scholarly journals Net ozone production and its relationship to nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds in the marine boundary layer around the Arabian Peninsula

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (11) ◽  
pp. 6769-6787 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Tadic ◽  
John N. Crowley ◽  
Dirk Dienhart ◽  
Philipp Eger ◽  
Hartwig Harder ◽  
...  

Abstract. Strongly enhanced tropospheric ozone (O3) mixing ratios have been reported in the Arabian Basin, a region with intense solar radiation and high concentrations of O3 precursors such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). To analyze photochemical O3 production in the marine boundary layer (MBL) around the Arabian Peninsula, we use shipborne observations of NO, NO2, O3, OH, HO2, HCHO, the actinic flux, water vapor, pressure and temperature obtained during the summer 2017 Air Quality and Climate in the Arabian Basin (AQABA) campaign, and we compare them to simulation results from the ECHAM-MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) general circulation model. Net O3 production rates (NOPRs) were greatest over both the Gulf of Oman and the northern Red Sea (16 ppbv d−1) and over the Arabian Gulf (32 ppbv d−1). The NOPR over the Mediterranean, the southern Red Sea and the Arabian Sea did not significantly deviate from zero; however, the results for the Arabian Sea indicated weak net O3 production of 5 ppbv d−1 as well as net O3 destruction over the Mediterranean and the southern Red Sea with values of −1 and −4 ppbv d−1, respectively. Constrained by HCHO∕NO2 ratios, our photochemistry calculations show that net O3 production in the MBL around the Arabian Peninsula mostly occurs in NOx-limited regimes with a significant share of O3 production occurring in the transition regime between NOx limitation and VOC limitation over the Mediterranean and more significantly over the northern Red Sea and Oman Gulf.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivan Tadic ◽  
John N. Crowley ◽  
Dirk Dienhart ◽  
Philipp Eger ◽  
Hartwig Harder ◽  
...  

Abstract. Strongly enhanced tropospheric ozone mixing ratios have been reported in the Arabian Basin, a region with intense solar radiation and high concentrations of ozone precursors such as nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds. To analyze photochemical ozone production in the marine boundary layer (MBL) around the Arabian Peninsula, we use ship-borne observations of NO, NO2, O3, OH, HO2, HCHO, actinic flux, water vapor, pressure and temperature obtained during the summer 2017 Air Quality and Climate in the Arabian Basin (AQABA) campaign, compare them to simulation results of the ECHAM-MESSy atmospheric chemistry (EMAC) general circulation model. Net ozone production rates (NOPR) were greatest over the Gulf of Oman, the Northern Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf with median values of 14 ppbv day−1, 16 ppbv day−1 and 28 ppbv day−1, respectively. NOPR over the Mediterranean, the Southern Red Sea and the Arabian Sea did not significantly deviate from zero; however, results for the Arabian Sea indicate weak net ozone production of 5 ppbv day−1, and net ozone destruction over the Mediterranean and the Southern Red Sea with −2 ppbv day−1 and −4 ppbv day−1, respectively. Constrained by measured HCHO/NO2-ratios, our photochemistry calculations show that net ozone production in the MBL around the Arabian Peninsula occurs mostly in a transition regime between NOx and VOC-limitation with a tendency towards NOx-limitation except over the Northern Red Sea and the Oman Gulf.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 3861-3892 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Murphy ◽  
D. E. Oram ◽  
C. E. Reeves

Abstract. In this paper we describe measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) made using a Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) aboard the UK Facility for Atmospheric Airborne Measurements during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) campaign. Observations were made during approximately 85 h of flying time between 17 July and 17 August 2006, above an area between 4° N and 18° N and 3° W and 4° E, encompassing ocean, mosaic forest, and the Sahel desert. High time resolution observations of counts at mass to charge (m/z) ratios of 42, 59, 69, 71, and 79 were used to calculate mixing ratios of acetonitrile, acetone, isoprene, the sum of methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein, and benzene, respectively using laboratory-derived humidity-dependent calibration factors. Strong spatial associations between vegetation and isoprene and its oxidation products were observed in the boundary layer, consistent with biogenic emissions followed by rapid atmospheric oxidation. Acetonitrile, benzene, and acetone were all enhanced in airmasses which had been heavily influenced by biomass burning. Benzene and acetone were also elevated in airmasses with urban influence from cities such as Lagos, Cotonou, and Niamey. The observations provide evidence that both deep convection and mixing associated with fair-weather cumulus were responsible for vertical redistribution of VOCs emitted from the surface. Profiles over the ocean showed a depletion of acetone in the marine boundary layer, but no significant decrease for acetonitrile.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 4013-4029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander B. Thames ◽  
William H. Brune ◽  
David O. Miller ◽  
Hannah M. Allen ◽  
Eric C. Apel ◽  
...  

