Aerosolomics database
Secondary organic aerosol (SOA) is a complex mixture forming through the oxidation of biogenic (BVOCs) and anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs) in the atmosphere. Aerosol particles influence Earth’s climate as well as human health. Still major knowledge gaps exist on the sources and formation pathways of SOA, its transformation and lifetime in the atmosphere, and its underlying effect on Earth’s climate and human health. Furthermore, emissions of anthropogenic and biogenic precursors as well as their atmospheric fate are uncertain, resulting in a discrepancy between measured and modeled SOA. Improved chemical characterization of ambient SOA can help understanding of sources, formation pathways, and effects on both climate and human health.
Inspired by metabolomics, a tool widely used in the life sciences to identify metabolites, metabolic pathways, and biomarkers, we created an aerosolomics database for database-assisted identification of marker compounds (without having the need for authentic standards), and hence enables the investigation of atmospheric transformation pathways of VOCs under different oxidation conditions. The database enables compound matching based on filters from potential aerosol mass (PAM) oxidation flow reactor (OFR) experiments of biogenic and anthropogenic VOCs.
We would like to encourage the community to apply the database on their own samples (please check our “Aerosolomics Quick Start Guide”). Therefore we provide the database as db-files, msp-files, and csv-files which allows the application of the database with Compound Discoverer, MZmine 3 or every self-build solution. As a community effort, further input to the database is desirable to improve our understanding of sources and formation of secondary organic aerosol.
How to cite. Thoma, M., Bachmeier, F., Gottwald, F. L., Simon, M., and Vogel, A. L.: Mass spectrometry-based aerosolomics: a new approach to resolve sources, composition, and partitioning of secondary organic aerosol, Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss. [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2022-221, in review, 2022.
Please click the link below to download the aeroslomics database as db-file, csv-file or msp-file.