Articles | Volume 17, issue 8
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5393-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-5393-2017
© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Four years (2011–2015) of total gaseous mercury measurements from the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory
Katie A. Read
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), Department of
Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Luis M. Neves
Instituto Naçional de Meteorologia Geofisica (INMG),
Delegãço de São Vicente, Monte, CP15, Mindelo, Republic of Cape Verde
Lucy J. Carpenter
National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), Department of
Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Alastair C. Lewis
National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), Department of
Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Zoe L. Fleming
National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS), University of
Leicester, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK
John Kentisbeer
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH), Bush Estate, Penicuik,
Midlothian, EH26 0QB, UK
Related authors
Simone T. Andersen, Beth S. Nelson, Katie A. Read, Shalini Punjabi, Luis Neves, Matthew J. Rowlinson, James Hopkins, Tomás Sherwen, Lisa K. Whalley, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15747–15765, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The cycling of NO and NO2 is important to understand to be able to predict O3 concentrations in the atmosphere. We have used long-term measurements from the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory together with model outputs to investigate the cycling of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in very clean marine air. This study shows that we understand the processes occurring in very clean air, but with small amounts of pollution in the air, known chemistry cannot explain what is observed.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart E. Lacy, Thomas J. Bannan, Michael Flynn, Tom Gardiner, David Harrison, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Katie Read, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4091–4105, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Regardless of the cost of the measuring instrument, there are no perfect measurements. For this reason, we compare the quality of the information provided by cheap devices when they are used to measure air pollutants and we try to emphasise that before judging the potential usefulness of the devices, the user must specify his own needs. Since commonly used performance indices/metrics can be misleading in qualifying this, we propose complementary visual analysis to the more commonly used metrics.
Hannah Walker, Daniel Stone, Trevor Ingham, Sina Hackenberg, Danny Cryer, Shalini Punjabi, Katie Read, James Lee, Lisa Whalley, Dominick V. Spracklen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Steve R. Arnold, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5535–5557, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5535-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5535-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glyoxal is a ubiquitous reactive organic compound in the atmosphere, which may form organic aerosol and impact the atmosphere's oxidising capacity. There are limited measurements of glyoxal's abundance in the remote marine atmosphere. We made new measurements of glyoxal using a highly sensitive technique over two 4-week periods in the tropical Atlantic atmosphere. We show that daytime measurements are mostly consistent with our chemical understanding but a potential missing source at night.
Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Beth S. Nelson, Luis Neves, Katie A. Read, Chris Reed, Martyn Ward, Matthew J. Rowlinson, and James D. Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3071–3085, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3071-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3071-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
NOx has been measured in remote marine air via chemiluminescence detection using two different methods for NO2 to NO photolytic conversion: (a) internal diodes and a reaction chamber made of Teflon-like barium-doped material, which causes a NO2 artefact, and (b) external diodes and a quartz photolysis cell. Once corrections are made for the artefact of (a), the two converters are shown to give comparable NO2 mixing ratios, giving confidence in the quantitative measurement of NOx at low levels.
Douglas Morrison, Ian Crawford, Nicholas Marsden, Michael Flynn, Katie Read, Luis Neves, Virginia Foot, Paul Kaye, Warren Stanley, Hugh Coe, David Topping, and Martin Gallagher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14473–14490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14473-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14473-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We provide conservative estimates of the concentrations of bacteria within transatlantic dust clouds, originating from the African continent. We observe significant seasonal differences in the overall concentrations of particles but no seasonal variation in the ratio between bacteria and dust. With bacteria contributing to ice formation at warmer temperatures than dust, our observations should improve the accuracy of climate models.
Manuela van Pinxteren, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Nadja Triesch, Christian Stolle, Oliver Wurl, Enno Bahlmann, Xianda Gong, Jens Voigtländer, Heike Wex, Tiera-Brandy Robinson, Stefan Barthel, Sebastian Zeppenfeld, Erik Hans Hoffmann, Marie Roveretto, Chunlin Li, Benoit Grosselin, Veronique Daële, Fabian Senf, Dominik van Pinxteren, Malena Manzi, Nicolás Zabalegui, Sanja Frka, Blaženka Gašparović, Ryan Pereira, Tao Li, Liang Wen, Jiarong Li, Chao Zhu, Hui Chen, Jianmin Chen, Björn Fiedler, Wolf von Tümpling, Katie Alana Read, Shalini Punjabi, Alastair Charles Lewis, James Roland Hopkins, Lucy Jane Carpenter, Ilka Peeken, Tim Rixen, Detlef Schulz-Bull, María Eugenia Monge, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Christian George, Frank Stratmann, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6921–6951, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6921-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6921-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
An introduction to a comprehensive field campaign performed at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory regarding ocean–atmosphere interactions is given. Chemical, physical, biological and meteorological techniques were applied, and measurements of bulk water, the sea surface microlayer, cloud water and ambient aerosol particles took place. Oceanic compounds were found to be transferred to atmospheric aerosol and to the cloud level; however, sea spray contributions to CCN and INPs were limited.
Prasad Kasibhatla, Tomás Sherwen, Mathew J. Evans, Lucy J. Carpenter, Chris Reed, Becky Alexander, Qianjie Chen, Melissa P. Sulprizio, James D. Lee, Katie A. Read, William Bloss, Leigh R. Crilley, William C. Keene, Alexander A. P. Pszenny, and Alma Hodzic
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11185–11203, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11185-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11185-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Recent measurements of NOx and HONO suggest that photolysis of particulate nitrate in sea-salt aerosols is important in terms of marine boundary layer oxidant chemistry. We present the first global-scale assessment of the significance of this new chemical pathway for NOx, O3, and OH in the marine boundary layer. We also present a preliminary assessment of the potential impact of photolysis of particulate nitrate associated with other aerosol types on continental boundary layer chemistry.
Daniel Stone, Tomás Sherwen, Mathew J. Evans, Stewart Vaughan, Trevor Ingham, Lisa K. Whalley, Peter M. Edwards, Katie A. Read, James D. Lee, Sarah J. Moller, Lucy J. Carpenter, Alastair C. Lewis, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3541–3561, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3541-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3541-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Halogen chemistry in the troposphere impacts oxidising capacity, but model studies assessing the nature of these impacts can vary according to the model framework used. In this work we present simulations of OH and HO2 radicals using both box and global model frameworks, and compare to observations made at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory. We highlight, and rationalise, differences between the model frameworks.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Chris Reed, Mathew J. Evans, Leigh R. Crilley, William J. Bloss, Tomás Sherwen, Katie A. Read, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4081–4092, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4081-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4081-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The source of ozone-depleting compounds in the remote troposphere has been thought to be long-range transport of secondary pollutants such as organic nitrates. Processing of organic nitrates to nitric acid and subsequent deposition on surfaces in the atmosphere was thought to remove these nitrates from the ozone–NOx–HOx cycle. We found through observation of NOx in the remote tropical troposphere at the Cape Verde Observatory that surface nitrates can be released back into the atmosphere.
Adedayo R. Adedeji, Stephen J. Andrews, Matthew J. Rowlinson, Mathew J. Evans, Alastair C. Lewis, Shigeru Hashimoto, Hitoshi Mukai, Hiroshi Tanimoto, Yasunori Tohjima, and Takuya Saito
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9229–9244, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9229-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9229-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We use the GEOS-Chem model to interpret observations of CO, C2H6, C3H8, NOx, NOy and O3 made from Hateruma Island in 2018. The model captures many synoptic-scale events and the seasonality of most pollutants at the site but underestimates C2H6 and C3H8 during the winter. These underestimates are unlikely to be reconciled by increases in biomass burning emissions but could be reconciled by increasing the Asian anthropogenic source of C2H6 and C3H8 by factors of around 2 and 3, respectively.
Joanna E. Dyson, Lisa K. Whalley, Eloise J. Slater, Robert Woodward-Massey, Chunxiang Ye, James D. Lee, Freya Squires, James R. Hopkins, Rachel E. Dunmore, Marvin Shaw, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Alastair C. Lewis, Stephen D. Worrall, Asan Bacak, Archit Mehra, Thomas J. Bannan, Hugh Coe, Carl J. Percival, Bin Ouyang, C. Nicholas Hewitt, Roderic L. Jones, Leigh R. Crilley, Louisa J. Kramer, W. Joe F. Acton, William J. Bloss, Supattarachai Saksakulkrai, Jingsha Xu, Zongbo Shi, Roy M. Harrison, Simone Kotthaus, Sue Grimmond, Yele Sun, Weiqi Xu, Siyao Yue, Lianfang Wei, Pingqing Fu, Xinming Wang, Stephen R. Arnold, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5679–5697, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5679-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5679-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The hydroxyl (OH) and closely coupled hydroperoxyl (HO2) radicals are vital for their role in the removal of atmospheric pollutants. In less polluted regions, atmospheric models over-predict HO2 concentrations. In this modelling study, the impact of heterogeneous uptake of HO2 onto aerosol surfaces on radical concentrations and the ozone production regime in Beijing in the summertime is investigated, and the implications for emissions policies across China are considered.
Viral Shah, Daniel J. Jacob, Ruijun Dang, Lok N. Lamsal, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, K. Folkert Boersma, Sebastian D. Eastham, Thibaud M. Fritz, Chelsea Thompson, Jeff Peischl, Ilann Bourgeois, Ilana B. Pollack, Benjamin A. Nault, Ronald C. Cohen, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Tomás Sherwen, and Mat J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1227–1257, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
NOx in the free troposphere (above 2 km) affects global tropospheric chemistry and the retrieval and interpretation of satellite NO2 measurements. We evaluate free tropospheric NOx in global atmospheric chemistry models and find that recycling NOx from its reservoirs over the oceans is faster than that simulated in the models, resulting in increases in simulated tropospheric ozone and OH. Over the U.S., free tropospheric NO2 contributes the majority of the tropospheric NO2 column in summer.
Simone T. Andersen, Beth S. Nelson, Katie A. Read, Shalini Punjabi, Luis Neves, Matthew J. Rowlinson, James Hopkins, Tomás Sherwen, Lisa K. Whalley, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15747–15765, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The cycling of NO and NO2 is important to understand to be able to predict O3 concentrations in the atmosphere. We have used long-term measurements from the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory together with model outputs to investigate the cycling of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in very clean marine air. This study shows that we understand the processes occurring in very clean air, but with small amounts of pollution in the air, known chemistry cannot explain what is observed.
