Chemical Composition of Gas-Phase Positive Ions during Laboratory Simulations of Titan’s Haze Formation

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 202-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Berry ◽  
Melissa S. Ugelow ◽  
Margaret A. Tolbert ◽  
Eleanor C. Browne
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Laboratory Simulations ◽  
Positive Ions ◽  
Haze Formation

scholarly journals An Atmospheric Origin for HCN-Derived Polymers on Titan

Processes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 965
Author(s):  
Zoé Perrin ◽  
Nathalie Carrasco ◽  
Audrey Chatain ◽  
Lora Jovanovic ◽  
Ludovic Vettier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Gas Mixture ◽  
Space Probe ◽  
Atmospheric Haze ◽  
Formation And Evolution ◽  
Haze Formation

Titan’s haze is strongly suspected to be an HCN-derived polymer, but despite the first in situ measurements by the ESA-Huygens space probe, its chemical composition and formation process remain largely unknown. To investigate this question, we simulated the atmospheric haze formation process, experimentally. We synthesized analogues of Titan’s haze, named Titan tholins, in an irradiated N2–CH4 gas mixture, mimicking Titan’s upper atmosphere chemistry. HCN was monitored in situ in the gas phase simultaneously with the formation and evolution of the haze particles. We show that HCN is produced as long as the particles are absent, and is then progressively consumed when the particles appear and grow. This work highlights HCN as an effective precursor of Titan’s haze and confirms the HCN-derived polymer nature of the haze.

scholarly journals Characteristics of aerosol pollution during heavy haze events in Suzhou, China

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (11) ◽  
pp. 7357-7371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mi Tian ◽  
Huanbo Wang ◽  
Yang Chen ◽  
Fumo Yang ◽  
Xiaohua Zhang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Inorganic Ions ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Water Soluble ◽  
Chemical Components ◽  
Formation Mechanisms ◽  
Visibility Impairment ◽  
Aerosol Pollution ◽  
Haze Formation ◽  
High Concentrations

Abstract. Extremely severe haze weather events occurred in many cities in China, especially in the east part of the country, in January 2013. Comprehensive measurements including hourly concentrations of PM2.5 and its major chemical components (water-soluble inorganic ions, organic carbon (OC), and elemental carbon (EC)) and related gas-phase precursors were conducted via an online monitoring system in Suzhou, a medium-sized city in Jiangsu province, just east of Shanghai. PM2.5 (particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm or less) frequently exceeded 150 µg m−3 on hazy days, with the maximum reaching 324 µg m−3 on 14 January 2013. Unfavorable weather conditions (high relative humidity (RH), and low rainfall, wind speed, and atmospheric pressure) were conducive to haze formation. High concentrations of secondary aerosol species (including SO42−, NO3−, NH4+, and SOC) and gaseous precursors were observed during the first two haze events, while elevated primary carbonaceous species emissions were found during the third haze period, pointing to different haze formation mechanisms. Organic matter (OM), (NH4)2SO4, and NH4NO3 were found to be the major contributors to visibility impairment. High concentrations of sulfate and nitrate might be explained by homogeneous gas-phase reactions under low RH conditions and by heterogeneous processes under relatively high RH conditions. Analysis of air mass trajectory clustering and potential source contribution function showed that aerosol pollution in the studied areas was mainly caused by local activities and surrounding sources transported from nearby cities.

scholarly journals Cloud chemistry at the Puy de Dôme: variability and relationships with environmental factors

2004 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 715-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Marinoni ◽  
P. Laj ◽  
K. Sellegri ◽  
G. Mailhot
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Solute Concentration ◽  
Cloud Water ◽  
Aerosol Composition ◽  
Cloud Droplets ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Solute Content ◽  
Special Events ◽  
Total Solute Content

Abstract. The chemical composition of cloud water was investigated during the winter-spring months of 2001 and 2002 at the Puy de Dôme station (1465 m above sea level, 45°46′22′′ N, 2°57′43′′ E) in an effort to characterize clouds in the continental free troposphere. Cloud droplets were sampled with single-stage cloud collectors (cut-off diameter approximately 7 µm) and analyzed for inorganic and organic ions, as well as total dissolved organic carbon. Results show a very large variability in chemical composition and total solute concentration of cloud droplets, ranging from a few mg l-1 to more than 150 mg l-1. Samplings can be classified in three different categories with respect to their total ionic content and relative chemical composition: background continental (BG, total solute content lower than 18 mg l-1), anthropogenic continental (ANT, total solute content from 18 to 50 mg l-1), and special events (SpE, total solute content higher than 50 mg l-1). The relative chemical composition shows an increase in anthropogenic-derived species (NO3-, SO42- and NH4+) from BG to SpE, and a decrease in dissolved organic compounds (ionic and non-ionic) that are associated with the anthropogenic character of air masses. We observed a high contribution of solute in cloud water derived from the dissolution of gas phase species in all cloud events. This was evident from large solute fractions of nitrate, ammonium and mono-carboxylic acids in cloud water, relative to their abundance in the aerosol phase. The comparison between droplet and aerosol composition clearly shows the limited ability of organic aerosols to act as cloud condensation nuclei. The strong contribution of gas-phase species limits the establishment of direct relationships between cloud water solute concentration and LWC that are expected from nucleation scavenging.

scholarly journals Effect of oxidant concentration, exposure time, and seed particles on secondary organic aerosol chemical composition and yield

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 3063-3075 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Lambe ◽  
P. S. Chhabra ◽  
T. B. Onasch ◽  
W. H. Brune ◽  
J. F. Hunter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Flow Reactor ◽  
Secondary Organic Aerosol ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Short Exposure ◽  
Heterogeneous Oxidation ◽  
Seed Particles ◽  
Aerosol Mass ◽  
Environmental Chambers

Abstract. We performed a systematic intercomparison study of the chemistry and yields of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) generated from OH oxidation of a common set of gas-phase precursors in a Potential Aerosol Mass (PAM) continuous flow reactor and several environmental chambers. In the flow reactor, SOA precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2.0 × 108 to 2.2 × 1010 molec cm−3 over exposure times of 100 s. In the environmental chambers, precursors were oxidized using OH concentrations ranging from 2 × 106 to 2 × 107 molec cm−3 over exposure times of several hours. The OH concentration in the chamber experiments is close to that found in the atmosphere, but the integrated OH exposure in the flow reactor can simulate atmospheric exposure times of multiple days compared to chamber exposure times of only a day or so. In most cases, for a specific SOA type the most-oxidized chamber SOA and the least-oxidized flow reactor SOA have similar mass spectra, oxygen-to-carbon and hydrogen-to-carbon ratios, and carbon oxidation states at integrated OH exposures between approximately 1 × 1011 and 2 × 1011 molec cm−3 s, or about 1–2 days of equivalent atmospheric oxidation. This observation suggests that in the range of available OH exposure overlap for the flow reactor and chambers, SOA elemental composition as measured by an aerosol mass spectrometer is similar whether the precursor is exposed to low OH concentrations over long exposure times or high OH concentrations over short exposure times. This similarity in turn suggests that both in the flow reactor and in chambers, SOA chemical composition at low OH exposure is governed primarily by gas-phase OH oxidation of the precursors rather than heterogeneous oxidation of the condensed particles. In general, SOA yields measured in the flow reactor are lower than measured in chambers for the range of equivalent OH exposures that can be measured in both the flow reactor and chambers. The influence of sulfate seed particles on isoprene SOA yield measurements was examined in the flow reactor. The studies show that seed particles increase the yield of SOA produced in flow reactors by a factor of 3 to 5 and may also account in part for higher SOA yields obtained in the chambers, where seed particles are routinely used.

Impact of photochemical hazes on the thermal structure of exoplanet atmospheres

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Panayotis Lavvas ◽  
Anthony Arfaux
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Thermal Structure ◽  
Temperature Inversion ◽  
Upper Atmosphere ◽  
Lower Atmosphere ◽  
Cloud Formation ◽  
Electromagnetic Spectrum ◽  
Heating Efficiency ◽  
The Impact

<p>Transit observations reveal that a significant population of the detected exoplanets has hazy atmospheres (Sing et al. 2016). Although the relative contribution of clouds and photochemical aerosols is not yet fully clarified, the impact of haze particles on the thermal structure could be significant, as such particles can efficiently scatter and absorb radiation over a large part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Particularly, photochemical aerosols are anticipated to be present at pressures lower than those of cloud formation. The transit observations of HD 189733 b indicate that the haze opacity responsible for the UV-Visible slope is located at pressures between 1μbar and 1 mbar. As such low pressures, the presence of hazes could allow for strong temperature inversions due to the low atmospheric density. We investigate here the implications of such hazes on the exoplanet atmospheric thermal structure.</p> <p>We simulate the atmospheric thermal structure using a 1D radiative-convective model. The model utilizes non-equilibrium chemical composition results (Lavvas et al. 2014) for the gas phase composition, and haze particle size distributions calculated from an aerosol microphysical growth model (Lavvas & Koskinen 2017, Lavvas et al. 2019). We do not yet consider the non-LTE effects for the gases, but we do take into account the impact of temperature disequilibrium between the particles and the gas envelope that can strongly affect the heating efficiency of the particles. We consider various gas phase opacities from atomic and molecular contributions calculated through correlated-k coefficients.</p> <p>Our results demonstrate that in the lower atmosphere the simulated temperature profiles provide emission spectra that are in good agreement with the eclipse observations for the simulated targets (HD 209458 b and HD 189733 b). In the upper atmosphere of the hazy HD 189733 b the simulated haze distribution, which fits the transit observations, results in a strong temperature inversion. On the contrary, the upper atmosphere of the clear HD 209458 b, is significantly colder compared to previous evaluations based on equilibrium chemistry assumption. The implications of these results on the chemical composition will be discussed, as well as results from other exoplanet cases.</p> <p> </p>

Oxygen Atom Transfer to Positive Ions: A Novel Reaction of Ozone in the Gas Phase

1998 ◽  
Vol 120 (31) ◽  
pp. 7869-7874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Anita Mendes ◽  
Luiz Alberto B. Moraes ◽  
Regina Sparrapan ◽  
Marcos N. Eberlin ◽  
Risto Kostiainen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Atom ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Atom Transfer ◽  
Oxygen Atom Transfer ◽  
Positive Ions

scholarly journals Antibacterial Activity and Chemical Composition of Essential Oil ofAthamanta siculaL. (Apiaceae) from Algeria

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 796-800
Author(s):  
I. Labed ◽  
S. Chibani ◽  
Z. Semra ◽  
A. Kabouche ◽  
T. Aburjai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Escherichia Coli ◽  
Antibacterial Activity ◽  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Essential Oil ◽  
Klebsiella Pneumoniae ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Aerial Parts

Essential oil extracted from fresh aerial parts ofAthamanta siculaL. (syn.Tingara sicula) was analysed by gas phase chomatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents were: germacrene B (88.5%) and apiol (4.9%). Comparing with the tested bacteria, the growth ofEscherichia coliandKlebsiella pneumoniaestrains was more inhibited by the essential oil ofA. sicula.

scholarly journals Atmospheric chemistry and physics in the atmosphere of a developed megacity (London): an overview of the REPARTEE experiment and its conclusions

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 3065-3114 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Harrison ◽  
M. Dall'Osto ◽  
D. C. S. Beddows ◽  
A. J. Thorpe ◽  
W. J. Bloss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Composition ◽  
Gas Phase ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Urban Atmosphere ◽  
Trace Gas ◽  
Chemical Components ◽  
Chemical Transformations ◽  
Specific Chemical ◽  
Gas Dispersion ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract. The REgents PARk and Tower Environmental Experiment (REPARTEE) comprised two campaigns in London in October 2006 and October/November 2007. The experiment design involved measurements at a heavily trafficked roadside site, two urban background sites and an elevated site at 160–190 m above ground on the BT Tower, supplemented in the second campaign by Doppler lidar measurements of atmospheric vertical structure. A wide range of measurements of airborne particle physical metrics and chemical composition were made as well as measurements of a considerable range of gas phase species and the fluxes of both particulate and gas phase substances. Significant findings include (a) demonstration of the evaporation of traffic-generated nanoparticles during both horizontal and vertical atmospheric transport; (b) generation of a large base of information on the fluxes of nanoparticles, accumulation mode particles and specific chemical components of the aerosol and a range of gas phase species, as well as the elucidation of key processes and comparison with emissions inventories; (c) quantification of vertical gradients in selected aerosol and trace gas species which has demonstrated the important role of regional transport in influencing concentrations of sulphate, nitrate and secondary organic compounds within the atmosphere of London; (d) generation of new data on the atmospheric structure and turbulence above London, including the estimation of mixed layer depths; (e) provision of new data on trace gas dispersion in the urban atmosphere through the release of purposeful tracers; (f) the determination of spatial differences in aerosol particle size distributions and their interpretation in terms of sources and physico-chemical transformations; (g) studies of the nocturnal oxidation of nitrogen oxides and of the diurnal behaviour of nitrate aerosol in the urban atmosphere, and (h) new information on the chemical composition and source apportionment of particulate matter size fractions in the atmosphere of London derived both from bulk chemical analysis and aerosol mass spectrometry with two instrument types.

Excited-Atom Production by Electron Bombardment of Alkali-Halides

1986 ◽  
Vol 75 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. E. Walkup ◽  
Ph. Avouris ◽  
A. P. Ghosh
Keyword(s):  
Gas Phase ◽  
Excited States ◽  
Ground State ◽  
Excited Atom ◽  
Alkali Halides ◽  
Electron Bombardment ◽  
Secondary Electrons ◽  
Excited Atoms ◽  
Positive Ions ◽  
Electronically Excited

AbstractWe present experimental results which suggest a new mechanism for the production of excited atoms and ions by electron bombardment of alkali-halides. Doppler shift measurements show that the electronically excited atoms have a thermal velocity distribution in equilibrium with the surface temperature. Measurements of the absolute yield of excited atoms, the distribution of population among the excited states, and the dependence of yield on incident electron current support a model in which excited atoms are produced by gas-phase collisions between desorbed ground-state atoms and secondary electrons. Similarly, gas-phase ionization of ground-state neutrals by secondary electrons accounts for a substantial portion of the positive ions produced by electron bombardment of alkali-halides.

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