Abstract. The hydroxyl radical (OH) reacts with thousands of chemical species in the atmosphere, initiating their removal and the chemical reaction sequences that produce ozone, secondary aerosols, and gas-phase acids. OH reactivity, which is the inverse of OH lifetime, influences the OH abundance and the ability of OH to cleanse the atmosphere. The NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) campaign used instruments on the NASA DC-8 aircraft to measure OH reactivity and more than 100 trace chemical species. ATom presented a unique opportunity to test the completeness of the OH reactivity calculated from the chemical species measurements by comparing it to the measured OH reactivity over two oceans across four seasons. Although the calculated OH reactivity was below the limit of detection for the ATom instrument used to measure OH reactivity throughout much of the free troposphere, the instrument was able to measure the OH reactivity in and just above the marine boundary layer. The mean measured value of OH reactivity in the marine boundary layer across all latitudes and all ATom deployments was 1.9 s−1, which is 0.5 s−1 larger than the mean calculated OH reactivity. The missing OH reactivity, the difference between the measured and calculated OH reactivity, varied between 0 and 3.5 s−1, with the highest values over the Northern Hemisphere Pacific Ocean. Correlations of missing OH reactivity with formaldehyde, dimethyl sulfide, butanal, and sea surface temperature suggest the presence of unmeasured or unknown volatile organic compounds or oxygenated volatile organic compounds associated with ocean emissions.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander B. Thames ◽  
William H. Brune ◽  
David O. Miller ◽  
Hannah M. Allen ◽  
Eric C. Apel ◽  
...  

Abstract. The hydroxyl radical (OH) reacts with thousands of chemical species in the atmosphere, initiating their removal and the chemical reaction sequences that produce ozone, secondary aerosols, and gas-phase acids. OH reactivity, which is the inverse of OH lifetime, influences the OH abundance and the ability of OH to cleanse the atmosphere. The NASA Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) campaign used instruments on the NASA DC-8 aircraft to measure OH reactivity and more than 100 trace chemical species. ATom presented a unique opportunity to test the completeness of the OH reactivity calculated from the chemical species measurements by comparing it to the measured OH reactivity over two oceans across four seasons. Although the calculated OH reactivity was below the OH reactivity instrument's limit-of-detection for much of the free troposphere, the OHR instrument was able to measure the OH reactivity in and just above the marine boundary layer. The average measured value of OH reactivity in the marine boundary layer across all latitudes and all ATom phases was 1.9 s−1, which 0.5 s−1 larger than the average calculated OH reactivity. Concurrently, missing OH reactivity, the difference between the measured and calculated OH reactivity, was measured to be ~ 0.5–2.0 s−1 at some locations in the tropics and midlatitudes. Correlations of missing OH reactivity with formaldehyde, dimethyl sulfide, butanal, and sea surface temperature suggest the presence of unmeasured or unknown volatile organic compounds or oxygenated volatile organic compounds associated with ocean emissions.


