Atmospheric Aerosol Science Before 1900

Rudolf B. HusarCenter for Air Pollution Impact and Trend Analysis

Washington University, St. Louis, MO, USA

Presented at the Symposium

History of Aerosol ScienceVienna, Austria

August 31 - September 2, 1999

http://capita.wustl.edu/CAPITA/CapitaReports/HistoryOfAerosolVienna/AerosolHistoryB1900/index.htm

1700-1900: From Enlightenment to Modern Science• 1700 - 1800: Era of Enlightenment. Emergence of

naturalists, architects, engineers, geographers and many new ideas, good and poor.

• 1800-1850: Focus was on the origin of haze aerosols. The era was a transition form theory-driven to observation-based atmospheric aerosol science

• 1850-1900: Consolidation of the theories of haze origin and focus on the physical laws that govern the behavior of atmospheric aerosols.

Kempf, 1914 Regional Haze

Die Entwicklung der Therorien uber Hochenrauch

The Development of Theories on Regional Haze up to 1870

Dissertation by N. Kempf (1914)

Regional haze is a strong haziness of relatively dry air with large spatial extent and longer duration.

Theories on the Causes of Regional Haze

• Vapor Emissions from the Earth (earthquakes)

• Electricity and Thunderstorms

• Cosmic Ash

• Volcanic Ash

• Windblown Dust

• Combustion Processes

Kempf, 1914

Haze form Gaseous Emissions from the Earth

• Mostly attributed to bursts of emissions during earthquakes.

• I. Kant (1756) in Locarno, IT: In two hours a hot reddish haze has spread over the valley and turned into red rain, which beyond doubt, is linked to earthquake activity.

• Marconelle (1783): Springtime warming causes the emission of fermentation products to the atmosphere. Sunshine evaporates the water leaving only solid particles that constitute the ‘dry fog’. [Biogenic emissions?]

Haze from Electricity (Thunderstorms)

• Verdiel (1783): Haze is composed of droplets filled with electrical fluid that is attracted upward by the electricity in the upper atmosphere

• Hoyer (1819): Lightning dissociates water into H and O and the Oxygen combines with Phosphorus to form Phosphoric Acid. The smell of haze clearly indicates its electrical origin. [ozone?]

• Schriber (1844): The peculiar smell of the haze is due to the ozone produced by the electric discharges

Haze from Meteoric-Cosmic Aerosol

• Meteors and cosmic dust burns up in the atmosphere and the smoke deposits to the land.

• Meteors contribute not less than 1 inch/century of solid material for the globe..

• B. Franklin (1784) has also invoked the cosmic dust theory to explain the hazy and chilly year of 1783.

Haze from Volcanic Emissions

• Seneca (ca. 60 AD) has noted that Volcanic gases and ash cause atmospheric turbidity.

• However, only in the 1700s was discovered that volcanic aerosols is spread over large part of the globe.

• B. Franklin has noted that the haze in 1783 may have been due to an eruption in Island.

Volcanic Aerosol: Dust or Droplets?

• The beautiful sky colors produced by volcanic aerosol from Krakatoa and Pelee must have been produced by droplets of condensation.

• It would require a long mechanical grinding to make a such a uniformly fine impalpable powder

Volcanic Aerosol and Global Circulation

• In 1883 red sunsets were observed throughout the world. The Royal Society has issued a scientific competition to explain the global phenomenon

• Kiessling (1888) won the the prize by documenting that the unique optical phenomena were due to the 1883 Krakatoa eruption

• The explanation also contributed to dynamic meteorology by invoking the the Global General Circulation of the atmosphere

Haze from Windblown Dust

• Throughout history is was known that windblown dust may cause regional haze and acquired different names:– Harmattan (W. Africa)

– Calina (Spain)

– Gobar ( E. Africa)

– Haboob (Arabia)

– Kosa (Japan)

– Yellow Sand (Korea)

Dust in Fiume, March 1901

• The bright reddish dust under polarizing microscope showed mostly colorless and some colored, irregular fragments of crystals together with skeletons of microorganisms and small particles of soot.

• The dust fall averaged between 260 and 1400 g/m2 in Fiume.

• The Fiume dust belongs to the same class as the Trade Wind dust which blows from Africa over the Atlantic

Chemical Mass BalaceSahara Dust at Fiume, March 10-13 1901

M. Barac (1242)

Si O2

Al2 O3

Ca O

Fe2 O3

C O2

Mn3 O4

Mg O

Organics

Traces

History of Dust Episodes in China

Haze due to Combustion Processes

• Gehler’s Physical Dictionary, 1833: Combustion of organic materials produce solid, liquid and gaseous products.

• Atmospheric turbidity is caused by the solid and liquid products

Long Range Transport of Combustion Products

• F. Bacon (ca 1600): The Gasgogner have complained to the King of of England that smoke from the springtime burning of seaweed in Sussex has spoiled the wine flowers…

• Wargentin and Gadolin (1767): Forest fires in Russia and Finland are causing regional haze in Europe. Given the location of the fires, as well as the appearance of smoke at different locations, the path of the smoke can be geographically mapped.

