What is ARCA used for

The scientific objective of ARCA was to gather the established theory on aerosol chemistry and physics into one package. The level of detail of the theories applied within the model depend on the size of the system. ARCA contains ACDC (See more information here), which solves the formation of stable molecular clusters using data obtained by quantum-chemical calculations, but on the other hand the aerosol dynamics for hundreds or thousands of compounds is solved using more general kinetic and thermodynamic approaches.

ARCA's chemistry module is extendable, limited only by computational resources. The gas-particle interaction uses the known (or estimated) thermodynamic properties of the gases, and to study these effects is straightforward with ARCA. The aerosol dynamics can be studied with good detail, isolating different processes like condensation and coagulation, and initialization of the model can be done in multiple ways.

Since ARCA tries to be as explicit as possibly, meaning it is simulating the processes, instead of just fitting observations (like parametric proxies do), the model is practical for simulating chamber experiments.

Introduction video

Want to know what ARCA is? Check out this video: