Some fresh aerosol info

Aerosols are to atmospheric scientists what living cells are to biologists. Both are impossibly complex, variable in time, space, size, and composition. Neither can be solved numerically. Aerosols are, however, not alive. They can be better approximated by computers, but many mysteries of their inner workings remain hidden.

I'm currently looking into how aerosols change diameter with time. Specifically how they change during the diurnal cycle. That is, humidity changes with time, naturally, and can be rather unpredictable if we're speaking about rain storms and sudden weather events. Humidity levels constantly change, and not always in a simple pattern. I came across this collection of Canadian weather stats.

The cycling is not simple. But this is not a problem because RH values are merely input parameters, whatever they may be. Given the RH numbers, we then use these values to predict aerosol diameter. The diameter of aerosols matters since this may affect whether or not they are trapped in a PM2.5 filter.

Here is a website that models aerosol thermodynamics, called E-AIM (Extended Inorganic Aerosol Model), which provides a simple input/output scheme for aerosols. The calculations are of course complex. I'll post more on the calculations when I understand them better.