Marsailidh M. Twigg, Augustinus J. C. Berkhout, Nicholas Cowan, Sabine Crunaire, Enrico Dammers, Volker Ebert, Vincent Gaudion, Marty Haaima, Christoph Häni, Lewis John, Matthew R. Jones, Bjorn Kamps, John Kentisbeer, Thomas Kupper, Sarah R. Leeson, Daiana Leuenberger, Nils O. B. Lüttschwager, Ulla Makkonen, Nicholas A. Martin, David Missler, Duncan Mounsor, Albrecht Neftel, Chad Nelson, Eiko Nemitz, Rutger Oudwater, Celine Pascale, Jean-Eudes Petit, Andrea Pogany, Nathalie Redon, Jörg Sintermann, Amy Stephens, Mark A. Sutton, Yuk S. Tang, Rens Zijlmans, Christine F. Braban, and Bernhard Niederhauser
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 6755–6787, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6755-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6755-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Ammonia (NH3) gas in the atmosphere impacts the environment, human health, and, indirectly, climate. Historic NH3 monitoring was labour intensive, and the instruments were complicated. Over the last decade, there has been a rapid technology development, including “plug-and-play” instruments. This study is an extensive field comparison of the currently available technologies and provides evidence that for routine monitoring, standard operating protocols are required for datasets to be comparable.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart E. Lacy, Thomas J. Bannan, Michael Flynn, Tom Gardiner, David Harrison, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Katie Read, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 4091–4105, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-4091-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Regardless of the cost of the measuring instrument, there are no perfect measurements. For this reason, we compare the quality of the information provided by cheap devices when they are used to measure air pollutants and we try to emphasise that before judging the potential usefulness of the devices, the user must specify his own needs. Since commonly used performance indices/metrics can be misleading in qualifying this, we propose complementary visual analysis to the more commonly used metrics.
Marios Panagi, Roberto Sommariva, Zoë L. Fleming, Paul S. Monks, Gongda Lu, Eloise A. Marais, James R. Hopkins, Alastair C. Lewis, Qiang Zhang, James D. Lee, Freya A. Squires, Lisa K. Whalley, Eloise J. Slater, Dwayne E. Heard, Robert Woodward-Massey, Chunxiang Ye, and Joshua D. Vande Hey
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-379, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-379, 2022
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
A dispersion model and a box model were combined to investigate the evolution of VOCs in Beijing once they are emitted from anthropogenic sources. It was determined that during the winter time the VOC concentrations in Beijing are driven predominantly by sources within Beijing and by a combination of transport and chemistry during the summer. Furthermore, the results in the paper highlight the need for a season specific policy.
Hannah Walker, Daniel Stone, Trevor Ingham, Sina Hackenberg, Danny Cryer, Shalini Punjabi, Katie Read, James Lee, Lisa Whalley, Dominick V. Spracklen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Steve R. Arnold, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5535–5557, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5535-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5535-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glyoxal is a ubiquitous reactive organic compound in the atmosphere, which may form organic aerosol and impact the atmosphere's oxidising capacity. There are limited measurements of glyoxal's abundance in the remote marine atmosphere. We made new measurements of glyoxal using a highly sensitive technique over two 4-week periods in the tropical Atlantic atmosphere. We show that daytime measurements are mostly consistent with our chemical understanding but a potential missing source at night.
Leigh R. Crilley, Louisa J. Kramer, Francis D. Pope, Chris Reed, James D. Lee, Lucy J. Carpenter, Lloyd D. J. Hollis, Stephen M. Ball, and William J. Bloss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18213–18225, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18213-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18213-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous acid (HONO) is a key source of atmospheric oxidants. We evaluate if the ocean surface is a source of HONO for the marine boundary layer, using measurements from two contrasting coastal locations. We observed no evidence for a night-time ocean surface source, in contrast to previous work. This points to significant geographical variation in the predominant HONO formation mechanisms in marine environments, reflecting possible variability in the sea-surface microlayer composition.
Adam R. Vaughan, James D. Lee, Stefan Metzger, David Durden, Alastair C. Lewis, Marvin D. Shaw, Will S. Drysdale, Ruth M. Purvis, Brian Davison, and C. Nicholas Hewitt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15283–15298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15283-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Validating emissions estimates of atmospheric pollutants is a vital pathway towards reducing urban concentrations of air pollution and ensuring effective legislative controls are implemented. The work presented here highlights a strategy capable of quantifying and spatially disaggregating NOx emissions over challenging urban terrain. This work shows great scope as a tool for emission inventory validation and independent generation of high-resolution surface emissions on a city-wide scale.
Rebecca L. Wagner, Naomi J. Farren, Jack Davison, Stuart Young, James R. Hopkins, Alastair C. Lewis, David C. Carslaw, and Marvin D. Shaw
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6083–6100, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6083-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6083-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We describe the use of a selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS) in a mobile laboratory to provide on-road, high spatial and temporal measurements of CO2, CH4, multiple volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other trace gases. Results are presented that highlight the potential of this platform for developing characterisation methods of different emissions sources in complex urban areas.
Beth S. Nelson, Gareth J. Stewart, Will S. Drysdale, Mike J. Newland, Adam R. Vaughan, Rachel E. Dunmore, Pete M. Edwards, Alastair C. Lewis, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, W. Joe Acton, C. Nicholas Hewitt, Leigh R. Crilley, Mohammed S. Alam, Ülkü A. Şahin, David C. S. Beddows, William J. Bloss, Eloise Slater, Lisa K. Whalley, Dwayne E. Heard, James M. Cash, Ben Langford, Eiko Nemitz, Roberto Sommariva, Sam Cox, Shivani, Ranu Gadi, Bhola R. Gurjar, James R. Hopkins, Andrew R. Rickard, and James D. Lee
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13609–13630, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13609-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13609-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone production at an urban site in Delhi is sensitive to volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations, particularly those of the aromatic, monoterpene, and alkene VOC classes. The change in ozone production by varying atmospheric pollutants according to their sources, as defined in an emissions inventory, is investigated. The study suggests that reducing road transport emissions alone does not reduce reactive VOCs in the atmosphere enough to perturb an increase in ozone production.
Esther Borrás, Luis A. Tortajada-Genaro, Milagro Ródenas, Teresa Vera, Thomas Speak, Paul Seakins, Marvin D. Shaw, Alastair C. Lewis, and Amalia Muñoz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4989–4999, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4989-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4989-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents promising results in the characterization of specific atmospheric pollutants (oxygenated VOCs) present at very low but highly relevant concentrations.
We carried out this research at EUPHORE facilities within the framework of the EUROCHAMP project. A new analytical method, with high robustness and precision, also clean in the use of solvents, low cost, and easily adaptable for use in mobile laboratories for air quality monitoring, is presented.
Simone T. Andersen, Lucy J. Carpenter, Beth S. Nelson, Luis Neves, Katie A. Read, Chris Reed, Martyn Ward, Matthew J. Rowlinson, and James D. Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3071–3085, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3071-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3071-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
NOx has been measured in remote marine air via chemiluminescence detection using two different methods for NO2 to NO photolytic conversion: (a) internal diodes and a reaction chamber made of Teflon-like barium-doped material, which causes a NO2 artefact, and (b) external diodes and a quartz photolysis cell. Once corrections are made for the artefact of (a), the two converters are shown to give comparable NO2 mixing ratios, giving confidence in the quantitative measurement of NOx at low levels.
Steven J. Campbell, Kate Wolfer, Battist Utinger, Joe Westwood, Zhi-Hui Zhang, Nicolas Bukowiecki, Sarah S. Steimer, Tuan V. Vu, Jingsha Xu, Nicholas Straw, Steven Thomson, Atallah Elzein, Yele Sun, Di Liu, Linjie Li, Pingqing Fu, Alastair C. Lewis, Roy M. Harrison, William J. Bloss, Miranda Loh, Mark R. Miller, Zongbo Shi, and Markus Kalberer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5549–5573, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5549-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5549-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we quantify PM2.5 oxidative potential (OP), a metric widely suggested as a potential measure of particle toxicity, in Beijing in summer and winter using four acellular assays. We correlate PM2.5 OP with a comprehensive range of atmospheric and particle composition measurements, demonstrating inter-assay differences and seasonal variation of PM2.5 OP. Using multivariate statistical analysis, we highlight specific particle chemical components and sources that influence OP.
Stuart K. Grange, James D. Lee, Will S. Drysdale, Alastair C. Lewis, Christoph Hueglin, Lukas Emmenegger, and David C. Carslaw
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 4169–4185, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4169-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-4169-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The changes in mobility across Europe due to the COVID-19 lockdowns had consequences for air quality. We compare what was experienced to estimates of "what would have been" without the lockdowns. Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), an important vehicle-sourced pollutant, decreased by a third. However, ozone (O3) increased in response to lower NO2. Because NO2 is decreasing over time, increases in O3 can be expected in European urban areas and will require management to avoid future negative outcomes.
Shona E. Wilde, Pamela A. Dominutti, Grant Allen, Stephen J. Andrews, Prudence Bateson, Stephane J.-B. Bauguitte, Ralph R. Burton, Ioana Colfescu, James France, James R. Hopkins, Langwen Huang, Anna E. Jones, Tom Lachlan-Cope, James D. Lee, Alastair C. Lewis, Stephen D. Mobbs, Alexandra Weiss, Stuart Young, and Ruth M. Purvis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 3741–3762, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3741-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-3741-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We use airborne measurements to evaluate the speciation of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from offshore oil and gas (O&G) installations in the North Sea. The composition of emissions varied across regions associated with either gas, condensate or oil extraction, demonstrating that VOC emissions are not uniform across the whole O&G sector. We compare our results to VOC source profiles in the UK emissions inventory, showing these emissions are not currently fully characterized.
Lisa K. Whalley, Eloise J. Slater, Robert Woodward-Massey, Chunxiang Ye, James D. Lee, Freya Squires, James R. Hopkins, Rachel E. Dunmore, Marvin Shaw, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Alastair C. Lewis, Archit Mehra, Stephen D. Worrall, Asan Bacak, Thomas J. Bannan, Hugh Coe, Carl J. Percival, Bin Ouyang, Roderic L. Jones, Leigh R. Crilley, Louisa J. Kramer, William J. Bloss, Tuan Vu, Simone Kotthaus, Sue Grimmond, Yele Sun, Weiqi Xu, Siyao Yue, Lujie Ren, W. Joe F. Acton, C. Nicholas Hewitt, Xinming Wang, Pingqing Fu, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 2125–2147, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2125-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-2125-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
To understand how emission controls will impact ozone, an understanding of the sources and sinks of OH and the chemical cycling between peroxy radicals is needed. This paper presents measurements of OH, HO2 and total RO2 taken in central Beijing. The radical observations are compared to a detailed chemistry model, which shows that under low NO conditions, there is a missing OH source. Under high NOx conditions, the model under-predicts RO2 and impacts our ability to model ozone.
Mike J. Newland, Daniel J. Bryant, Rachel E. Dunmore, Thomas J. Bannan, W. Joe F. Acton, Ben Langford, James R. Hopkins, Freya A. Squires, William Dixon, William S. Drysdale, Peter D. Ivatt, Mathew J. Evans, Peter M. Edwards, Lisa K. Whalley, Dwayne E. Heard, Eloise J. Slater, Robert Woodward-Massey, Chunxiang Ye, Archit Mehra, Stephen D. Worrall, Asan Bacak, Hugh Coe, Carl J. Percival, C. Nicholas Hewitt, James D. Lee, Tianqu Cui, Jason D. Surratt, Xinming Wang, Alastair C. Lewis, Andrew R. Rickard, and Jacqueline F. Hamilton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1613–1625, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1613-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1613-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We report the formation of secondary pollutants in the urban megacity of Beijing that are typically associated with remote regions such as rainforests. This is caused by extremely low levels of nitric oxide (NO), typically expected to be high in urban areas, observed in the afternoon. This work has significant implications for how we understand atmospheric chemistry in the urban environment and thus for how to implement effective policies to improve urban air quality.
