ORACLE 2-D (v2.0): an efficient module to compute the volatility and oxygen content of organic aerosol with a global chemistry–climate model

Abstract

A new module, ORACLE 2-D, simulating organic aerosol formation and evolution in the atmosphere has been developed and evaluated. The module calculates the concentrations of surrogate organic species in two-dimensional space defined by volatility and oxygen-to-carbon ratio. It is implemented into the EMAC global chemistry–climate model, and a comprehensive evaluation of its performance is conducted using an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) factor analysis dataset derived from almost all major field campaigns that took place globally during the period 2001–2010. ORACLE 2-D uses a simple photochemical aging scheme that efficiently simulates the net effects of fragmentation and functionalization of the organic compounds. The module predicts not only the mass concentration of organic aerosol (OA) components, but also their oxidation state (in terms of O : C), which allows for their classification into primary OA (POA, chemically unprocessed), fresh secondary OA (SOA, low oxygen content), and aged SOA (highly oxygenated). The explicit simulation of chemical OA conversion from freshly emitted compounds to a highly oxygenated state during photochemical aging enables the tracking of hygroscopicity changes in OA that result from these reactions. ORACLE 2-D can thus compute the ability of OA particles to act as cloud condensation nuclei and serves as a tool to quantify the climatic impact of OA.