gas-phase reactivity and potential SOA formation of important but typically understudied biomass burning derived NMOCs were investigated, and new approaches for defining model surrogates were considered by including multi-dimensional physicochemical properties based on a carbon number-polarity grid. Results of these current research efforts will be presented, along with the challenges and opportunities for biomass burning and other source categories.<br/>

Consideration of a carbon number-polarity grid based approach for defining lumped surrogates in secondary organic aerosol modeling

2019 Fall National Meeting

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