Articles | Volume 17, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4585-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4585-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
06 Apr 2017
Research article |
| 06 Apr 2017
Uncertainty and variability in atmospheric formation of PFCAs from fluorotelomer precursors
Colin P. Thackray
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Noelle E. Selin
Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Institute for Data, Systems and Society, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
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Ashu Dastoor, Hélène Angot, Johannes Bieser, Flora Brocza, Brock Edwards, Aryeh Feinberg, Xinbin Feng, Benjamin Geyman, Charikleia Gournia, Yipeng He, Ian M. Hedgecock, Ilia Ilyin, Terry Keating, Jane Kirk, Che-Jen Lin, Igor Lehnherr, Robert Mason, David McLagan, Marilena Muntean, Peter Rafaj, Eric M. Roy, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Francesco De Simone, Anne L. Soerensen, Frits Steenhuisen, Oleg Travnikov, Shuxiao Wang, Xun Wang, Simon Wilson, Rosa Wu, Qingru Wu, Yanxu Zhang, Jun Zhou, Wei Zhu, and Scott Zolkos
Geosci. Model Dev. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-2024-65, 2024
Preprint under review for GMD
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This paper introduces the Multi-Compartment Mercury (Hg) Modeling and Analysis Project (MCHgMAP) aimed to inform the effectiveness evaluations of two multilateral environmental agreements: the Minamata Convention on Mercury and Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. The experimental design exploits a variety of models (atmospheric, land, oceanic and multi-media mass balance models) to assess the short- and long-term influences of anthropogenic Hg releases in the environment.
William Atkinson, Sebastian D. Eastham, Y.-H. Henry Chen, Jennifer Morris, Sergey Paltsev, C. Adam Schlosser, and Noelle E. Selin
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7767–7789, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7767-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7767-2022, 2022
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Understanding policy effects on human-caused air pollutant emissions is key for assessing related health impacts. We develop a flexible scenario tool that combines updated emissions data sets, long-term economic modeling, and comprehensive technology pathways to clarify the impacts of climate and air quality policies. Results show the importance of both policy levers in the future to prevent long-term emission increases from offsetting near-term air quality improvements from existing policies.
Minghao Qiu, Corwin Zigler, and Noelle E. Selin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 10551–10566, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10551-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-10551-2022, 2022
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Evaluating impacts of emission changes on air quality requires accounting for meteorological variability. Many studies use simple regression methods to correct for meteorology, but little is known about their performance. Using cases in the US and China, we show that widely used regression models do not perform well and can lead to biased estimates of emission-driven trends. We propose a novel machine learning method with lower bias and provide recommendations to policymakers and researchers.
Shaojie Song, Hélène Angot, Noelle E. Selin, Hubert Gallée, Francesca Sprovieri, Nicola Pirrone, Detlev Helmig, Joël Savarino, Olivier Magand, and Aurélien Dommergue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 15825–15840, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15825-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15825-2018, 2018
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Mercury is a trace metal with adverse health effects on human and wildlife. Its unique property makes it undergo long-range transport, and even remote Antarctica receives significant inputs. This paper presents the first model that aims to understand mercury behavior over the Antarctic Plateau. We find that mercury is quickly cycled between snow and air in the sunlit period, likely driven by bromine chemistry, and that several uncertain processes contribute to its behavior in the dark period.
Benjamin Brown-Steiner, Noelle E. Selin, Ronald Prinn, Simone Tilmes, Louisa Emmons, Jean-François Lamarque, and Philip Cameron-Smith
Geosci. Model Dev., 11, 4155–4174, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4155-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-11-4155-2018, 2018
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We conduct three simulations of atmospheric chemistry using chemical mechanisms of different levels of complexity and compare their results to observations. We explore situations in which the simplified mechanisms match the output of the most complex mechanism, as well as when they diverge. We investigate how concurrent utilization of chemical mechanisms of different complexities can further our atmospheric-chemistry understanding at various scales and give some strategies for future research.
Benjamin Brown-Steiner, Noelle E. Selin, Ronald G. Prinn, Erwan Monier, Simone Tilmes, Louisa Emmons, and Fernando Garcia-Menendez
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 8373–8388, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8373-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-8373-2018, 2018
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Detecting signals in observations and simulations of atmospheric chemistry is difficult due to the underlying variability in the chemistry, meteorology, and climatology. Here we examine the scale dependence of ozone variability and explore strategies for reducing or averaging this variability and thereby enhancing ozone signal detection capabilities. We find that 10–15 years of temporal averaging, and some level of spatial averaging, reduces the risk of overconfidence in ozone signals.
Johannes Bieser, Franz Slemr, Jesse Ambrose, Carl Brenninkmeijer, Steve Brooks, Ashu Dastoor, Francesco DeSimone, Ralf Ebinghaus, Christian N. Gencarelli, Beate Geyer, Lynne E. Gratz, Ian M. Hedgecock, Daniel Jaffe, Paul Kelley, Che-Jen Lin, Lyatt Jaegle, Volker Matthias, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Shaojie Song, Oleg Travnikov, Andreas Weigelt, Winston Luke, Xinrong Ren, Andreas Zahn, Xin Yang, Yun Zhu, and Nicola Pirrone
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 6925–6955, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6925-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6925-2017, 2017
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We conducted a multi model study to investigate our ability to reproduce the vertical distribution of mercury in the atmosphere. For this, we used observational data from over 40 aircraft flights in EU and US. We compared observations to the results of seven chemistry transport models and found that the models are able to reproduce vertical gradients of total and elemental Hg. Finally, we found that different chemical reactions seem responsible for the oxidation of Hg depending on altitude.
Oleg Travnikov, Hélène Angot, Paulo Artaxo, Mariantonia Bencardino, Johannes Bieser, Francesco D'Amore, Ashu Dastoor, Francesco De Simone, María del Carmen Diéguez, Aurélien Dommergue, Ralf Ebinghaus, Xin Bin Feng, Christian N. Gencarelli, Ian M. Hedgecock, Olivier Magand, Lynwill Martin, Volker Matthias, Nikolay Mashyanov, Nicola Pirrone, Ramesh Ramachandran, Katie Alana Read, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Fabrizio Sena, Shaojie Song, Francesca Sprovieri, Dennis Wip, Ingvar Wängberg, and Xin Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 5271–5295, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5271-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5271-2017, 2017
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The study provides a complex analysis of processes governing Hg fate in the atmosphere involving both measurement data and simulation results of chemical transport models. Evaluation of the model simulations and numerical experiments against observations allows explaining spatial and temporal variations of Hg concentration in the near-surface atmospheric layer and shows possibility of multiple pathways of Hg oxidation occurring concurrently in various parts of the atmosphere.
Hélène Angot, Ashu Dastoor, Francesco De Simone, Katarina Gårdfeldt, Christian N. Gencarelli, Ian M. Hedgecock, Sarka Langer, Olivier Magand, Michelle N. Mastromonaco, Claus Nordstrøm, Katrine A. Pfaffhuber, Nicola Pirrone, Andrei Ryjkov, Noelle E. Selin, Henrik Skov, Shaojie Song, Francesca Sprovieri, Alexandra Steffen, Kenjiro Toyota, Oleg Travnikov, Xin Yang, and Aurélien Dommergue
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10735–10763, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10735-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10735-2016, 2016
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This is a synthesis of the atmospheric mercury (Hg) monitoring data available in recent years (2011–2015) in the Arctic and in Antarctica along with a comparison of these observations with numerical simulations using four cutting-edge global models. Based on this comparison, we discuss whether the processes that affect atmospheric Hg seasonality and interannual variability are appropriately represented in the models, and identify remaining research gaps.
Carey L. Friedman and Noelle E. Selin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 3433–3448, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3433-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3433-2016, 2016
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We present a new global model to simulate the atmospheric transport of toxic contaminants (PCBs). We evaluate the model against PCB observations in the northern hemisphere midlatitude and Arctic atmosphere. We then use the model to calculate global budgets of PCBs and to examine the influence of climate- and emissions-driven processes on Arctic atmospheric concentrations. We find that processes occurring outside the Arctic have a greater influence on Arctic PCBs than those occurring within.
V. Shah, L. Jaeglé, L. E. Gratz, J. L. Ambrose, D. A. Jaffe, N. E. Selin, S. Song, T. L. Campos, F. M. Flocke, M. Reeves, D. Stechman, M. Stell, J. Festa, J. Stutz, A. J. Weinheimer, D. J. Knapp, D. D. Montzka, G. S. Tyndall, E. C. Apel, R. S. Hornbrook, A. J. Hills, D. D. Riemer, N. J. Blake, C. A. Cantrell, and R. L. Mauldin III
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1511–1530, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1511-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1511-2016, 2016
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We present airborne observations of mercury over the southeastern USA during summer. Higher concentrations of oxidized mercury were observed in clean, dry air masses descending in the subtropical anti-cyclones. We used an atmospheric model to simulate the chemistry and transport of mercury. We found reasonable agreement with the observations when the modeled oxidation of elemental mercury was increased, suggesting fast cycling between elemental and oxidized mercury.
S. Song, N. E. Selin, A. L. Soerensen, H. Angot, R. Artz, S. Brooks, E.-G. Brunke, G. Conley, A. Dommergue, R. Ebinghaus, T. M. Holsen, D. A. Jaffe, S. Kang, P. Kelley, W. T. Luke, O. Magand, K. Marumoto, K. A. Pfaffhuber, X. Ren, G.-R. Sheu, F. Slemr, T. Warneke, A. Weigelt, P. Weiss-Penzias, D. C. Wip, and Q. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 7103–7125, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7103-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-7103-2015, 2015
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A better knowledge of mercury (Hg) emission fluxes into the global atmosphere is important for assessing its human health impacts and evaluating the effectiveness of corresponding policy actions. We for the first time apply a top-down approach at a global scale to quantitatively estimate present-day mercury emission sources as well as key parameters in a chemical transport model, in order to better constrain the global biogeochemical cycle of mercury.
P. Weiss-Penzias, H. M. Amos, N. E. Selin, M. S. Gustin, D. A. Jaffe, D. Obrist, G.-R. Sheu, and A. Giang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 1161–1173, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1161-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-1161-2015, 2015
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Speciated atmospheric Hg measurements from five high-elevation sites were compared with a global mercury model. The comparison confirmed that reactive mercury is formed in dry free tropospheric air from the oxidation of elemental Hg, more so in the summer than in other seasons. Simulations run with OH-O3 oxidation instead of the Br oxidation mechanism compared more closely with observations at desert sites, suggesting future simulations should include multiple reaction mechanisms simultaneously.
