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. 2020 Mar 17;52(3):318–328. doi: 10.1038/s12276-020-0405-1

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© The Author(s) 2020

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Fig. 3 — Ultrafine particles are rapidly deposited by Brownian diffusion, especially particles <20 nm. Large coarse particles are deposited by sedimentation, impact by inertia, and interception. Particles between 30 nm and 1 μm tend to have longer atmospheric lifetimes because they are less likely to be deposited in either way. These particles accumulate in the atmosphere due to the long suspension time and are thus called the accumulation mode.