Measurement report: Increasing trend of atmospheric ion concentrations in the boreal forest

Abstract

The concentration of atmospheric ions affects the total aerosol particle number concentrations in the atmosphere as well as atmospheric new particle formation via ion-induced nucleation, ion–ion recombination, and effects on condensational growth. In this study, we investigate the concentrations and long-term trends of atmospheric ions in a boreal forest environment using 16 years of cluster ion (0.8–2 nm) and intermediate ion (2–7 nm) measurements and characterize the most important factors that explain those trends. We found that the median concentration of cluster ions in a boreal forest was 710 cm−3, the median concentration of 2–4 intermediate ions was 14 cm−3, and the median concentration of 4–7 nm intermediate ions was 9 cm−3. The concentrations of both cluster and intermediate ions have been increasing over the 16-year measurement period, with cluster ion concentrations increasing by about 1 % yr−1 and intermediate ion concentrations increasing 1.7 %–3.9 % yr−1. The increase in cluster ion concentrations can be best explained by the decrease in the coagulation sink caused by larger aerosol particles. Meanwhile, the dependence of intermediate ion concentrations on meteorological conditions is evident, but ionization sources and the coagulation sink do not seem to explain the increasing trend. This is likely because the dynamics of intermediate ions are more complicated, so that ionization sources and the coagulation sink alone cannot directly explain the variation. Season-specific analysis of the ion concentrations suggests that while the coagulation sink is the limiting factor for the ion concentrations in spring and summer, the dynamics are different in autumn and winter. Based on our findings, we recommend that a more comprehensive analysis is needed to determine if the increase in ambient ion concentrations, increasing temperature, and changing abundance of condensable vapors makes ion-mediated and ion-induced nucleation pathways in the boreal forest more relevant in the future.