T. M. Thompson, R. K. Saari, and N. E. Selin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 969–978, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-969-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-969-2014, 2014
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Aggravated surface O3 pollution primarily driven by meteorological variations in China during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period
Identifying decadal trends in deweathered concentrations of criteria air pollutants in Canadian urban atmospheres with machine learning approaches
Evaluation of modelled versus observed non-methane volatile organic compounds at European Monitoring and Evaluation Programme sites in Europe
Constraining non-methane VOC emissions with TROPOMI HCHO observations: impact on summertime ozone simulation in August 2022 in China
Revealing the significant acceleration of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) emissions in eastern Asia through long-term atmospheric observations
Interpreting Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) geostationary satellite observations of the diurnal variation in nitrogen dioxide (NO2) over East Asia
An intercomparison of satellite, airborne, and ground-level observations with WRF–CAMx simulations of NO2 columns over Houston, Texas, during the September 2021 TRACER-AQ campaign
Interannual variability of summertime formaldehyde (HCHO) vertical column density and its main drivers at northern high latitudes
The impact of multi-decadal changes in VOC speciation on urban ozone chemistry: a case study in Birmingham, United Kingdom
Technical note: Challenges in detecting free tropospheric ozone trends in a sparsely sampled environment
Combined assimilation of NOAA surface and MIPAS satellite observations to constrain the global budget of carbonyl sulfide
The impact of gaseous degradation on the gas–particle partitioning of methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
Technical note: An assessment of the performance of statistical bias correction techniques for global chemistry–climate model surface ozone fields
A better representation of volatile organic compound chemistry in WRF-Chem and its impact on ozone over Los Angeles
High-resolution US methane emissions inferred from an inversion of 2019 TROPOMI satellite data: contributions from individual states, urban areas, and landfills
Summertime tropospheric ozone source apportionment study in the Madrid region (Spain)
CO anthropogenic emissions in Europe from 2011 to 2021: insights from Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere (MOPITT) satellite data
Constraining long-term NOx emissions over the United States and Europe using nitrate wet deposition monitoring networks
Analysis of an intense O3 pollution episode on the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula using photochemical modeling: characterization of transport pathways and accumulation processes
Atmospheric oxygen as a tracer for fossil fuel carbon dioxide: a sensitivity study in the UK
Impact of improved representation of VOC emissions and production of NOx reservoirs on modeled urban ozone production
MIXv2: a long-term mosaic emission inventory for Asia (2010–2017)
Organosulfate produced from consumption of SO3 speeds up sulfuric acid–dimethylamine atmospheric nucleation
Contribution of expanded marine sulfur chemistry to the seasonal variability of dimethyl sulfide oxidation products and size-resolved sulfate aerosol
Development of a detailed gaseous oxidation scheme of naphthalene for SOA formation and speciation
Spatial disparities of ozone pollution in the Sichuan Basin spurred by extreme, hot weather
Global impacts of aviation on air quality evaluated at high resolution
Enhancing Long-Term Trend Simulation of Global Tropospheric OH and Its Drivers from 2005–2019: A Synergistic Integration of Model Simulations and Satellite Observations
Large contribution of soil emissions to the atmospheric nitrogen budget and their impacts on air quality and temperature rise in North China
Bias correction of OMI HCHO columns based on FTIR and aircraft measurements and impact on top-down emission estimates
Intercomparison of GEOS-Chem and CAM-chem tropospheric oxidant chemistry within the Community Earth System Model version 2 (CESM2)
Investigation of the renewed methane growth post-2007 with high-resolution 3-D variational inverse modeling and isotopic constraints
NOx emissions in France in 2019–2021 as estimated by the high spatial resolution assimilation of TROPOMI NO2 observations
Estimating NOx emissions of stack plumes using a high-resolution atmospheric chemistry model and satellite-derived NO2 columns
Revisiting day-of-week ozone patterns in an era of evolving US air quality
Changes in South American Surface Ozone Trends: Exploring the Influences of Precursors and Extreme Events
Air quality and radiative impacts of downward-propagating sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs)
Estimation of the atmospheric hydroxyl radical oxidative capacity using multiple hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)
Investigating the differences in calculating global mean surface CO2 abundance: the impact of analysis methodologies and site selection
The effect of different Climate and Air Quality policies in China on in situ Ozone production in Beijing
Meteorological characteristics of extreme ozone pollution events in China and their future predictions
Evaluating modelled tropospheric columns of CH4, CO, and O3 in the Arctic using ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements
The high-resolution Global Aviation emissions Inventory based on ADS-B (GAIA) for 2019–2021
Zonal variability of methane trends derived from satellite data
Weekly derived top-down volatile-organic-compound fluxes over Europe from TROPOMI HCHO data from 2018 to 2021
Current status of model predictions of volatile organic compounds and impacts on surface ozone predictions during summer in China
Utility of Geostationary Lightning Mapper-derived lightning NO emission estimates in air quality modeling studies
The suitability of atmospheric oxygen measurements to constrain western European fossil-fuel CO2 emissions and their trends
Future tropospheric ozone budget and distribution over east Asia under a net-zero scenario
Why Did Ozone Concentrations Increase During Shanghai’s Static Management? A Statistical and Radical Chemistry Perspective
Zhendong Lu, Jun Wang, Yi Wang, Daven K. Henze, Xi Chen, Tong Sha, and Kang Sun
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7793–7813, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7793-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7793-2024, 2024
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In contrast with past work showing that the reduction of emissions was the dominant factor for the nationwide increase of surface O3 during the lockdown in China, this study finds that the variation in meteorology (temperature and other parameters) plays a more important role. This result is obtained through sensitivity simulations using a chemical transport model constrained by satellite (TROPOMI) data and calibrated with surface observations.
Xiaohong Yao and Leiming Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7773–7791, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7773-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7773-2024, 2024
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This study investigates long-term trends of criteria air pollutants, including NO2, CO, SO2, O3 and PM2.5, and NO2+O3 measured in 10 Canadian cities during the last 2 to 3 decades. We also investigate associated driving forces in terms of emission reductions, perturbations from varying weather conditions and large-scale wildfires, as well as changes in O3 sources and sinks.
Yao Ge, Sverre Solberg, Mathew R. Heal, Stefan Reimann, Willem van Caspel, Bryan Hellack, Thérèse Salameh, and David Simpson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7699–7729, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7699-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7699-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric volatile organic compounds (VOCs) constitute many species, acting as precursors to ozone and aerosol. Given the uncertainties in VOC emissions, lack of evaluation studies, and recent changes in emissions, this work adapts the EMEP MSC-W to evaluate emission inventories in Europe. We focus on the varying agreement between modelled and measured VOCs across different species and underscore potential inaccuracies in total and sector-specific emission estimates.
Shuzhuang Feng, Fei Jiang, Tianlu Qian, Nan Wang, Mengwei Jia, Songci Zheng, Jiansong Chen, Fang Ying, and Weimin Ju
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7481–7498, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7481-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7481-2024, 2024
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We developed a multi-air-pollutant inversion system to estimate non-methane volatile organic compound (NMVOC) emissions using TROPOMI formaldehyde retrievals. We found that the inversion significantly improved formaldehyde simulations and reduced NMVOC emission uncertainties. The optimized NMVOC emissions effectively corrected the overestimation of O3 levels, mainly by decreasing the rate of the RO2 + NO reaction and increasing the rate of the NO2 + OH reaction.
