Gas to particle distribution of low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids at two different sites in central Europe (Austria)

Low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids exhibit a semivolatile behavior and partition between gas and aerosol phases in the atmosphere. Here we present an approach for sample collection, which provides information about the gas/particle distribution of the investigated acids, but with less effort compared to commonly used denuder systems. The procedure was applied for the investigation of C2–C9 dicarboxylic acids at a continental background site in central Europe (Mt. Rax) and the urban site Vienna. The averaged gas phase contribution (n=12) determined for individual low molecular weight dicarboxylic acids varied between 4% (malonic acid) and 37% (glutaric acid) of the total collected amounts. Using the observed gas/particle distributions effective Henryʹs law constants were estimated. Between the carbon chain length of the investigated dicarboxylic acids and the magnitude of KH* a dependence was observed — showing higher values for C2/C3 dicarboxylic acids (averaged ) and lower values for C4/C5 compounds (averaged ).