A simplified model of the water soluble organic component of atmospheric aerosols

The properties of atmospheric aerosol organic compounds are often simulated in models by arbitrarily choosing model compounds which have, in most case s, little contact with the physical reality. We propose here a procedure wi th which to derive a simplified model of the water soluble organic fraction of the atmospheric aerosol. Quantitative measurements of organic carbon co ncentration and proton concentration of the main functional groups containe d in the aerosol water soluble organic compounds (WSOC) mixture are used to formulate a set of a few model compounds, representative of the whole WSOC mass, which can simulate in models the chemical and physical properties of aerosol WSOC.