Haklim Choi, Alison L. Redington, Hyeri Park, Jooil Kim, Rona L. Thompson, Jens Mühle, Peter K. Salameh, Christina M. Harth, Ray F. Weiss, Alistair J. Manning, and Sunyoung Park
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7309–7330, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7309-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7309-2024, 2024
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We analyzed with an inversion model the atmospheric abundance of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gases, from 2008 to 2020 at Gosan station in South Korea and revealed a significant increase in emissions, especially from eastern China and Japan. This increase contradicts reported data, underscoring the need for accurate monitoring and reporting. Our findings are crucial for understanding and managing global HFCs emissions, highlighting the importance of efforts to reduce HFCs.
Laura Hyesung Yang, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Yujin J. Oak, Haipeng Lin, Jhoon Kim, Shixian Zhai, Nadia K. Colombi, Drew C. Pendergrass, Ellie Beaudry, Viral Shah, Xu Feng, Robert M. Yantosca, Heesung Chong, Junsung Park, Hanlim Lee, Won-Jin Lee, Soontae Kim, Eunhye Kim, Katherine R. Travis, James H. Crawford, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7027–7039, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7027-2024, 2024
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The Geostationary Environment Monitoring Spectrometer (GEMS) provides hourly measurements of NO2. We use the chemical transport model to find how emissions, chemistry, and transport drive the changes in NO2 observed by GEMS at different times of the day. In winter, the chemistry plays a minor role, and high daytime emissions dominate the diurnal variation in NO2, balanced by transport. In summer, emissions, chemistry, and transport play an important role in shaping the diurnal variation in NO2.
M. Omar Nawaz, Jeremiah Johnson, Greg Yarwood, Benjamin de Foy, Laura Judd, and Daniel L. Goldberg
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6719–6741, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6719-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6719-2024, 2024
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NO2 is a gas with implications for air pollution. A campaign conducted in Houston provided an opportunity to compare NO2 from different instruments and a model. Aircraft and satellite observations agreed well with measurements on the ground; however, the latter estimated lower values. We find that model-simulated NO2 was lower than observations, especially downtown, suggesting that NO2 sources associated with the urban core of Houston, such as vehicle emissions, may be underestimated.
Tianlang Zhao, Jingqiu Mao, Zolal Ayazpour, Gonzalo González Abad, Caroline R. Nowlan, and Yiqi Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6105–6121, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6105-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6105-2024, 2024
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HCHO variability is a key tracer in understanding VOC emissions in response to climate change. We investigate the role of methane oxidation and biogenic and wildfire emissions in HCHO interannual variability over northern high latitudes in summer, emphasizing wildfires as a key driver of HCHO interannual variability in Alaska, Siberia and northern Canada using satellite HCHO and SIF retrievals and then GEOS-Chem model. We show SIF is a tool to understand biogenic HCHO variability in this region.
Jianghao Li, Alastair C. Lewis, Jim R. Hopkins, Stephen J. Andrews, Tim Murrells, Neil Passant, Ben Richmond, Siqi Hou, William J. Bloss, Roy M. Harrison, and Zongbo Shi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6219–6231, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6219-2024, 2024
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A summertime ozone event at an urban site in Birmingham is sensitive to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) – particularly those of oxygenated VOCs. The roles of anthropogenic VOC sources in urban ozone chemistry are examined by integrating the 1990–2019 national atmospheric emission inventory into model scenarios. Road transport remains the most powerful means of further reducing ozone in this case study, but the benefits may be offset if solvent emissions of VOCs continue to increase.
Kai-Lan Chang, Owen R. Cooper, Audrey Gaudel, Irina Petropavlovskikh, Peter Effertz, Gary Morris, and Brian C. McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6197–6218, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6197-2024, 2024
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A great majority of observational trend studies of free tropospheric ozone use sparsely sampled ozonesonde and aircraft measurements as reference data sets. A ubiquitous assumption is that trends are accurate and reliable so long as long-term records are available. We show that sampling bias due to sparse samples can persistently reduce the trend accuracy, and we highlight the importance of maintaining adequate frequency and continuity of observations.
Jin Ma, Linda M. J. Kooijmans, Norbert Glatthor, Stephen A. Montzka, Marc von Hobe, Thomas Röckmann, and Maarten C. Krol
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6047–6070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6047-2024, 2024
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The global budget of atmospheric COS can be optimised by inverse modelling using TM5-4DVAR, with the co-constraints of NOAA surface observations and MIPAS satellite data. We found reduced COS biosphere uptake from inversions and improved land and ocean separation using MIPAS satellite data assimilation. Further improvements are expected from better quantification of COS ocean and biosphere fluxes.
Fu-Jie Zhu, Zi-Feng Zhang, Li-Yan Liu, Pu-Fei Yang, Peng-Tuan Hu, Geng-Bo Ren, Meng Qin, and Wan-Li Ma
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6095–6103, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6095-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6095-2024, 2024
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Gas–particle (G–P) partitioning is an important atmospheric behavior for semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). Diurnal variation in G–P partitioning of methylated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Me-PAHs) demonstrates the possible influence of gaseous degradation; the enhancement of gaseous degradation (1.10–5.58 times) on G–P partitioning is verified by a steady-state G–P partitioning model. The effect of gaseous degradation on G–P partitioning of (especially light) SVOCs is important.
Christoph Staehle, Harald E. Rieder, Arlene M. Fiore, and Jordan L. Schnell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5953–5969, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5953-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5953-2024, 2024
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Chemistry–climate models show biases compared to surface ozone observations and thus require bias correction for impact studies and the assessment of air quality changes. We compare the performance of commonly used correction techniques for model outputs available via CMIP6. While all methods can reduce model biases, better results are obtained from more complex approaches. Thus, our study suggests broader use of these techniques in studies seeking to inform air quality management and policy.
Qindan Zhu, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Matthew Coggon, Colin Harkins, Jordan Schnell, Jian He, Havala O. T. Pye, Meng Li, Barry Baker, Zachary Moon, Ravan Ahmadov, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Bryan Place, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Carsten Warneke, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Lu Xu, Kristen Zuraski, Michael A. Robinson, J. Andrew Neuman, Patrick R. Veres, Jeff Peischl, Steven S. Brown, Allen H. Goldstein, Ronald C. Cohen, and Brian C. McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5265–5286, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5265-2024, 2024
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Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) fuel the production of air pollutants like ozone and particulate matter. The representation of VOC chemistry remains challenging due to its complexity in speciation and reactions. Here, we develop a chemical mechanism, RACM2B-VCP, that better represents VOC chemistry in urban areas such as Los Angeles. We also discuss the contribution of VOCs emitted from volatile chemical products and other anthropogenic sources to total VOC reactivity and O3.