David C. Loades, Mingxi Yang, Thomas G. Bell, Adam R. Vaughan, Ryan J. Pound, Stefan Metzger, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6915–6931, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6915-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6915-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The loss of ozone to the sea surface was measured from the south coast of the UK and was found to be more rapid than previous observations over the open ocean. This is likely a consequence of different chemistry and biology in coastal environments. Strong winds appeared to speed up the loss of ozone. A better understanding of what influences ozone loss over the sea will lead to better model estimates of total ozone in the troposphere.
Eloise J. Slater, Lisa K. Whalley, Robert Woodward-Massey, Chunxiang Ye, James D. Lee, Freya Squires, James R. Hopkins, Rachel E. Dunmore, Marvin Shaw, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Alastair C. Lewis, Leigh R. Crilley, Louisa Kramer, William Bloss, Tuan Vu, Yele Sun, Weiqi Xu, Siyao Yue, Lujie Ren, W. Joe F. Acton, C. Nicholas Hewitt, Xinming Wang, Pingqing Fu, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14847–14871, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14847-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14847-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The paper details atmospheric chemistry in a megacity (Beijing), focussing on radicals which mediate the formation of secondary pollutants such as ozone and particles. Highly polluted conditions were experienced, including the highest ever levels of nitric oxide (NO), with simultaneous radical measurements. Radical concentrations were large during "haze" events, demonstrating active photochemistry. Modelling showed that our understanding of the chemistry at high NOx levels is incomplete.
Douglas Morrison, Ian Crawford, Nicholas Marsden, Michael Flynn, Katie Read, Luis Neves, Virginia Foot, Paul Kaye, Warren Stanley, Hugh Coe, David Topping, and Martin Gallagher
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14473–14490, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14473-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14473-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We provide conservative estimates of the concentrations of bacteria within transatlantic dust clouds, originating from the African continent. We observe significant seasonal differences in the overall concentrations of particles but no seasonal variation in the ratio between bacteria and dust. With bacteria contributing to ice formation at warmer temperatures than dust, our observations should improve the accuracy of climate models.
Atallah Elzein, Gareth J. Stewart, Stefan J. Swift, Beth S. Nelson, Leigh R. Crilley, Mohammed S. Alam, Ernesto Reyes-Villegas, Ranu Gadi, Roy M. Harrison, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, and Alastair C. Lewis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14303–14319, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14303-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14303-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We collected high-frequency air particle samples (PM2.5) in Beijing (China) and Delhi (India) and measured the concentration of PAHs in daytime and night-time. PAHs were higher in Delhi than in Beijing, and the five-ring PAHs contribute the most to the total PAH concentration. We compared the emission sources and identified the major sectors that could be subject to mitigation measures. The adverse health effects from inhalation exposure to PAHs in Delhi are 2.2 times higher than in Beijing.
Swaleha Inamdar, Liselotte Tinel, Rosie Chance, Lucy J. Carpenter, Prabhakaran Sabu, Racheal Chacko, Sarat C. Tripathy, Anvita U. Kerkar, Alok K. Sinha, Parli Venkateswaran Bhaskar, Amit Sarkar, Rajdeep Roy, Tomás Sherwen, Carlos Cuevas, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Kirpa Ram, and Anoop S. Mahajan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 12093–12114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12093-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-12093-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Iodine chemistry is generating a lot of interest because of its impacts on the oxidising capacity of the marine boundary and depletion of ozone. However, one of the challenges has been predicting the right levels of iodine in the models, which depend on parameterisations for emissions from the sea surface. This paper discusses the different parameterisations available and compares them with observations, showing that our current knowledge is still insufficient, especially on a regional scale.
Daniel J. Bryant, William J. Dixon, James R. Hopkins, Rachel E. Dunmore, Kelly L. Pereira, Marvin Shaw, Freya A. Squires, Thomas J. Bannan, Archit Mehra, Stephen D. Worrall, Asan Bacak, Hugh Coe, Carl J. Percival, Lisa K. Whalley, Dwayne E. Heard, Eloise J. Slater, Bin Ouyang, Tianqu Cui, Jason D. Surratt, Di Liu, Zongbo Shi, Roy Harrison, Yele Sun, Weiqi Xu, Alastair C. Lewis, James D. Lee, Andrew R. Rickard, and Jacqueline F. Hamilton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 7531–7552, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7531-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-7531-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Using the chemical composition of offline filter samples, we report that a large share of oxidized organic aerosol in Beijing during summer is due to isoprene secondary organic aerosol (iSOA). iSOA organosulfates showed a strong correlation with the product of ozone and particulate sulfate. This highlights the role of both photochemistry and the availability of particulate sulfate in heterogeneous reactions and further demonstrates that iSOA formation is controlled by anthropogenic emissions.
Manuela van Pinxteren, Khanneh Wadinga Fomba, Nadja Triesch, Christian Stolle, Oliver Wurl, Enno Bahlmann, Xianda Gong, Jens Voigtländer, Heike Wex, Tiera-Brandy Robinson, Stefan Barthel, Sebastian Zeppenfeld, Erik Hans Hoffmann, Marie Roveretto, Chunlin Li, Benoit Grosselin, Veronique Daële, Fabian Senf, Dominik van Pinxteren, Malena Manzi, Nicolás Zabalegui, Sanja Frka, Blaženka Gašparović, Ryan Pereira, Tao Li, Liang Wen, Jiarong Li, Chao Zhu, Hui Chen, Jianmin Chen, Björn Fiedler, Wolf von Tümpling, Katie Alana Read, Shalini Punjabi, Alastair Charles Lewis, James Roland Hopkins, Lucy Jane Carpenter, Ilka Peeken, Tim Rixen, Detlef Schulz-Bull, María Eugenia Monge, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Christian George, Frank Stratmann, and Hartmut Herrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6921–6951, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6921-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6921-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
An introduction to a comprehensive field campaign performed at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory regarding ocean–atmosphere interactions is given. Chemical, physical, biological and meteorological techniques were applied, and measurements of bulk water, the sea surface microlayer, cloud water and ambient aerosol particles took place. Oceanic compounds were found to be transferred to atmospheric aerosol and to the cloud level; however, sea spray contributions to CCN and INPs were limited.
Ryan J. Pound, Tomás Sherwen, Detlev Helmig, Lucy J. Carpenter, and Mat J. Evans
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 4227–4239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4227-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-4227-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone is an important pollutant with impacts on health and the environment. Ozone is lost to plants, land and the oceans. Loss to the ocean is slow compared to all other types of land cover and has not received as much attention. We build on previous work to more accurately model ozone loss to the ocean. We find changes in the concentration of ozone over the oceans, notably the Southern Ocean, which improves model performance.
Leigh R. Crilley, Ajit Singh, Louisa J. Kramer, Marvin D. Shaw, Mohammed S. Alam, Joshua S. Apte, William J. Bloss, Lea Hildebrandt Ruiz, Pingqing Fu, Weiqi Fu, Shahzad Gani, Michael Gatari, Evgenia Ilyinskaya, Alastair C. Lewis, David Ng'ang'a, Yele Sun, Rachel C. W. Whitty, Siyao Yue, Stuart Young, and Francis D. Pope
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 1181–1193, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1181-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-1181-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
There is considerable interest in using low-cost optical particle counters (OPCs) for particle mass measurements; however, there is no agreed upon method with respect to calibration. Here we exploit a number of datasets globally to demonstrate that particle composition and relative humidity are the key factors affecting measured concentrations from a low-cost OPC, and we present a simple correction methodology that corrects for this influence.
Michal T. Filus, Elliot L. Atlas, Maria A. Navarro, Elena Meneguz, David Thomson, Matthew J. Ashfold, Lucy J. Carpenter, Stephen J. Andrews, and Neil R. P. Harris
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1163–1181, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1163-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1163-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The effectiveness of transport of short-lived halocarbons to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere remains an important unknown in quantifying the supply of ozone-depleting substances to the stratosphere. In early 2014, a major field campaign in Guam in the western Pacific, involving UK and US research aircraft, sampled the tropical troposphere and lower stratosphere. The resulting measurements of CH3I, CHBr3 and CH2Br2 are compared here with calculations from a Lagrangian model.
Leigh R. Crilley, Louisa J. Kramer, Bin Ouyang, Jun Duan, Wenqian Zhang, Shengrui Tong, Maofa Ge, Ke Tang, Min Qin, Pinhua Xie, Marvin D. Shaw, Alastair C. Lewis, Archit Mehra, Thomas J. Bannan, Stephen D. Worrall, Michael Priestley, Asan Bacak, Hugh Coe, James Allan, Carl J. Percival, Olalekan A. M. Popoola, Roderic L. Jones, and William J. Bloss
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6449–6463, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6449-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6449-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous acid (HONO) is key species for understanding tropospheric chemistry, yet accurate and precise measurements are challenging. Here we report an inter–comparison exercise of a number of instruments that measured HONO in a highly polluted location (Beijing). All instruments agreed on the temporal trends yet displayed divergence in absolute concentrations. The cause of this divergence was unclear, but it may in part be due to spatial variability in instrument location.
Tomás Sherwen, Rosie J. Chance, Liselotte Tinel, Daniel Ellis, Mat J. Evans, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 1239–1262, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1239-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-11-1239-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Iodine plays an important role in the Earth system, as a nutrient to the biosphere and by changing the concentrations of climate and air-quality species. However, there are uncertainties on the magnitude of iodine’s role, and a key uncertainty is our understanding of iodide in the global sea-surface. Here we take a data-driven approach using a machine learning algorithm to convert a sparse set of sea-surface iodide observations into a spatially and temporally resolved dataset for use in models.
Leon King, Ieuan J. Roberts, Liselotte Tinel, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Ocean Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2019-87, https://doi.org/10.5194/os-2019-87, 2019
Preprint withdrawn
Short summary
Short summary
Recent studies suggest that the sea surface microlayer is ubiquitously enriched in surfactants, even at high wind speeds, which exert a control on air-sea gas exchange. These conclusions are partly based on voltammetry measurements of
surfactant activity(SA). Here, we show that the response of SA-voltammetry varies widely for different surfactants, becomes saturated above total surfactant concentrations of 1–2 mg L-1, and shows a poor correlation in natural waters with surface film pressure.
Atallah Elzein, Rachel E. Dunmore, Martyn W. Ward, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, and Alastair C. Lewis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 8741–8758, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8741-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-8741-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
This article investigates the chemical composition of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in Beijing, China, in winter 2016. It includes the identification and quantification of 35 polycyclic aromatic compounds. The results include their distribution between daytime and night-time. They were correlated with the gas-phase concentrations of atmospheric oxidants. Major emission sources were identified, and the cancer risk associated with particle inhalation in Beijing was estimated.