Regional Haze in N. Europe in the 1800s

• In the 1800, Northern Europe (Germany, Holland) was frequently under thick layers of haze.

• The regional haze covered much of the flatland north of the Alps extending to Paris.

• A century long debate begun on the causes of the thick haze: local vs long range transport; smoke, dust, earthquakes...

Peat Smoke Episode

Prestel, 1861

Pattern of Peat Smoke Pollution in NC Europe

Kemp (1914)

•Agricultural peat burning begun early in the 1800s and peaked in 1860s.

•Due to public pressure and diminishing swamp land the practice stopped by the 1870s

Thoughts on Atmospheric Dust

• Dust exists even on the tops of the highest mountains. It settles slowly in clear weather but is quickly washed down by rain and snow

• A portion is formed chemically in the atmosphere by combination of gases and elementary particles dissolved in in the air

• Some dust is from the pulverization of road and field surfaces

• Other dust comes from materials in the activity of mankind but whence arises the dust observed by means of sunbeams?

Constantin Rafinesque, 1818

Dialog of Rafinesque:

• Anonymous comment(1920): All dust comes from the action of the wind, even the dust at sea, carried 1500 miles over the Atlantic

• Rafinesque: I do not deny that the winds raise terrestrial dust and often carry it to distance; but I assert ...with Virey, Patrin, Deluc, and other philosophers, that there must be another independent formation of dust in the besides the scanty terrestrial supply wafted by the winds.

Rafinesque: The Rays of Sun

• The sun rays are not an optical reflection from the atmosphere since it is brighter and not so azure. It must be dust.

• The phenomenon can be seen even after long and heavy rains which must have precipitated all the terrestrial dust to the ground.

• Whence the dust must be continually formed formed in the atmosphere.

Gas-Particle Conversion

• We know that sulfur, muriate of ammonia, etc. can be formed by sublimation of gases

• That smoke soot, volcanic productions, meteorites, earths, and even stones or metals may be spontaneously combined by a casual meeting of gaseous emanations.

• It is not, therefore, difficult to conceive how dusty particles may be formed in the great chemical laboratory of our atmosphere.

Rafinesque, 1820

Photo-Nucleation in Britain

• On cloudy days the nuclei count remained low

• The number increased with sunshine, in proportion to the sunshine which occur during anticyclonic conditions.

• Sunshine may produce some change in the constituents of the atmosphere which gives rise to nuclei formation in saturated air.

• The high nuclei days were not hazy which suggests that the nuclei were of molecular dimensions

Aitken, 1894

On Aerosol Sources and Removal

• Densely-inhabited areas lose their purity. Purifying areas of the world are those regions that lose more impurity than they gain.

• Fine particle hardly settle. The deposition of vapor on these particles seems to be the method adopted by nature for cleansing them away.

• Hence cloudy and rainy regions are the most purifying

Aitken, 1894

Nuclei-Visibility Relationship

• It has been the custom to record the limit of visibility.• Observations on rainy days were discarded

(Kingairloch)• The data were classified according to humidity• The amount of haze was proportional to the number of

particles• Hence (Nuclei x Visual Range) = Cont.• In dry air C is 2x the the value for moist air

Aitken, 1894

Establishing Source-Receptor RelationshipEgen, 1828

Smell: [composition] Temporal Trend

Decay with Distance Wind Direction

Direct Evidence

Trajectory

Aerosol Light Scattering:An Example of Evolving Science

• Brucke (1853): Aerosol is a ‘turbid medium’ of suspended particle; blue is scattered more than red light; the size influences the color of scattering for both transparent and opaque particles.

• Tyndall (1867?): Laboratory experiments with condensation aerosols mimic the optical properties of atmospheric aerosols.

• Rayleigh (1871): Theory of air scattering is derived from electromagnetic theory.

• Pertner (1901): Experimetally verified the theory

Learning from History

• Throughout the past 200 years atmospheric aerosol science has accumulated a rich history

• R. C. Ward (1914): So impossible is to keep our heads above the rising tide of the new meteorological literature that we are neglecting, to our loss, the rich stores which lie buried in the books of a generation ago.

• N. Kempf (1914): Early researchers on regional haze paid little attention to the past theories - possibly due to the fact that they were not as easily accessible as today

Atmospheric Aerosols (Dust):From Geology to Meteorology

• During the mid 1800s, dust was of interest more to the geologists than to meteorologists.

• By the late 1800s meteorologists recognized that aerosols are essential parts of the atmosphere.

– The presence of dust facilitates rain and snow formation

– Influences the visible and thermal radiation.

– Hence, air composition should include gaseous and aerosols

Editor, Mo. Weather Rev. Jul 1990

1700-1900: From Enlightenment to Modern Science• 1700 - 1800: Era of Enlightenment. Emergence of

naturalists, architects, engineers, geographers and many new ideas, good and poor.

• 1800-1850: Focus was on the origin of haze aerosols. The era was a transition form theory-driven to observation-based atmospheric aerosol science

• 1850-1900: Consolidation of the theories of haze origin and focus on the physical laws that govern the behavior of atmospheric aerosols.