Hannah Nesser, Daniel J. Jacob, Joannes D. Maasakkers, Alba Lorente, Zichong Chen, Xiao Lu, Lu Shen, Zhen Qu, Melissa P. Sulprizio, Margaux Winter, Shuang Ma, A. Anthony Bloom, John R. Worden, Robert N. Stavins, and Cynthia A. Randles
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5069–5091, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5069-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5069-2024, 2024
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We quantify 2019 methane emissions in the contiguous US (CONUS) at a ≈ 25 km × 25 km resolution using satellite methane observations. We find a 13 % upward correction to the 2023 US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory (GHGI) for 2019, with large corrections to individual states, urban areas, and landfills. This may present a challenge for US climate policies and goals, many of which target significant reductions in methane emissions.
David de la Paz, Rafael Borge, Juan Manuel de Andrés, Luis Tovar, Golam Sarwar, and Sergey L. Napelenok
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4949–4972, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4949-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4949-2024, 2024
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This source apportionment modeling study shows that around 70 % of ground-level O3 in Madrid (Spain) is transported from other regions. Nonetheless, emissions from local sources, mainly road traffic, play a significant role, especially under atmospheric stagnation. Local measures during those conditions may be able to reduce O3 peaks by up to 30 % and, thus, lessen impacts from high-O3 episodes in the Madrid metropolitan area.
Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Gregoire Broquet, Elise Potier, Robin Plauchu, Antoine Berchet, Isabelle Pison, Hugo Denier van der Gon, and Stijn Dellaert
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4635–4649, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4635-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4635-2024, 2024
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We have estimated the carbon monixide (CO) European emissions from satellite observations of the MOPITT instrument at the relatively high resolution of 0.5° for a period of over 10 years from 2011 to 2021. The analysis of the inversion results reveals the challenges associated with the inversion of CO emissions at the regional scale over Europe.
Amy Christiansen, Loretta J. Mickley, and Lu Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4569–4589, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4569-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4569-2024, 2024
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In this work, we provide an additional constraint on emissions and trends of nitrogen oxides using nitrate wet deposition (NWD) fluxes over the United States and Europe from 1980–2020. We find that NWD measurements constrain total NOx emissions well. We also find evidence of NOx emission overestimates in both domains, but especially over Europe, where NOx emissions are overestimated by a factor of 2. Reducing NOx emissions over Europe improves model representation of ozone at the surface.
Eduardo Torre-Pascual, Gotzon Gangoiti, Ana Rodríguez-García, Estibaliz Sáez de Cámara, Joana Ferreira, Carla Gama, María Carmen Gómez, Iñaki Zuazo, Jose Antonio García, and Maite de Blas
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4305–4329, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4305-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4305-2024, 2024
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We present an analysis of an intense air pollution episode of tropospheric ozone (O3) along the Atlantic coast of the Iberian Peninsula, incorporating both measured and simulated parameters. Our study extends beyond surface-level factors to include altitude-related parameters. These episodes stem from upper-atmosphere O3 accumulation in preceding days, transported to surface layers, causing rapid O3 concentration increase.
Hannah Chawner, Eric Saboya, Karina E. Adcock, Tim Arnold, Yuri Artioli, Caroline Dylag, Grant L. Forster, Anita Ganesan, Heather Graven, Gennadi Lessin, Peter Levy, Ingrid T. Luijkx, Alistair Manning, Penelope A. Pickers, Chris Rennick, Christian Rödenbeck, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4231–4252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4231-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4231-2024, 2024
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The quantity of atmospheric potential oxygen (APO), derived from coincident measurements of carbon dioxide (CO2) and oxygen (O2), has been proposed as a tracer for fossil fuel CO2 emissions. In this model sensitivity study, we examine the use of APO for this purpose in the UK and compare our model to observations. We find that our model simulations are most sensitive to uncertainties relating to ocean fluxes and boundary conditions.
Katherine R. Travis, Benjamin A. Nault, James H. Crawford, Kelvin H. Bates, Donald R. Blake, Ronald C. Cohen, Alan Fried, Samuel R. Hall, L. Greg Huey, Young Ro Lee, Simone Meinardi, Kyung-Eun Min, Isobel J. Simpson, and Kirk Ullman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-951, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-951, 2024
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Human activities result in the emission of many volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the atmosphere that contribute to ozone air pollution. Detailed measurements were taken of VOCs during a field study in South Korea. When compared to models using current VOC emissions, large discrepancies pointed to underestimated emissions from chemical products, liquified petroleum gas, and long-range transport. We improved emissions and chemistry of these VOCs to better describe urban ozone pollution.
Meng Li, Junichi Kurokawa, Qiang Zhang, Jung-Hun Woo, Tazuko Morikawa, Satoru Chatani, Zifeng Lu, Yu Song, Guannan Geng, Hanwen Hu, Jinseok Kim, Owen R. Cooper, and Brian C. McDonald
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3925–3952, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3925-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3925-2024, 2024
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In this work, we developed MIXv2, a mosaic Asian emission inventory for 2010–2017. With high spatial (0.1°) and monthly temporal resolution, MIXv2 integrates anthropogenic and open biomass burning emissions across seven sectors following a mosaic methodology. It provides CO2 emissions data alongside nine key pollutants and three chemical mechanisms. Our publicly accessible gridded monthly emissions data can facilitate long-term atmospheric and climate model analyses.
Xiaomeng Zhang, Yongjian Lian, Shendong Tan, and Shi Yin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3593–3612, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3593-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3593-2024, 2024
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Atmospheric new particle formation (NPF) has a significant influence on the global climate, local air quality and human health. Using a combination of quantum chemical calculations and kinetics modeling, we find that thhe gas-phase organosulfate produced from consumption of SO3 can significantly enhance SA–DMA nucleation in the polluted boundary layer, resulting in non-negligible contributions to NPF. Our findings provide important insights into organic sulfur in atmospheric aerosol formation.