Zongbo Shi, Tuan Vu, Simone Kotthaus, Roy M. Harrison, Sue Grimmond, Siyao Yue, Tong Zhu, James Lee, Yiqun Han, Matthias Demuzere, Rachel E. Dunmore, Lujie Ren, Di Liu, Yuanlin Wang, Oliver Wild, James Allan, W. Joe Acton, Janet Barlow, Benjamin Barratt, David Beddows, William J. Bloss, Giulia Calzolai, David Carruthers, David C. Carslaw, Queenie Chan, Lia Chatzidiakou, Yang Chen, Leigh Crilley, Hugh Coe, Tie Dai, Ruth Doherty, Fengkui Duan, Pingqing Fu, Baozhu Ge, Maofa Ge, Daobo Guan, Jacqueline F. Hamilton, Kebin He, Mathew Heal, Dwayne Heard, C. Nicholas Hewitt, Michael Hollaway, Min Hu, Dongsheng Ji, Xujiang Jiang, Rod Jones, Markus Kalberer, Frank J. Kelly, Louisa Kramer, Ben Langford, Chun Lin, Alastair C. Lewis, Jie Li, Weijun Li, Huan Liu, Junfeng Liu, Miranda Loh, Keding Lu, Franco Lucarelli, Graham Mann, Gordon McFiggans, Mark R. Miller, Graham Mills, Paul Monk, Eiko Nemitz, Fionna O'Connor, Bin Ouyang, Paul I. Palmer, Carl Percival, Olalekan Popoola, Claire Reeves, Andrew R. Rickard, Longyi Shao, Guangyu Shi, Dominick Spracklen, David Stevenson, Yele Sun, Zhiwei Sun, Shu Tao, Shengrui Tong, Qingqing Wang, Wenhua Wang, Xinming Wang, Xuejun Wang, Zifang Wang, Lianfang Wei, Lisa Whalley, Xuefang Wu, Zhijun Wu, Pinhua Xie, Fumo Yang, Qiang Zhang, Yanli Zhang, Yuanhang Zhang, and Mei Zheng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 7519–7546, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7519-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-7519-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
APHH-Beijing is a collaborative international research programme to study the sources, processes and health effects of air pollution in Beijing. This introduction to the special issue provides an overview of (i) the APHH-Beijing programme, (ii) the measurement and modelling activities performed as part of it and (iii) the air quality and meteorological conditions during joint intensive field campaigns as a core activity within APHH-Beijing.
Alba Badia, Claire E. Reeves, Alex R. Baker, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Rainer Volkamer, Theodore K. Koenig, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Lucy J. Carpenter, Stephen J. Andrews, Tomás Sherwen, and Roland von Glasow
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3161–3189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3161-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3161-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The oceans have an impact on the composition and reactivity of the troposphere through the emission of gases and particles. Thus, a quantitative understanding of the marine atmosphere is crucial to examine the oxidative capacity and climate forcing. This study investigates the impact of halogens in the tropical troposphere and explores the sensitivity of this to uncertainties in the fluxes and their chemical processing. Our modelled tropospheric Ox loss due to halogens ranges from 20 % to 60 %.
Kate R. Smith, Peter M. Edwards, Peter D. Ivatt, James D. Lee, Freya Squires, Chengliang Dai, Richard E. Peltier, Mat J. Evans, Yele Sun, and Alastair C. Lewis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 1325–1336, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1325-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-1325-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Clusters of low-cost, low-power atmospheric gas sensors were built into a sensor instrument to monitor NO2 and O3 in Beijing, alongside reference instruments, aiming to improve the reliability of sensor measurements. Clustering identical sensors and using the median sensor signal was used to minimize drift over short and medium timescales. Three different machine learning techniques were used for all the sensor data in an attempt to correct for cross-interferences, which worked to some degree.
Mingxi Yang and Zoë L. Fleming
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 459–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-459-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-459-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The atmosphere contains thousands of different organic compounds but the quantification of their total burden has been a technical challenge. This hinders our understanding in atmospheric chemistry, air pollution, and global carbon cycling. Here we present a novel and robust method to measure total atmospheric organic carbon. By comparing the total organic carbon concentration in marine air to the sum of speciated organic measurements, we aim to estimate the pool of undetected organic species.
Liang Feng, Paul I. Palmer, Robyn Butler, Stephen J. Andrews, Elliot L. Atlas, Lucy J. Carpenter, Valeria Donets, Neil R. P. Harris, Ross J. Salawitch, Laura L. Pan, and Sue M. Schauffler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14787–14798, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14787-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14787-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We infer surface fluxes of bromoform (CHBr3) and dibromoform (CH2Br2) from CAST and CONTRAST aircraft observations over the western Pacific, using a tagged version of the GEOS-Chem global 3-D atmospheric chemistry model and a Maximum A Posteriori inverse model. Using the aircraft data, we estimate the regional fluxes about 20–40 % smaller than the prior inventories by Ordóñez et al. (2012). We find no evidence to support a robust linear relationship between CHBr3 and CH2Br2 oceanic emissions.
Robyn Butler, Paul I. Palmer, Liang Feng, Stephen J. Andrews, Elliot L. Atlas, Lucy J. Carpenter, Valeria Donets, Neil R. P. Harris, Stephen A. Montzka, Laura L. Pan, Ross J. Salawitch, and Sue M. Schauffler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 13135–13153, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13135-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-13135-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Natural sources of short-lived bromoform and dibromomethane are important for determining the inorganic bromine budget in the stratosphere that drives ozone loss. Two new modelling techniques describe how different geographical source regions influence their atmospheric variability over the western Pacific. We find that it is driven primarily by open ocean sources, and we use atmospheric observations to help estimate their contributions to the upper tropospheric inorganic bromine budget.
Prasad Kasibhatla, Tomás Sherwen, Mathew J. Evans, Lucy J. Carpenter, Chris Reed, Becky Alexander, Qianjie Chen, Melissa P. Sulprizio, James D. Lee, Katie A. Read, William Bloss, Leigh R. Crilley, William C. Keene, Alexander A. P. Pszenny, and Alma Hodzic
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11185–11203, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11185-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11185-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Recent measurements of NOx and HONO suggest that photolysis of particulate nitrate in sea-salt aerosols is important in terms of marine boundary layer oxidant chemistry. We present the first global-scale assessment of the significance of this new chemical pathway for NOx, O3, and OH in the marine boundary layer. We also present a preliminary assessment of the potential impact of photolysis of particulate nitrate associated with other aerosol types on continental boundary layer chemistry.
Stuart K. Grange, David C. Carslaw, Alastair C. Lewis, Eirini Boleti, and Christoph Hueglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6223–6239, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6223-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6223-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Weather (meteorology) has a strong effect on air quality; if not accounted for, there is uncertainty surrounding what drives features in air quality time series. We present a machine learning approach to account for meteorology using PM10 data in Switzerland. With the exception of one site, all Swiss normalised PM10 trends were found to significantly decrease, which validates air quality management efforts. The machine learning models were interpreted to investigate interesting processes.
Richard Newton, Geraint Vaughan, Eric Hintsa, Michal T. Filus, Laura L. Pan, Shawn Honomichl, Elliot Atlas, Stephen J. Andrews, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5157–5171, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5157-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5157-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
We consider the ozone measurements from aircraft during the CAST/CONTRAST/ATTREX campaigns of 2014. Low concentrations of ozone were found in the layer of 10–15 km altitude, which is indicative of uplift of ozone-poor air from near the sea surface to 10–15 km altitude. Chemicals that have origins in the sea were found in greater abundance when ozone concentrations were low compared to when ozone concentrations were high. The lowest ozone concentrations were found in the Southern Hemisphere.
James D. Lee, Stephen D. Mobbs, Axel Wellpott, Grant Allen, Stephane J.-B. Bauguitte, Ralph R. Burton, Richard Camilli, Hugh Coe, Rebecca E. Fisher, James L. France, Martin Gallagher, James R. Hopkins, Mathias Lanoiselle, Alastair C. Lewis, David Lowry, Euan G. Nisbet, Ruth M. Purvis, Sebastian O'Shea, John A. Pyle, and Thomas B. Ryerson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1725–1739, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1725-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1725-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This work describes measurements, made from an aircraft platform, of the emission of methane and other organic gases from an uncontrolled leak from an oil platform in the North Sea (Total Elgin). The measurements made helped the platform operators to devise a strategy for repairing the leak and serve as a methodology for assessing future similar incidents.
Jacob T. Shaw, Richard T. Lidster, Danny R. Cryer, Noelia Ramirez, Fiona C. Whiting, Graham A. Boustead, Lisa K. Whalley, Trevor Ingham, Andrew R. Rickard, Rachel E. Dunmore, Dwayne E. Heard, Ally C. Lewis, Lucy J. Carpenter, Jacqui F. Hamilton, and Terry J. Dillon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 4039–4054, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4039-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-4039-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The lifetime of a chemical in the atmosphere is largely governed by the rate of its reaction with the hydroxyl radical (OH). Measurements of rates for many of the thousands of identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have yet to be determined experimentally. We have developed a new technique for the rapid determination of gas-phase rate coefficients for the simultaneous reactions between multiple VOCs and OH. The method is tasted across a range of scenarios and is used to derive new values.
Daniel Stone, Tomás Sherwen, Mathew J. Evans, Stewart Vaughan, Trevor Ingham, Lisa K. Whalley, Peter M. Edwards, Katie A. Read, James D. Lee, Sarah J. Moller, Lucy J. Carpenter, Alastair C. Lewis, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 3541–3561, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3541-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-3541-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Halogen chemistry in the troposphere impacts oxidising capacity, but model studies assessing the nature of these impacts can vary according to the model framework used. In this work we present simulations of OH and HO2 radicals using both box and global model frameworks, and compare to observations made at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory. We highlight, and rationalise, differences between the model frameworks.
Lisa K. Whalley, Daniel Stone, Rachel Dunmore, Jacqueline Hamilton, James R. Hopkins, James D. Lee, Alastair C. Lewis, Paul Williams, Jörg Kleffmann, Sebastian Laufs, Robert Woodward-Massey, and Dwayne E. Heard
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 2547–2571, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2547-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2547-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents the first radical observations made in London and subsequent model comparisons. This work highlights that there are uncertainties in the degradation mechanism of complex biogenic and diesel-related VOC species under low-NOx conditions and under high-NOx conditions there is a missing source of RO2 radicals. The impact of these model uncertainties on in situ ozone production as a function of NOx is discussed.
Leigh R. Crilley, Marvin Shaw, Ryan Pound, Louisa J. Kramer, Robin Price, Stuart Young, Alastair C. Lewis, and Francis D. Pope
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 709–720, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-709-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-709-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The affordability and small size of low-cost particle sensors make them attractive for air pollution experiments that require multiple instruments, or take place in hard-to-access locations or low-income countries. For any sensor to be useful, its accuracy and precision need to be known. We evaluate the Alphasense OPC-N2 for monitoring airborne particles at typical UK urban background sites. The devices were found to be accurate provided they are correctly calibrated.
Sarah R. Leeson, Peter E. Levy, Netty van Dijk, Julia Drewer, Sophie Robinson, Matthew R. Jones, John Kentisbeer, Ian Washbourne, Mark A. Sutton, and Lucy J. Sheppard
Biogeosciences, 14, 5753–5764, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5753-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-14-5753-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen deposition was experimentally increased on a Scottish peat bog over a period of 13 years (2002–2015), simulating pollution from agricultural and fossil-fuel sources. We measured emissions of the greenhouse gas, nitrous oxide (N2O), in response to the increased nitrogen input. In the plots treated with ammonium and nitrate solution, no response was seen. Areas subjected to high ammonia emitted more N2O than expected. Differences were related to impacts on the vegetation.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Chris Reed, Mathew J. Evans, Leigh R. Crilley, William J. Bloss, Tomás Sherwen, Katie A. Read, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4081–4092, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4081-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4081-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The source of ozone-depleting compounds in the remote troposphere has been thought to be long-range transport of secondary pollutants such as organic nitrates. Processing of organic nitrates to nitric acid and subsequent deposition on surfaces in the atmosphere was thought to remove these nitrates from the ozone–NOx–HOx cycle. We found through observation of NOx in the remote tropical troposphere at the Cape Verde Observatory that surface nitrates can be released back into the atmosphere.