2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 5281-5294 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. G. Murphy ◽  
D. E. Oram ◽  
C. E. Reeves

Abstract. In this paper we describe measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOC) made using a Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS) aboard the UK Facility for Atmospheric Airborne Measurements during the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analyses (AMMA) campaign. Observations were made during approximately 85 h of flying time between 17 July and 17 August 2006, above an area between 4° N and 18° N and 3° W and 4° E, encompassing ocean, mosaic forest, and the Sahel desert. High time resolution observations of counts at mass to charge (m/z) ratios of 42, 59, 69, 71, and 79 were used to calculate mixing ratios of acetonitrile, acetone, isoprene, the sum of methyl vinyl ketone and methacrolein, and benzene respectively using laboratory-derived humidity-dependent calibration factors. Strong spatial associations between vegetation and isoprene and its oxidation products were observed in the boundary layer, consistent with biogenic emissions followed by rapid atmospheric oxidation. Acetonitrile, benzene, and acetone were all enhanced in airmasses which had been heavily influenced by biomass burning. Benzene and acetone were also elevated in airmasses with urban influence from cities such as Lagos, Cotonou, and Niamey. The observations provide evidence that both deep convection and mixing associated with fair-weather cumulus were responsible for vertical redistribution of VOC emitted from the surface. Profiles over the ocean showed a depletion of acetone in the marine boundary layer, but no significant decrease for acetonitrile.


2009 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Colomb ◽  
Valérie Gros ◽  
Séverine Alvain ◽  
Roland Sarda-Esteve ◽  
Bernard Bonsang ◽  
...  

Environmental context. Oceans represent 70% of the blue planet, and surprisingly, ocean emission in term of volatile organic compounds is poorly understood. The potential climate impacts on a global scale of various trace organic gases have been established, and the terrestrial inputs are well studied, but little is known about which of these can be emitted from oceanic sources. In the present study, atmospheric samples were taken over the Southern Indian Ocean, while crossing some oceanic fronts and different phytoplankton species. Such a study should aid in understanding oceanic emission, especially from phytoplankton, and will help modellers to determine concentrations of organic traces in the remote marine troposphere. Abstract. Considering its size and potential importance, the ocean is poorly characterised in terms of volatile organic compounds (VOC) that play important roles in global atmospheric chemistry. In order to better understand their potential sources and sinks over the Southern Indian Austral Ocean, shipborne measurements of selected species were made during the MANCHOT campaign during December 2004, on board the research vessel Marion Dufresne. Along the transect La Réunion to Kerguelen Island, air measurements of selected VOC (including dimethylsulfide (DMS) isoprene, carbonyls and organohalogens), carbon monoxide and ozone were performed, crossing subtropical, temperate and sub-Antarctic waters as well as pronounced subtropical and sub-Antarctic oceanic fronts. The remote marine boundary layer was characterised at latitudes 45–50°S. Oceanic fronts were associated with enhanced chlorophyll and biological activity in the seawater and elevated DMS and organohalogens in the atmosphere. These were compared with a satellite-derived phytoplankton distribution (PHYSAT). Diurnal variation for isoprene, terpenes, acetone and acetaldehyde was observed, analogously to recent results observed in mesocosm experiments.


2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (10) ◽  
pp. 10121-10157 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. J. Kim ◽  
M. C. Zoerb ◽  
N. R. Campbell ◽  
K. J. Zimmermann ◽  
B. W. Blomquist ◽  
...  

Abstract. Benzene cluster cations were revisited as a sensitive and selective reagent ion for the chemical ionization of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and a select group of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Laboratory characterization was performed using both a new set of compounds (i.e. DMS, β-caryophyllene) as well as previously studied VOCs (i.e., isoprene, α-pinene). Using a field deployable chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer (CI-ToFMS), benzene cluster cations demonstrated high sensitivity (> 1 ncps ppt−1) to DMS, isoprene, and α-pinene standards. Parallel measurements conducted using a chemical-ionization quadrupole mass spectrometer, with a weaker electric field, demonstrated that ion-molecule reactions likely proceed through a combination of ligand-switching and direct charge transfer mechanisms. Laboratory tests suggest that benzene cluster cations may be suitable for the selective ionization of sesquiterpenes, where minimal fragmentation (< 25 %) was observed for the detection of β-caryophyllene, a bicyclic sesquiterpene. The field stability of benzene cluster cations using CI-ToFMS was examined in the marine boundary layer during the High Wind Gas Exchange Study (HiWinGS). The use of benzene cluster cation chemistry for the selective detection of DMS was validated against an atmospheric pressure ionization mass spectrometer. Measurements from the two instruments were highly correlated (R2=0.80) over a wide range of sampling conditions.


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