Linia Tashmim, William C. Porter, Qianjie Chen, Becky Alexander, Charles H. Fite, Christopher D. Holmes, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Betty Croft, and Sakiko Ishino
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3379–3403, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3379-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3379-2024, 2024
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Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is mostly emitted from ocean surfaces and represents the largest natural source of sulfur for the atmosphere. Once in the atmosphere, DMS forms stable oxidation products such as SO2 and H2SO4, which can subsequently contribute to airborne particle formation and growth. In this study, we update the DMS oxidation mechanism in the chemical transport model GEOS-Chem and describe resulting changes in particle growth as well as the overall global sulfur budget.
Victor Lannuque and Karine Sartelet
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-711, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-711, 2024
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Large uncertainties remain in understanding secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and speciation from naphthalene oxidation. This study details the development of the first near-explicit chemical scheme for naphthalene oxidation by OH including kinetic and mechanistic data and able to reproduce most of the experimentally identified products in both gas and particle phases.
Nan Wang, Yunsong Du, Dongyang Chen, Haiyan Meng, Xi Chen, Li Zhou, Guangming Shi, Yu Zhan, Miao Feng, Wei Li, Mulan Chen, Zhenliang Li, and Fumo Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3029–3042, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3029-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3029-2024, 2024
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In the scorching August 2022 heatwave, China's Sichuan Basin saw a stark contrast in ozone (O3) levels between Chengdu and Chongqing. The regional disparities were studied considering meteorology, precursors, photochemistry, and transportation. The study highlighted the importance of tailored pollution control measures and underlined the necessity for region-specific strategies to combat O3 pollution on a regional scale.
Sebastian D. Eastham, Guillaume P. Chossière, Raymond L. Speth, Daniel J. Jacob, and Steven R. H. Barrett
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2687–2703, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2687-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2687-2024, 2024
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Emissions from aircraft are known to cause air quality impacts worldwide, but the scale and mechanisms of this impact are not well understood. This work uses high-resolution computational modeling of the atmosphere to show that air pollution changes from aviation are mostly the result of emissions during cruise (high-altitude) operations, that these impacts are related to how much non-aviation pollution is present, and that prior regional assessments have underestimated these impacts.
Amir H. Souri, Bryan N. Duncan, Sarah A. Strode, Daniel C. Anderson, Michael E. Manyin, Junhua Liu, Luke D. Oman, Zhen Zhang, and Brad Weir
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-410, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-410, 2024
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We explore a new method to make use of the wealth of information obtained from satellite observations of Aura OMI NO2, HCHO, along with MERRA2 reanalysis in NASA’s GEOS model equipped with an efficient tropospheric OH (TOH) estimator to enhance the representation of TOH spatial distribution and its long-term trends. This new framework helps us pinpoint regional inaccuracies in TOH and differentiate between established prior knowledge and newly acquired information from satellites on TOH trends.
Tong Sha, Siyu Yang, Qingcai Chen, Liangqing Li, Xiaoyan Ma, Yan-Lin Zhang, Zhaozhong Feng, K. Folkert Boersma, and Jun Wang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-359, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-359, 2024
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By using an updated soil reactive nitrogen emission scheme in the UI-WRF-Chem model, we investigate the underappreciated role of soil NO and HONO (Nr) emissions on air quality and temperature rise in North China. The significant contributions of soil Nr emissions to O3 and secondary pollutants, exceeding the effects of soil NOx or HONO emission alone. And soil Nr emissions play an important role in mitigating O3 pollution and addressing climate change.
Jean-François Müller, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Glenn-Michael Oomen, Beata Opacka, Isabelle De Smedt, Alex Guenther, Corinne Vigouroux, Bavo Langerock, Carlos Augusto Bauer Aquino, Michel Grutter, James Hannigan, Frank Hase, Rigel Kivi, Erik Lutsch, Emmanuel Mahieu, Maria Makarova, Jean-Marc Metzger, Isamu Morino, Isao Murata, Tomoo Nagahama, Justus Notholt, Ivan Ortega, Mathias Palm, Amelie Röhling, Wolfgang Stremme, Kimberly Strong, Ralf Sussmann, Yao Té, and Alan Fried
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2207–2237, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2207-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2207-2024, 2024
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Formaldehyde observations from satellites can be used to constrain the emissions of volatile organic compounds, but those observations have biases. Using an atmospheric model, aircraft and ground-based remote sensing data, we quantify these biases, propose a correction to the data, and assess the consequence of this correction for the evaluation of emissions.
Haipeng Lin, Louisa K. Emmons, Elizabeth W. Lundgren, Laura Hyesung Yang, Xu Feng, Ruijun Dang, Shixian Zhai, Yunxiao Tang, Makoto M. Kelp, Nadia K. Colombi, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, and Daniel J. Jacob
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-470, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-470, 2024
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Tropospheric ozone is a major air pollutant, greenhouse gas, and a major indicator of model skill. Global atmospheric chemistry models show large differences in simulations of tropospheric ozone but isolating sources of differences is complicated by different model environments. By implementing the GEOS-Chem model side-by-side to CAM-chem within a common Earth system model, we identify and evaluate specific differences between the two models and their impacts on key chemical species.
Joël Thanwerdas, Marielle Saunois, Antoine Berchet, Isabelle Pison, and Philippe Bousquet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2129–2167, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2129-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2129-2024, 2024
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We investigate the causes of the renewed growth of atmospheric methane (CH4) after 2007 using inverse modeling. We use the additional information provided by observations of CH4 isotopic compositions to better differentiate between the emission categories. Accounting for the large uncertainties in source signatures, our results suggest that the post-2007 increase in atmospheric CH4 was caused by similar increases in emissions from (1) fossil fuels and (2) agriculture and waste.