Tomás Sherwen, Mat J. Evans, Lucy J. Carpenter, Johan A. Schmidt, and Loretta J. Mickley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1557–1569, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1557-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1557-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
We model pre-industrial to present day changes using the GEOS-Chem global chemical transport model with halogens (Cl, Br, I). The model better captures pre-industrial O3 observations with halogens included. Halogens buffer the tropospheric forcing of O3 (RFTO3) from pre-industrial to present day, reducing RFTO3 by 0.087 Wm−2. This reduction is greater than that from halogens on stratospheric O3 (−0.05 Wm−2). This suggests that models that do not include halogens will overestimate RFTO3by ~ 25%.
Tomás Sherwen, Johan A. Schmidt, Mat J. Evans, Lucy J. Carpenter, Katja Großmann, Sebastian D. Eastham, Daniel J. Jacob, Barbara Dix, Theodore K. Koenig, Roman Sinreich, Ivan Ortega, Rainer Volkamer, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Cristina Prados-Roman, Anoop S. Mahajan, and Carlos Ordóñez
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12239–12271, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12239-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12239-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
We present a simulation of tropospheric Cl, Br, I chemistry within the GEOS-Chem CTM. We find a decrease in tropospheric ozone burden of 18.6 % and a 8.2 % decrease in global mean OH concentrations. Cl oxidation of some VOCs range from 15 to 27 % of the total loss. Bromine plays a small role in oxidising oVOCs. Surface ozone, ozone sondes, and methane lifetime are in general improved by the inclusion of halogens. We argue that simulated bromine and chlorine represent a lower limit.
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
Direct observations of NOx emissions over the San Joaquin Valley using airborne flux measurements during RECAP-CA 2021 field campaign
Trends and seasonal variability in ammonia across major biomes in western and central Africa inferred from long-term series of ground-based and satellite measurements
A rise in HFC-23 emissions from eastern Asia since 2015
Measurement report: Inland ship emissions and their contribution to NOx and ultrafine particle concentrations at the Rhine
Variation and trend of nitrate radical reactivity towards volatile organic compounds in Beijing, China
Intra- and interannual changes in isoprene emission from central Amazonia
Levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the Antarctic atmosphere over time (1980 to 2021) and estimation of their atmospheric half-lives
Airborne observations of peroxy radicals during the EMeRGe campaign in Europe
Vertical distribution of sources and sinks of volatile organic compounds within a boreal forest canopy
O3 and PAN in southern Tibetan Plateau determined by distinct physical and chemical processes
Technical note: Isolating methane emissions from animal feeding operations in an interfering location
Exploring the amplied role of HCHO during the wintertime ozone and PM2.5 pollution in a coastal city of southeast China
Measurement report: Atmospheric CH4 at regional stations of the Korea Meteorological Administration–Global Atmosphere Watch Programme: measurement, characteristics, and long-term changes of its drivers
Measurement report: MAX-DOAS measurements characterise Central London ozone pollution episodes during 2022 heatwaves
OH measurements in the coastal atmosphere of South China: possible missing OH sinks in aged air masses
Measurement report: Underestimated reactive organic gases from residential combustion – insights from a near-complete speciation
The atmospheric fate of 1,2-Dibromo-4-(1,2-dibromoethyl)cyclohexane (TBECH): Spatial patterns, seasonal variability, and deposition to Canadian coastal regions
Measurement report: Hydrogen peroxide in the upper tropical troposphere over the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa during the CAFE-Africa aircraft campaign
A new insight into the vertical differences in NO2 heterogeneous reaction to produce HONO over inland and marginal seas
Chemical identification of new particle formation and growth precursors through positive matrix factorization of ambient ion measurements
Snowpack nitrate photolysis drives the summertime atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO) budget in coastal Antarctica
Revealing the sources and sinks of negative cluster ions in an urban environment through quantitative analysis
Volatile organic compound fluxes in the San Joaquin Valley – spatial distribution, source attribution, and inventory comparison
OH, HO2, and RO2 radical chemistry in a rural forest environment: Measurements, model comparisons, and evidence of a missing radical sink
Measurement report: Molecular-level investigation of atmospheric cluster ions at the tropical high-altitude research station Chacaltaya (5240 m a.s.l.) in the Bolivian Andes
First Measurements of the Nitrogen Stable Isotope Composition (δ15N) of Ship-emitted NOx
Measurement report: Airborne measurements of NOx fluxes over Los Angeles during the RECAP-CA 2021 campaign
Observations of biogenic volatile organic compounds over a mixed temperate forest during the summer to autumn transition
Unexpectedly high concentrations of atmospheric mercury species in Lhasa, the largest city in the Tibetan Plateau
A single-point modeling approach for the intercomparison and evaluation of ozone dry deposition across chemical transport models (Activity 2 of AQMEII4)
Real-time measurements of non-methane volatile organic compounds in the central Indo-Gangetic basin, Lucknow, India: source characterisation and their role in O3 and secondary organic aerosol formation
Measurement report: Source apportionment and environmental impacts of VOCs in Lhasa, a highland city in China
Measurement report: Production and loss of atmospheric formaldehyde at a suburban site of Shanghai in summertime
Measurement report: Volatile organic compound characteristics of the different land-use types in Shanghai: spatiotemporal variation, source apportionment and impact on secondary formations of ozone and aerosol
O3–precursor relationship over multiple patterns of timescale: a case study in Zibo, Shandong Province, China
High emission rates and strong temperature response make boreal wetlands a large source of isoprene and terpenes
High potential for CH4 emission mitigation from oil infrastructure in one of EU’s major production regions
Elucidate the formation mechanism of particulate nitrate based on direct radical observations in the Yangtze River Delta summer 2019
Pandemic restrictions in 2020 highlight the significance of non-road NOx sources in central London
Measurement report: Emission factors of NH3 and NHx for wildfires and agricultural fires in the United States
Experimental chemical budgets of OH, HO2, and RO2 radicals in rural air in western Germany during the JULIAC campaign 2019
Chemical and dynamical identification of emission outflows during the HALO campaign EMeRGe in Europe and Asia
Flaring efficiencies and NOx emission ratios measured for offshore oil and gas facilities in the North Sea
Measurement report: Long-range transport and the fate of dimethyl sulfide oxidation products in the free troposphere derived from observations at the high-altitude research station Chacaltaya (5240 m a.s.l.) in the Bolivian Andes
Formaldehyde and hydroperoxide distribution around the Arabian Peninsula – evaluation of EMAC model results with ship-based measurements
Heterogeneity and chemical reactivity of the remote troposphere defined by aircraft measurements – corrected
Fundamental oxidation processes in the remote marine atmosphere investigated using the NO–NO2–O3 photostationary state
Emission factors and evolution of SO2 measured from biomass burning in wildfires and agricultural fires
Changes in surface ozone in South Korea on diurnal to decadal time scale for the period of 2001–2021
The unexpected high frequency of nocturnal surface ozone enhancement events over China: characteristics and mechanisms
Qindan Zhu, Bryan Place, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Sha Tong, Huanxin Zhang, Jun Wang, Clara M. Nussbaumer, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9669–9683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrogen oxide (NOx) is a hazardous air pollutant, and it is the precursor of short-lived climate forcers like tropospheric ozone and aerosol particles. While NOx emissions from transportation has been strictly regulated, soil NOx emissions are overlooked. We use the airborne flux measurements to observe NOx emissions from highways and urban and cultivated soil land cover types. We show non-negligible soil NOx emissions, which are significantly underestimated in current model simulations.
Money Ossohou, Jonathan Edward Hickman, Lieven Clarisse, Pierre-François Coheur, Martin Van Damme, Marcellin Adon, Véronique Yoboué, Eric Gardrat, Maria Dias Alvès, and Corinne Galy-Lacaux
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9473–9494, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9473-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9473-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The updated analyses of ground-based concentrations and satellite total vertical columns of atmospheric ammonia help us to better understand 21st century ammonia dynamics in sub-Saharan Africa. We conclude that the drivers of trends are agriculture in the dry savanna of Katibougou, Mali; air temperature and agriculture in the wet savanna of Djougou, Benin, and Lamto, Côte d'Ivoire; and leaf area index, air temperature, residential, and agriculture in forests of Bomassa, Republic of Congo.
Hyeri Park, Jooil Kim, Haklim Choi, Sohyeon Geum, Yeaseul Kim, Rona L. Thompson, Jens Mühle, Peter K. Salameh, Christina M. Harth, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon O'Doherty, Paul J. Fraser, Peter G. Simmonds, Paul B. Krummel, Ray F. Weiss, Ronald G. Prinn, and Sunyoung Park
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9401–9411, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9401-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9401-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Based on atmospheric HFC-23 observations, the first estimate of post-CDM HFC-23 emissions in eastern Asia for 2008–2019 shows that these emissions contribute significantly to the global emissions rise. The observation-derived emissions were much larger than the bottom-up estimates expected to approach zero after 2015 due to national abatement activities. These discrepancies could be attributed to unsuccessful factory-level HFC-23 abatement and inaccurate quantification of emission reductions.
Philipp Eger, Theresa Mathes, Alex Zavarsky, and Lars Duester
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8769–8788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8769-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8769-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigated the contribution of inland shipping to air pollution at the river Rhine in Germany. Land-based measurements of gaseous and particulate pollutants were carried out for more than 1 year to provide a realistic estimate for the exposure of people to air pollution close to the riverside. Emissions of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter relative to the amount of fuel used, as well as their dependence on ship size, engine type and operating conditions, were examined.
Hejun Hu, Haichao Wang, Keding Lu, Jie Wang, Zelong Zheng, Xuezhen Xu, Tianyu Zhai, Xiaorui Chen, Xiao Lu, Wenxing Fu, Xin Li, Limin Zeng, Min Hu, Yuanhang Zhang, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8211–8223, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8211-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8211-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrate radical chemistry is critical to the degradation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and secondary organic aerosol formation. This work investigated the level, seasonal variation, and trend of nitrate radical reactivity towards volatile organic compounds (kNO3) in Beijing. We show the key role of isoprene and styrene in regulating seasonal variation in kNO3 and rebuild a long-term record of kNO3 based on the reported VOC measurements.
