2009/01/08 by Raghava R. Kommalapati, Kalliat T. Valsaraj · 1 citation
Environmental Science · Chemistry · #Air Quality Monitoring and Forecasting #Atmosphere (unit) #Aerosol #Environmental science #Radiative forcing #Sea salt #Trace gas #Atmospheric sciences #Sulfate aerosol #Sulfur dioxide #Meteorology #Chemistry #Geology
paper · doi:10.1021/bk-2009-1005.ch001
openalex publication_date 2009/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Introduction Apart from trace gases, the atmosphere contains a variety of liquids and solids that exist as dispersed phases in the air. They are collectively called aerosols . An aerosol is considered a two phase system consisting of solid or liquid particles and the gas (air) they are suspended in. Aerosols result from both natural and anthropogenic sources. Examples are dust particles generated by wind erosion of surface soils, agricultural activities, sea salt and wave breaking over oceans. Other sources include generation via chemical reactions in the atmosphere. For example, sulfate aerosols are generated by oxidation of sulfur dioxide in atmospheric moisture, particles are generated in automobile exhaust and incomplete combustion of fossil fuels in power plants. The aerosols have a direct radiative forcing effect on climate because they scatter and absorb solar and infrared radiation in the atmosphere. Aerosols also alter warm, ice and mixed-phase cloud formation processes by increasing