Robin Plauchu, Audrey Fortems-Cheiney, Grégoire Broquet, Isabelle Pison, Antoine Berchet, Elise Potier, Gaëlle Dufour, Adriana Coman, Dilek Savas, Guillaume Siour, and Henk Eskes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-103, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-103, 2024
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Over 2019–2021, our study used satellite data to assess NOx emissions in France. National budgets decreased due to effective policies, but COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 didn't uniformly reduce emissions. Focusing on urban areas revealed varied impacts, with challenges like cloud coverage and model errors limiting precision. These findings contribute valuable insights into factors influencing emission assessments, informing future research.
Maarten Krol, Bart van Stratum, Isidora Anglou, and Klaas Folkert Boersma
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2519, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2519, 2024
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This paper presents detailed plume simulations of nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide that are emitted from four large industrial facilities world-wide. Results from the high-resolution simulations that include atmospheric chemistry are compared to nitrogen-dioxide observations from satellites. We find good performance of the model and show that common assumptions that are used in simplified models need revision. This work is important for the monitoring of emissions using satellite data.
Heather Simon, Christian Hogrefe, Andrew Whitehill, Kristen M. Foley, Jennifer Liljegren, Norm Possiel, Benjamin Wells, Barron H. Henderson, Lukas C. Valin, Gail Tonnesen, K. Wyat Appel, and Shannon Koplitz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1855–1871, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1855-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1855-2024, 2024
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We assess observed and modeled ozone weekend–weekday differences in the USA from 2002–2019. A subset of urban areas that were NOx-saturated at the beginning of the period transitioned to NOx-limited conditions. Multiple rural areas of California were NOx-limited for the entire period but become less influenced by local day-of-week emission patterns in more recent years. The model produces more NOx-saturated conditions than the observations but captures trends in weekend–weekday ozone patterns.
Rodrigo J. Seguel, Lucas Castillo, Charlie Opazo, Néstor Y. Rojas, Thiago Nogueira, María Cazorla, Mario Gavidia-Calderón, Laura Gallardo, René Garreaud, Tomás Carrasco-Escaff, and Yasin Elshorbany
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-328, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-328, 2024
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Our research found that surface ozone trends in major South American cities increase or remain steady but show no signs of decreasing. Extra-tropical cities (Santiago and São Paulo), in particular, face the highest risk of ozone exposure. Furthermore, we found that prolonged heat waves and large fires explain many of the most extreme ozone values.
Ryan S. Williams, Michaela I. Hegglin, Patrick Jöckel, Hella Garny, and Keith P. Shine
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1389–1413, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1389-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1389-2024, 2024
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During winter, a brief but abrupt reversal of the mean stratospheric westerly flow (~30 km high) around the Arctic occurs ~6 times a decade. Using a chemistry–climate model, about half of these events are shown to induce large anomalies in Arctic ozone (>25 %) and water vapour (>±25 %) around ~8–12 km altitude for up to 2–3 months, important for weather forecasting. We also calculate a doubling to trebling of the risk in breaches of mid-latitude surface air quality (ozone) standards (~60 ppbv).
Rona L. Thompson, Stephen A. Montzka, Martin K. Vollmer, Jgor Arduini, Molly Crotwell, Paul B. Krummel, Chris Lunder, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Ronald G. Prinn, Stefan Reimann, Isaac Vimont, Hsiang Wang, Ray F. Weiss, and Dickon Young
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1415–1427, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1415-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1415-2024, 2024
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The hydroxyl radical determines the atmospheric lifetimes of numerous species including methane. Since OH is very short-lived, it is not possible to directly measure its concentration on scales relevant for understanding its effect on other species. Here, OH is inferred by looking at changes in hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs). We find that OH levels have been fairly stable over our study period (2004 to 2021), suggesting that OH is not the main driver of the recent increase in atmospheric methane.
Zhendong Wu, Alex Vermeulen, Yousuke Sawa, Ute Karstens, Wouter Peters, Remco de Kok, Xin Lan, Yasuyuki Nagai, Akinori Ogi, and Oksana Tarasova
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1249–1264, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1249-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1249-2024, 2024
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This study focuses on exploring the differences in calculating global surface CO2 and its growth rate, considering the impact of analysis methodologies and site selection. Our study reveals that the current global CO2 network has a good capacity to represent global surface CO2 and its growth rate, as well as trends in atmospheric CO2 mass changes. However, small differences exist in different analyses due to the impact of methodology and site selection.
Beth S. Nelson, Zhenze Liu, Freya A. Squires, Marvin Shaw, James R. Hopkins, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Andrew R. Rickard, Alastair C. Lewis, Zongbo Shi, and James D. Lee
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2910, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2910, 2024
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The impact of combined air quality and carbon neutrality policies on O3 formation in Beijing were investigated. Emissions inventory data was used to estimate future pollutant mixing ratios, relative to ground-level observations. O3 production was found to be most sensitive to changes in alkenes but large reductions in less reactive compounds led to larger reductions in future O3 production. This study highlights the importance of understanding the emission trajectories of organic pollutants.
Yang Yang, Yang Zhou, Hailong Wang, Mengyun Li, Huimin Li, Pinya Wang, Xu Yue, Ke Li, Jia Zhu, and Hong Liao
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1177–1191, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1177-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1177-2024, 2024
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This study reveals that extreme ozone pollution over the North China Plain and Yangtze River Delta is due to the chemical production related to hot and dry conditions, and the regional transport explains the ozone pollution over the Sichuan Basin and Pearl River Delta. The frequency of meteorological conditions of the extreme ozone pollution increases from the past to the future. The sustainable scenario is the optimal path to retaining clean air in China in the future.
Victoria A. Flood, Kimberly Strong, Cynthia H. Whaley, Kaley A. Walker, Thomas Blumenstock, James W. Hannigan, Johan Mellqvist, Justus Notholt, Mathias Palm, Amelie N. Röhling, Stephen Arnold, Stephen Beagley, Rong-You Chien, Jesper Christensen, Makoto Deushi, Srdjan Dobricic, Xinyi Dong, Joshua S. Fu, Michael Gauss, Wanmin Gong, Joakim Langner, Kathy S. Law, Louis Marelle, Tatsuo Onishi, Naga Oshima, David A. Plummer, Luca Pozzoli, Jean-Christophe Raut, Manu A. Thomas, Svetlana Tsyro, and Steven Turnock
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 1079–1118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-1079-2024, 2024
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It is important to understand the composition of the Arctic atmosphere and how it is changing. Atmospheric models provide simulations that can inform policy. This study examines simulations of CH4, CO, and O3 by 11 models. Model performance is assessed by comparing results matched in space and time to measurements from five high-latitude ground-based infrared spectrometers. This work finds that models generally underpredict the concentrations of these gases in the Arctic troposphere.