Eliane Gomes Alves, Raoni Aquino Santana, Cléo Quaresma Dias-Júnior, Santiago Botía, Tyeen Taylor, Ana Maria Yáñez-Serrano, Jürgen Kesselmeier, Efstratios Bourtsoukidis, Jonathan Williams, Pedro Ivo Lembo Silveira de Assis, Giordane Martins, Rodrigo de Souza, Sérgio Duvoisin Júnior, Alex Guenther, Dasa Gu, Anywhere Tsokankunku, Matthias Sörgel, Bruce Nelson, Davieliton Pinto, Shujiro Komiya, Diogo Martins Rosa, Bettina Weber, Cybelli Barbosa, Michelle Robin, Kenneth J. Feeley, Alvaro Duque, Viviana Londoño Lemos, Maria Paula Contreras, Alvaro Idarraga, Norberto López, Chad Husby, Brett Jestrow, and Iván Mauricio Cely Toro
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8149–8168, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8149-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8149-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Isoprene is emitted mainly by plants and can influence atmospheric chemistry and air quality. But, there are uncertainties in model emission estimates and follow-up atmospheric processes. In our study, with long-term observational datasets of isoprene and biological and environmental factors from central Amazonia, we show that isoprene emission estimates could be improved when biological processes were mechanistically incorporated into the model.
Thais Luarte, Victoria A. Gómez-Aburto, Ignacio Poblete-Castro, Eduardo Castro-Nallar, Nicolas Huneeus, Marco Molina-Montenegro, Claudia Egas, Germán Azcune, Andrés Pérez-Parada, Rainier Lohmann, Pernilla Bohlin-Nizzetto, Jordi Dachs, Susan Bengtson-Nash, Gustavo Chiang, Karla Pozo, and Cristóbal J. Galbán-Malagón
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 8103–8118, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8103-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-8103-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In the last 40 years, different research groups have reported on the atmospheric concentrations of persistent organic pollutants in Antarctica. In the present work, we make a compilation to understand the historical trends and estimate the atmospheric half-life of each compound. Of the compounds studied, HCB was the only one that showed no clear trend, while the rest of the studied compounds showed a significant decrease over time. This is consistent with results for polar and sub-polar zones.
Midhun George, Maria Dolores Andrés Hernández, Vladyslav Nenakhov, Yangzhuoran Liu, John Philip Burrows, Birger Bohn, Eric Förster, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Theresa Harlaß, Helmut Ziereis, Hans Schlager, Benjamin Schreiner, Flora Kluge, Katja Bigge, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7799–7822, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7799-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The applicability of photostationary steady-state (PSS) assumptions to estimate the amount of the sum of peroxy radicals (RO2*) during the EMeRGe airborne observations from the known radical chemistry and onboard measurements of RO2* precursors, photolysis frequencies, and other trace gases such as NOx and O3 was investigated. The comparison of the calculated RO2* with the actual measurements provides an insight into the main processes controlling their concentration in the air masses measured.
Ross Petersen, Thomas Holst, Meelis Mölder, Natascha Kljun, and Janne Rinne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7839–7858, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7839-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7839-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate variability in the vertical distribution of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in boreal forest, determined through multiyear measurements at several heights in a boreal forest in Sweden. VOC source/sink seasonality in canopy was explored using these vertical profiles and with measurements from a collection of sonic anemometers on the station flux tower. Our results show seasonality in the source/sink distribution for several VOCs, such as monoterpenes and water-soluble compounds.
Wanyun Xu, Yuxuan Bian, Weili Lin, Yingjie Zhang, Yaru Wang, Zhiqiang Ma, Xiaoyi Zhang, Gen Zhang, Chunxiang Ye, and Xiaobin Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7635–7652, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7635-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7635-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Tropospheric ozone (O3) and peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) are both photochemical pollutants harmful to the ecological environment and human health, especially in the Tibetan Plateau (TP). However, the factors determining their variations in the TP have not been comprehensively investigated. Results from field measurements and observation-based models revealed that day-to-day variations in O3 and PAN were in fact controlled by distinct physiochemical processes.
Megan E. McCabe, Ilana B. Pollack, Emily V. Fischer, Kathryn M. Steinmann, and Dana R. Caulton
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7479–7494, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7479-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7479-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Agriculture emissions, including those from beef and dairy cattle feeding operations, make up a large portion of the United States’ total greenhouse gas emissions, but many of these operations reside in areas where methane from oil and natural gas is prevalent, making it difficult to attribute methane in these areas. This work investigates two approaches to emission attribution for cattle feeding operations and provides guidance for emission attribution in other complicated regions.
Youwei Hong, Keran Zhang, Dan Liao, Gaojie Chen, Min Zhao, Yiling Lin, Xiaoting Ji, Ke Xu, Yu Wu, Ruilian Yu, Gongren Hu, Sung-Deuk Choi, Likun Xue, and Jinsheng Chen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1242, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1242, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Particle uptakes of HCHO and the impacts on PM2.5 and O3 production remain highly uncertain. Based on the investigation of co-occurring wintertime O3 and PM2.5 pollution in a coastal city of southeast China, we found enhanced the heterogeneous formation of hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS), and increased the ROx concentrations and net O3 production rates. The findings of this study are helpful to better explore the mechanisms of key precursors for co-occurring PM2.5 and O3 pollution.
Haeyoung Lee, Wonick Seo, Shanlan Li, Soojeong Lee, Samuel Takele Kenea, and Sangwon Joo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7141–7159, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7141-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7141-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We introduced three Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) monitoring stations with monitoring systems and measurement uncertainty. We also analyzed the regional characteristics of CH4 at each KMA station. CH4 levels measured at KMA stations are compared to those measured at other Asian stations. From the long-term records of CH4 and δ13CH4 at AMY, we confirmed that the source of CH4xs changed from the past (2006 to 2010) to recent (2016 to 2020) years in East Asia.
Robert G. Ryan, Eloise A. Marais, Eleanor Gershenson-Smith, Robbie Ramsay, Jan-Peter Muller, Jan-Lukas Tirpitz, and Udo Frieß
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7121–7139, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7121-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7121-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We describe the first data retrieval from a newly installed instrument providing measurements of vertical profiles of air pollution over Central London during heatwaves in summer 2022. We use these observations with surface air quality network measurements to support interpretation that an exponential increase in biogenic emissions of isoprene during heatwaves provides the limiting ingredient for severe ozone pollution, leading to non-compliance with the national ozone air quality standard.
Zhouxing Zou, Qianjie Chen, Men Xia, Qi Yuan, Yi Chen, Yanan Wang, Enyu Xiong, Zhe Wang, and Tao Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7057–7074, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7057-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7057-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We present OH observation and model simulation results at a coastal site in Hong Kong. The model predicted the OH concentration under high-NOx well but overpredicted it under low-NOx conditions. This implies an insufficient understanding of OH chemistry under low-NOx conditions. We show evidence of missing OH sinks as a possible cause of the overprediction.
Yaqin Gao, Hongli Wang, Lingling Yuan, Shengao Jing, Bin Yuan, Guofeng Shen, Liang Zhu, Abigail Koss, Yingjie Li, Qian Wang, Dan Dan Huang, Shuhui Zhu, Shikang Tao, Shengrong Lou, and Cheng Huang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6633–6646, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6633-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6633-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A near-complete speciation of reactive organic gases from residential combustion was developed to get more insights into their atmospheric effects. Oxygenated species, higher hydrocarbons and nitrogen-containing species played larger roles in these emissions compared with common hydrocarbons. Based on the near-complete speciation, these emissions were largely underestimated, leading to more underestimation of their hydroxyl radical reactivity and secondary organic aerosol formation potential.
Jenny Oh, Chubashini Shunthirasingham, Ying Duan Lei, Faqiang Zhan, Yuening Li, Abigaëlle Dalpé Castilloux, Amina Ben Chaaben, Zhe Lu, Kelsey Lee, Frank A. P. C. Gobas, Sabine Eckhardt, Nick Alexandrou, Hayley Hung, and Frank Wania
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1151, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-1151, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
An emerging brominated flame retardant (BFRs) called TBECH has never been produced or imported for use in Canada, yet is found to be one of the most abundant gaseous BFRs in the Canadian atmosphere. The recorded spatial and temporal variability of TBECH suggest that the release from imported consumer products containing TBECH are the most likely explanation for its environmental occurrence in Canada.
Zaneta Hamryszczak, Dirk Dienhart, Bettina Brendel, Roland Rohloff, Daniel Marno, Monica Martinez, Hartwig Harder, Andrea Pozzer, Birger Bohn, Martin Zöger, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5929–5943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5929-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5929-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Hydrogen peroxide is a key contributor to the oxidative chemistry of the atmosphere through its link to the most prominent oxidants controlling its self-cleansing capacity, HOx. During the CAFE-Africa campaign, H2O2 was measured over the Atlantic Ocean and western Africa in August/September 2018. The study gives an overview of the distribution of H2O2 in the upper tropical troposphere and investigates the impact of convective processes in the Intertropical Convergence Zone on the budget of H2O2.
Chengzhi Xing, Shiqi Xu, Yuhang Song, Cheng Liu, Yuhan Liu, Keding Lu, Wei Tan, Chengxin Zhang, Qihou Hu, Shanshan Wang, Hongyu Wu, and Hua Lin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5815–5834, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5815-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5815-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
High RH could contribute to the secondary formation of HONO in the sea atmosphere. High temperature could promote the formation of HONO from NO2 heterogeneous reactions in the sea and coastal atmosphere. The aerosol surface plays a more important role during the above process in coastal and sea cases. The generation rate of HONO from the NO2 heterogeneous reaction in the sea cases is larger than that in inland cases in higher atmospheric layers above 600 m.
Daniel John Katz, Aroob Abdelhamid, Harald Stark, Manjula R. Canagaratna, Douglas R. Worsnop, and Eleanor C. Browne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5567–5585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5567-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5567-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ambient ion chemical composition measurements provide insight into trace gases that are precursors for the formation and growth of new aerosol particles. We use a new data analysis approach to increase the chemical information from these measurements. We analyze results from an agricultural region, a little studied land use type that is ~41 % of global land use, and find that the composition of gases important for aerosol formation and growth differs significantly from that in other ecosystems.
Amelia M. H. Bond, Markus M. Frey, Jan Kaiser, Jörg Kleffmann, Anna E. Jones, and Freya A. Squires
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5533–5550, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5533-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5533-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO) amount fractions measured at Halley Research Station, Antarctica, were found to be low. Vertical fluxes of HONO from the snow were also measured and agree with the estimated HONO production rate from photolysis of snow nitrate. In a simple box model of HONO sources and sinks, there was good agreement between the measured flux and amount fraction. HONO was found to be an important OH radical source at Halley.
Rujing Yin, Xiaoxiao Li, Chao Yan, Runlong Cai, Ying Zhou, Juha Kangasluoma, Nina Sarnela, Janne Lampilahti, Tuukka Petäjä, Veli-Matti Kerminen, Federico Bianchi, Markku Kulmala, and Jingkun Jiang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 5279–5296, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5279-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-5279-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric cluster ions are important constituents in the atmosphere. However, the quantitative research on their compositions is still limited, especially in urban environments. Here we demonstrate the feasibility of an in situ quantification method of cluster ions measured by a high-resolution mass spectrometer and reveal their governing factors, sources, and sinks in urban Beijing through quantitative analysis of cluster ions, reagent ions, neutral molecules, and condensation sink.
Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Caleb Arata, Qindan Zhu, Benjamin C. Schulze, Roy Woods, John H. Seinfeld, Anthony Bucholtz, Ronald C. Cohen, and Allen H. Goldstein
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-723, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-723, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The San Joaquin Valley is an agricultural area with poor air quality. Organic gases drive the formation of hazardous air pollutants. Agricultural emissions of these gases are not well understood and have rarely been quantified at landscape scale. By combining aircraft-based emission measurements with land cover information, we found mis- or unrepresented emission sources. The results of this study help understand pollution sources and improve predictions of air quality in agricultural regions.
