Comparison of aerosol hygroscopicity and mixing state between winter and summer seasons in Pearl River Delta region, China

• Aerosol hygroscopicity in the Pearl River Delta during winter and summer
• Size-resolved measurement of hygroscopicity of submicrometer particles
• Conclusion and implication of aerosol mixing state

Hygroscopic properties of aerosol particles are important for determining aerosol size distributions, and thus determining scattering and absorption coefficients at ambient atmospheric conditions. In this study, hygroscopic properties of aerosol particles at an urban site in Guangzhou, China, were measured using a Hygroscopic Tandem Differential Mobility Analyzer (H-TDMA) system during the winter and the summer. The results show that the urban aerosols were composed of more-hygroscopic, less-hygroscopic and non-hygroscopic particles. For less-hygroscopic particles of 40–200 nm in diameter, the hygroscopic parameter κLH was around 0.15. For more-hygroscopic particles, the κMH was from 0.290 to 0.339 with a particle size from 40 to 200 nm. For non-hygroscopic particles, the κNH was about 0.015. It was found that the number fraction of less-hygroscopic particles (NFLH) was correlated with the atmospheric oxidation which can be presented by OC/EC. This paper attributed the larger NFLH in winter to the higher value of OC/EC (3.0). Such conditions may lead to more formation of less-hygroscopic particles. Backward trajectories cluster analysis shows that there is a certain link between air mass origin and aerosol hygroscopicity, but it seems to be independent of the level of pollution. The difference of NFNH indicates that the mixing state of aerosol particles can also be affected by air mass origin. Diurnal variations in aerosol hygroscopic parameters in both seasons show that during daytime, aerosol particles tend to have a low degree of external mixing or quasi-internal mixing, resulting in a higher NFMH and a larger κmean; during nighttime and early mornings, they tend to be mixed externally, resulting in a lower NFMH and a smaller κmean. This can be attributed to atmospheric aging effect and evolution of mixing layer height and implies that soot (non-hygroscopic) particles present to a large extent as internal mixtures by the time they leave the urban environment. Hence, only assuming a constant mixing state of soot particles, such as pure external or internal for the regional climate model and air quality model is still not realistic and may lead to uncertainties for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region which is one of the three major economic regions in China. Comparing the diurnal variation of NFNH in both seasons, it seems that such a diurnal cycle was mainly related to the differences in evolution of mixing layer between two seasons. Such quantitative hygroscopic properties of sub-micro particles are essential in assessing their impact on weather–climate effect and atmospheric visibility.