Roger Teoh, Zebediah Engberg, Marc Shapiro, Lynnette Dray, and Marc E. J. Stettler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 725–744, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-725-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-725-2024, 2024
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Emissions from aircraft contribute to climate change and degrade air quality. We describe an up-to-date 4D emissions inventory of global aviation from 2019 to 2021 based on actual flown trajectories. In 2019, 40.2 million flights collectively travelled 61 billion kilometres using 283 Tg of fuel. Long-haul flights were responsible for 43 % of CO2. The emissions inventory is made available for use in future studies to evaluate the negative externalities arising from global aviation.
Jonas Hachmeister, Oliver Schneising, Michael Buchwitz, John P. Burrows, Justus Notholt, and Matthias Buschmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 577–595, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-577-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-577-2024, 2024
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We quantified changes in atmospheric methane concentrations using satellite data and a dynamic linear model approach. We calculated global annual methane increases for the years 2019–2022, which are in good agreement with other sources. For zonal methane growth rates, we identified strong inter-hemispheric differences in 2019 and 2022. For 2022, we could attribute decreases in the global growth rate to the Northern Hemisphere, possibly related to a reduction in anthropogenic emissions.
Glenn-Michael Oomen, Jean-François Müller, Trissevgeni Stavrakou, Isabelle De Smedt, Thomas Blumenstock, Rigel Kivi, Maria Makarova, Mathias Palm, Amelie Röhling, Yao Té, Corinne Vigouroux, Martina M. Friedrich, Udo Frieß, François Hendrick, Alexis Merlaud, Ankie Piters, Andreas Richter, Michel Van Roozendael, and Thomas Wagner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 449–474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-449-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-449-2024, 2024
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Natural emissions from vegetation have a profound impact on air quality for their role in the formation of harmful tropospheric ozone and organic aerosols, yet these emissions are highly uncertain. In this study, we quantify emissions of organic gases over Europe using high-quality satellite measurements of formaldehyde. These satellite observations suggest that emissions from vegetation are much higher than predicted by models, especially in southern Europe.
Yongliang She, Jingyi Li, Xiaopu Lyu, Hai Guo, Momei Qin, Xiaodong Xie, Kangjia Gong, Fei Ye, Jianjiong Mao, Lin Huang, and Jianlin Hu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 219–233, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-219-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-219-2024, 2024
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In this study, we use multi-site volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements to evaluate the CMAQ-model-predicted VOCs and assess the impacts of VOC bias on O3 simulation. Our results demonstrate that current modeling setups and emission inventories are likely to underpredict VOC concentrations, and this underprediction of VOCs contributes to lower O3 predictions in China.
Peiyang Cheng, Arastoo Pour-Biazar, Yuling Wu, Shi Kuang, Richard T. McNider, and William J. Koshak
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 41–63, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-41-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-41-2024, 2024
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Lightning-induced nitrogen monoxide (LNO) emission can be estimated from geostationary satellite observations. The present study uses the LNO emission estimates derived from geostationary satellite observations in an air quality modeling system to investigate the impact of LNO on air quality. Results indicate that significant ozone increase could be due to long-distance chemical transport, lightning activity in the upwind direction, and the mixing of high LNO (or ozone) plumes.
Christian Rödenbeck, Karina E. Adcock, Markus Eritt, Maksym Gachkivskyi, Christoph Gerbig, Samuel Hammer, Armin Jordan, Ralph F. Keeling, Ingeborg Levin, Fabian Maier, Andrew C. Manning, Heiko Moossen, Saqr Munassar, Penelope A. Pickers, Michael Rothe, Yasunori Tohjima, and Sönke Zaehle
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15767–15782, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15767-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15767-2023, 2023
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The carbon dioxide content of the Earth atmosphere is increasing due to human emissions from burning of fossil fuels, causing global climate change. The strength of the fossil-fuel emissions is estimated by inventories based on energy data, but independent validation of these inventories has been recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Here we investigate the potential to validate inventories based on measurements of small changes in the atmospheric oxygen content.
Xuewei Hou, Oliver Wild, Bin Zhu, and James Lee
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15395–15411, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15395-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15395-2023, 2023
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In response to the climate crisis, many countries have committed to net zero in a certain future year. The impacts of net-zero scenarios on tropospheric O3 are less well studied and remain unclear. In this study, we quantified the changes of tropospheric O3 budgets, spatiotemporal distributions of future surface O3 in east Asia and regional O3 source contributions for 2060 under a net-zero scenario using the NCAR Community Earth System Model (CESM) and online O3-tagging methods.
Jian Zhu, Shanshan Wang, Chuanqi Gu, Zhiwen Jiang, Sanbao Zhang, Ruibin Xue, Yuhao Yan, and Bin Zhou
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2142, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2142, 2023
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In 2022, Shanghai implemented city-wide static management measures during the high-ozone season in April and May, providing a change to study ozone pollution control. Despite significant emissions reductions, ozone levels increased by 23 %. Statistically, the number of days with higher ozone diurnal variation types increased during the lockdown period. The uneven decline in VOC and NO2 emissions led to heightened photochemical processes, resulting in the observed ozone level rise.
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Short summary
PFCAs are toxic contaminants that can form in the atmosphere when precursor chemicals are released and degrade. We calculate the capacity of different atmospheric environments to form PFCAs this way. Different environments have very different capacities to form PFCAs, with the atmosphere far from sources of pollution being much better able to make the more toxic PFCAs. While the chemistry involved has uncertainties, they are small compared to the differences between environments.
PFCAs are toxic contaminants that can form in the atmosphere when precursor chemicals are...
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