Brandon Bottorff, Michelle M. Lew, Youngjun Woo, Pamela Rickly, Matthew D. Rollings, Benjamin Deming, Daniel C. Anderson, Ezra Wood, Hariprasad D. Alwe, Dylan B. Millet, Andrew Weinheimer, Geoff Tyndall, John Ortega, Sebastien Dusanter, Thierry Leonardis, James Flynn, Matt Erickson, Sergio Alvarez, Jean C. Rivera-Rios, Joshua D. Shutter, Frank Keutsch, Detlev Helmig, Wei Wang, Hannah M. Allen, Steven Bertman, and Philip S. Stevens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-790, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-790, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The hydroxyl (OH), hydroperoxy (HO2), and organic peroxy (RO2) radicals play important roles in atmospheric chemistry and have significant air quality implications. Here, we compare measurements of OH, HO2, and total peroxy radicals (XO2) made in a remote forest in Michigan, USA to predictions from a series of chemical models. Lower measured radical concentrations suggest that the models may be missing an important radical sink and overestimating the rate of ozone production in this forest.
Qiaozhi Zha, Wei Huang, Diego Aliaga, Otso Peräkylä, Liine Heikkinen, Alkuin Maximilian Koenig, Cheng Wu, Joonas Enroth, Yvette Gramlich, Jing Cai, Samara Carbone, Armin Hansel, Tuukka Petäjä, Markku Kulmala, Douglas Worsnop, Victoria Sinclair, Radovan Krejci, Marcos Andrade, Claudia Mohr, and Federico Bianchi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4559–4576, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4559-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4559-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We investigate the chemical composition of atmospheric cluster ions from January to May 2018 at the high-altitude research station Chacaltaya (5240 m a.s.l.) in the Bolivian Andes. With state-of-the-art mass spectrometers and air mass history analysis, the measured cluster ions exhibited distinct diurnal and seasonal patterns, some of which contributed to new particle formation. Our study will improve the understanding of atmospheric ions and their role in high-altitude new particle formation.
Zeyu Sun, Zheng Zong, Yang Tan, Chongguo Tian, Zeyu Liu, Fan Zhang, Rong Sun, Yingjun Chen, Jun Li, and Gan Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-500, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-500, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This is the first report of ship-emitted nitrogen stable isotope composition (δ15N) of nitrogen oxides (NOx). Results showed that δ15N–NOx from ships was −18.5 ± 10.9 ‰ and increased monotonically with tightening emission regulations. The selective catalytic reduction system was the most vital factor. The temporal variation in δ15N–NOx was evaluated and can be used to select suitable δ15N–NOx for a more accurate assessment of the contribution of ship-emitted exhaust to atmospheric NOx.
Clara M. Nussbaumer, Bryan K. Place, Qindan Zhu, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Paul Wooldridge, Benjamin C. Schulze, Caleb Arata, Ryan Ward, Anthony Bucholtz, John H. Seinfeld, Allen H. Goldstein, and Ronald C. Cohen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-601, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-601, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
NOx is a precursor to hazardous tropospheric ozone and can be emitted from various anthropogenic sources. It is important to quantify NOx emissions in urban environments in order to improve the local air quality which still remains a challenge as sources are heterogeneous in space and time. In this study, we calculate NOx emissions over Los Angeles based on aircraft measurements in June 2021 and compare them to a local emission inventory which we find to mostly overpredict the measured values.
Michael P. Vermeuel, Gordon A. Novak, Delaney B. Kilgour, Megan S. Claflin, Brian M. Lerner, Amy M. Trowbridge, Jonathan Thom, Patricia A. Cleary, Ankur R. Desai, and Timothy H. Bertram
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 4123–4148, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4123-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-4123-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Reactive carbon species emitted from natural sources such as forests play an important role in the chemistry of the atmosphere. Predictions of these emissions are based on plant responses during the growing season and do not consider potential effects from seasonal changes. To address this, we made measurements of reactive carbon over a forest during the summer to autumn transition. We learned that observed concentrations and emissions for some key species are larger than model predictions.
Huiming Lin, Yindong Tong, Long Chen, Chenghao Yu, Zhaohan Chu, Qianru Zhang, Xiufeng Yin, Qianggong Zhang, Shichang Kang, Junfeng Liu, James Schauer, Benjamin de Foy, and Xuejun Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3937–3953, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3937-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3937-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Lhasa is the largest city in the Tibetan Plateau, and its atmospheric mercury concentrations represent the highest level of pollution in this region. Unexpectedly high concentrations of atmospheric mercury species were found. Combined with the trajectory analysis, the high atmospheric mercury concentrations may have originated from external long-range transport. Local sources, especially special mercury-related sources, are important factors influencing the variability of atmospheric mercury.
Olivia Elaine Clifton, Donna Schwede, Christian Hogrefe, Jesse O. Bash, Sam Bland, Philip Cheung, Mhairi Coyle, Lisa Emberson, Johannes Flemming, Erick Fredj, Stefano Galmarini, Laurens Ganzeveld, Orestis Gazetas, Ignacio Goded, Christopher D. Holmes, László Horváth, Vincent Huijnen, Qian Li, Paul A. Makar, Ivan Mammarella, Giovanni Manca, J. William Munger, Juan L. Pérez-Camanyo, Jonathan Pleim, Limei Ran, Roberto San Jose, Sam J. Silva, Ralf Staebler, Shihan Sun, Amos P. K. Tai, Eran Tas, Timo Vesala, Tamás Weidinger, Zhiyong Wu, and Leiming Zhang
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-465, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-465, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A primary sink of air pollutants is dry deposition. Dry deposition estimates differ across models used to simulate atmospheric chemistry. Here we introduce an effort to examine dry deposition schemes from atmospheric chemistry models. We provide our approach’s rationale, document the schemes, and describe datasets used to drive and evaluate the schemes. We also launch the analysis of results by evaluating against observations and identifying the processes leading to model-model differences.
Vaishali Jain, Nidhi Tripathi, Sachchida N. Tripathi, Mansi Gupta, Lokesh K. Sahu, Vishnu Murari, Sreenivas Gaddamidi, Ashutosh K. Shukla, and Andre S. H. Prevot
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3383–3408, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3383-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3383-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This research chemically characterises 173 different NMVOCs (non-methane volatile organic compounds) measured in real time for three seasons in the city of the central Indo-Gangetic basin of India, Lucknow. Receptor modelling is used to analyse probable sources of NMVOCs and their crucial role in forming ozone and secondary organic aerosols. It is observed that vehicular emissions and solid fuel combustion are the highest contributors to the emission of primary and secondary NMVOCs.
Chunxiang Ye, Shuzheng Guo, Weili Lin, Fangjie Tian, Jianshu Wang, Chong Zhang, Suzhen Chi, Yi Chen, Yingjie Zhang, Limin Zeng, Xin Li, Duo Bu, Jiacheng Zhou, and Weixiong Zhao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1239, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2022-1239, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Online VOC measurements by GCMS, accompanied by other O3 precursors, were employed to identify key VOC and key sources in Lhasa. TVOCs (18.70 ± 8.35 ppb) and major anthropogenic alkanes and aromatics are half abundant relative to Beijing. OVOCs consist of 52 % of the TVOCs. Alkenes and OVOCs account fo over 80 % of the OFP. Aromatics dominate SOAP. PMF decomposed six residents' life associated sources.
Yizhen Wu, Juntao Huo, Gan Yang, Yuwei Wang, Lihong Wang, Shijian Wu, Lei Yao, Qingyan Fu, and Lin Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2997–3014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2997-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2997-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Based on a field campaign in a suburban area of Shanghai during summer 2021, we calculated formaldehyde (HCHO) production rates from 24 volatile organic compounds (VOCs). In addition, HCHO photolysis, reactions with OH radicals, and dry deposition were considered for the estimation of HCHO loss rates. Our results reveal the key precursors of HCHO and suggest that HCHO wet deposition may be an important loss term on cloudy and rainy days, which needs to be further investigated.
Yu Han, Tao Wang, Rui Li, Hongbo Fu, Yusen Duan, Song Gao, Liwu Zhang, and Jianmin Chen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2877–2900, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2877-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2877-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Limited knowledge is available on volatile organic compound (VOC) multi-site research of different land-use types at city level. This study performed a concurrent multi-site observation campaign on the three typical land-use types of Shanghai, East China. The results showed that concentrations, sources and ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation potentials of VOCs varied with the land-use types.
Zhensen Zheng, Kangwei Li, Bo Xu, Jianping Dou, Liming Li, Guotao Zhang, Shijie Li, Chunmei Geng, Wen Yang, Merched Azzi, and Zhipeng Bai
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2649–2665, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2649-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2649-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Previous box model studies applied different timescales of observational datasets to identify the O3–precursor relationship, but there is a lack of comparison among these different timescales regarding the impact of O3 formation chemistry. Through a case study at Zibo in China, we find that the O3 formation regime showed overall consistency but non-negligible variability among various patterns of timescale. This would be complementary in developing more accurate O3 pollution control strategies.
Lejish Vettikkat, Pasi Miettinen, Angela Buchholz, Pekka Rantala, Hao Yu, Simon Schallhart, Tuukka Petäjä, Roger Seco, Elisa Männistö, Markku Kulmala, Eeva-Stiina Tuittila, Alex B. Guenther, and Siegfried Schobesberger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2683–2698, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2683-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2683-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Wetlands cover a substantial fraction of the land mass in the northern latitudes, from northern Europe to Siberia and Canada. Yet, their isoprene and terpene emissions remain understudied. Here, we used a state-of-the-art measurement technique to quantify ecosystem-scale emissions from a boreal wetland during an unusually warm spring/summer. We found that the emissions from this wetland were (a) higher and (b) even more strongly dependent on temperature than commonly thought.
Foteini Stavropoulou, Katarina Vinković, Bert Kers, Marcel de Vries, Steven van Heuven, Piotr Korbeń, Martina Schmidt, Julia Wietzel, Pawel Jagoda, Jaroslav M. Necki, Jakub Bartyzel, Hossein Maazallahi, Malika Menoud, Carina van der Veen, Sylvia Walter, Béla Tuzson, Jonas Ravelid, Randulph Paulo Morales, Lukas Emmenegger, Dominik Brunner, Michael Steiner, Arjan Hensen, Ilona Velzeboer, Pim van den Bulk, Hugo Denier van der Gon, Antonio Delre, Maklawe Essonanawe Edjabou, Charlotte Scheutz, Marius Corbu, Sebastian Iancu, Denisa Moaca, Alin Scarlat, Alexandru Tudor, Ioana Vizireanu, Andreea Calcan, Magdalena Ardelean, Sorin Ghemulet, Alexandru Pana, Aurel Constantinescu, Lucian Cusa, Alexandru Nica, Calin Baciu, Cristian Pop, Andrei Radovici, Alexandru Mereuta, Horatiu Stefanie, Bas Hermans, Stefan Schwietzke, Daniel Zavala-Araiza, Huilin Chen, and Thomas Röckmann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-247, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-247, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we quantify CH4 emissions from onshore oil production sites in Romania at source and facility level using a combination of ground-based measurement techniques. We show that the total CH4 emissions in our studied areas are much higher than the reported emissions to UNFCCC. On the component scale, up to three-quarters of the detected emissions are related to operational venting. Our results suggest that O&G production infrastructure in Romania holds a massive mitigation potential.
Tianyu Zhai, Keding Lu, Haichao Wang, Shengrong Lou, Xiaorui Chen, Renzhi Hu, and Yuanhang Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2379–2391, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2379-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2379-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Particulate nitrate is a growing issue in air pollution. Based on comprehensive field measurement, we show heavy nitrate pollution in eastern China in summer. OH reacting with NO2 at daytime dominates nitrate formation on clean days, while N2O5 hydrolysis largely enhances and become comparable with that of OH reacting with O2 on polluted days (67.2 % and 30.2 %). Model simulation indicates that VOC : NOx = 2 : 1 is effective in mitigating the O3 and nitrate pollution coordinately.
Samuel J. Cliff, Will Drysdale, James D. Lee, Carole Helfter, Eiko Nemitz, Stefan Metzger, and Janet F. Barlow
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2315–2330, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2315-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2315-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) to the atmosphere are an ongoing air quality issue. This study directly measures emissions of NOx and carbon dioxide from a tall tower in central London during the coronavirus pandemic. It was found that transport NOx emissions had reduced by >73 % since 2017 as a result of air quality policy and reduced congestion during coronavirus restrictions. During this period, central London was thought to be dominated by point-source heat and power generation emissions.
Laura Tomsche, Felix Piel, Tomas Mikoviny, Claus J. Nielsen, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Benjamin A. Nault, Melinda K. Schueneman, Jose L. Jimenez, Hannah Halliday, Glenn Diskin, Joshua P. DiGangi, John B. Nowak, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Emily Gargulinski, Amber J. Soja, and Armin Wisthaler
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2331–2343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2331-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2331-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ammonia (NH3) is an important trace gas in the atmosphere and fires are among the poorly investigated sources. During the 2019 Fire Influence on Regional to Global Environments and Air Quality (FIREX-AQ) aircraft campaign, we measured gaseous NH3 and particulate ammonium (NH4+) in smoke plumes emitted from 6 wildfires in the Western US and 66 small agricultural fires in the Southeastern US. We herein present a comprehensive set of emission factors of NH3 and NHx, where NHx = NH3 + NH4+.
Changmin Cho, Hendrik Fuchs, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Frank Holland, William J. Bloss, Birger Bohn, Hans-Peter Dorn, Marvin Glowania, Thorsten Hohaus, Lu Liu, Paul S. Monks, Doreen Niether, Franz Rohrer, Roberto Sommariva, Zhaofeng Tan, Ralf Tillmann, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Andreas Wahner, and Anna Novelli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2003–2033, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2003-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2003-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
With this study, we investigated the processes leading to the formation, destruction, and recycling of radicals for four seasons in a rural environment. Complete knowledge of their chemistry is needed if we are to predict the formation of secondary pollutants from primary emissions. The results highlight a still incomplete understanding of the paths leading to the formation of the OH radical, which has been observed in several other environments as well and needs to be further investigated.
Eric Förster, Harald Bönisch, Marco Neumaier, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Andreas Hilboll, Anna B. Kalisz Hedegaard, Nikos Daskalakis, Alexandros Panagiotis Poulidis, Mihalis Vrekoussis, Michael Lichtenstern, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1893–1918, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1893-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1893-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The airborne megacity campaign EMeRGe provided an unprecedented amount of trace gas measurements. We combine measured volatile organic compounds (VOCs) with trajectory-modelled emission uptakes to identify potential source regions of pollution. We also characterise the chemical fingerprints (e.g. biomass burning and anthropogenic signatures) of the probed air masses to corroborate the contributing source regions. Our approach is the first large-scale study of VOCs originating from megacities.
Jacob T. Shaw, Amy Foulds, Shona Wilde, Patrick Barker, Freya A. Squires, James Lee, Ruth Purvis, Ralph Burton, Ioana Colfescu, Stephen Mobbs, Samuel Cliff, Stéphane J.-B. Bauguitte, Stuart Young, Stefan Schwietzke, and Grant Allen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1491–1509, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1491-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1491-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Flaring is used by the oil and gas sector to dispose of unwanted natural gas or for safety. However, few studies have assessed the efficiency with which the gas is combusted. We sampled flaring emissions from offshore facilities in the North Sea. Average measured flaring efficiencies were ~ 98 % but with a skewed distribution, including many flares of lower efficiency. NOx and ethane emissions were also measured. Inefficient flaring practices could be a target for mitigating carbon emissions.
Wiebke Scholz, Jiali Shen, Diego Aliaga, Cheng Wu, Samara Carbone, Isabel Moreno, Qiaozhi Zha, Wei Huang, Liine Heikkinen, Jean Luc Jaffrezo, Gaelle Uzu, Eva Partoll, Markus Leiminger, Fernando Velarde, Paolo Laj, Patrick Ginot, Paolo Artaxo, Alfred Wiedensohler, Markku Kulmala, Claudia Mohr, Marcos Andrade, Victoria Sinclair, Federico Bianchi, and Armin Hansel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 895–920, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-895-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-895-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Dimethyl sulfide (DMS), emitted from the ocean, is the most abundant biogenic sulfur emission into the atmosphere. OH radicals, among others, can oxidize DMS to sulfuric and methanesulfonic acid, which are relevant for aerosol formation. We quantified DMS and nearly all DMS oxidation products with novel mass spectrometric instruments for gas and particle phase at the high mountain station Chacaltaya (5240 m a.s.l.) in the Bolivian Andes in free tropospheric air after long-range transport.
Dirk Dienhart, Bettina Brendel, John N. Crowley, Philipp G. Eger, Hartwig Harder, Monica Martinez, Andrea Pozzer, Roland Rohloff, Jan Schuladen, Sebastian Tauer, David Walter, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 119–142, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-119-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-119-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Formaldehyde and hydroperoxide measurements were performed in the marine boundary layer around the Arabian Peninsula and highlight the Suez Canal and Arabian (Persian) Gulf as a hotspot of photochemical air pollution. A comparison with the EMAC model shows that the formaldehyde results match within a factor of 2, while hydrogen peroxide was overestimated by more than a factor of 5, which revealed enhanced HOx (OH+HO2) radicals in the simulation and an underestimation of dry deposition velocites.
Hao Guo, Clare M. Flynn, Michael J. Prather, Sarah A. Strode, Stephen D. Steenrod, Louisa Emmons, Forrest Lacey, Jean-Francois Lamarque, Arlene M. Fiore, Gus Correa, Lee T. Murray, Glenn M. Wolfe, Jason M. St. Clair, Michelle Kim, John Crounse, Glenn Diskin, Joshua DiGangi, Bruce C. Daube, Roisin Commane, Kathryn McKain, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea Thompson, Thomas F. Hanisco, Donald Blake, Nicola J. Blake, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric J. Hintsa, Fred L. Moore, and Steven C. Wofsy
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 99–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-99-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have prepared a unique and unusual result from the recent ATom aircraft mission: a measurement-based derivation of the production and loss rates of ozone and methane over the ocean basins. These are the key products of chemistry models used in assessments but have thus far lacked observational metrics. It also shows the scales of variability of atmospheric chemical rates and provides a major challenge to the atmospheric models.
Simone T. Andersen, Beth S. Nelson, Katie A. Read, Shalini Punjabi, Luis Neves, Matthew J. Rowlinson, James Hopkins, Tomás Sherwen, Lisa K. Whalley, James D. Lee, and Lucy J. Carpenter
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15747–15765, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15747-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The cycling of NO and NO2 is important to understand to be able to predict O3 concentrations in the atmosphere. We have used long-term measurements from the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory together with model outputs to investigate the cycling of nitrogen oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in very clean marine air. This study shows that we understand the processes occurring in very clean air, but with small amounts of pollution in the air, known chemistry cannot explain what is observed.
Pamela S. Rickly, Hongyu Guo, Pedro Campuzano-Jost, Jose L. Jimenez, Glenn M. Wolfe, Ryan Bennett, Ilann Bourgeois, John D. Crounse, Jack E. Dibb, Joshua P. DiGangi, Glenn S. Diskin, Maximilian Dollner, Emily M. Gargulinski, Samuel R. Hall, Hannah S. Halliday, Thomas F. Hanisco, Reem A. Hannun, Jin Liao, Richard Moore, Benjamin A. Nault, John B. Nowak, Jeff Peischl, Claire E. Robinson, Thomas Ryerson, Kevin J. Sanchez, Manuel Schöberl, Amber J. Soja, Jason M. St. Clair, Kenneth L. Thornhill, Kirk Ullmann, Paul O. Wennberg, Bernadett Weinzierl, Elizabeth B. Wiggins, Edward L. Winstead, and Andrew W. Rollins
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15603–15620, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15603-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Biomass burning sulfur dioxide (SO2) emission factors range from 0.27–1.1 g kg-1 C. Biomass burning SO2 can quickly form sulfate and organosulfur, but these pathways are dependent on liquid water content and pH. Hydroxymethanesulfonate (HMS) appears to be directly emitted from some fire sources but is not the sole contributor to the organosulfur signal. It is shown that HMS and organosulfur chemistry may be an important S(IV) reservoir with the fate dependent on the surrounding conditions.
Si-Wan Kim, Kyoung-Min Kim, Yujoo Jeong, Seunghwan Seo, Yeonsu Park, and Jeongyeon Kim
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2022-788, 2022
Revised manuscript accepted for ACP
Short summary
Short summary
Surface ozone is a pollutant regulated for public health. This study derived the most up-to-date surface ozone trends in South Korea covering and found that South Korea has been a non-attainment area after 2010 based on the US EPA standard. However, the occurrences of high ozone condition decreased in spring during the COVID-19 pandemic potentially due to large reductions of ozone precursor concentrations in China and South Korea.
Cheng He, Xiao Lu, Haolin Wang, Haichao Wang, Yan Li, Guowen He, Yuanping He, Yurun Wang, Youlang Zhang, Yiming Liu, Qi Fan, and Shaojia Fan
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15243–15261, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15243-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15243-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We report that nocturnal ozone enhancement (NOE) events are observed at a high annual frequency of 41 % over 800 sites in China in 2014–2019 (about 50 % higher than that over Europe or the US). High daytime ozone provides a rich ozone source in the nighttime residual layer, determining the overall high frequency of NOE events in China, and enhanced atmospheric mixing then triggers NOE events by allowing the ozone-rich air in the residual layer to be mixed into the nighttime boundary layer.
Cited articles
Ariya, P. A., Sun, J., Eltouny, N. A., Hudson, E. D., Hayes, C. T., and Kos, G.: Physical and chemical characterization of bioaerosols – Implications for nucleation processes, Int. Rev. Phys. Chem., 28, 1–32, https://doi.org/10.1080/01442350802597438, 2009.
Bergan, T. and Rodhe, H.: Oxidation of elemental mercury in the atmosphere; Constraints imposed by global scale modelling, J. Atmos. Chem., 40, 191–212, https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1011929927896, 2001.
Bloom, N. and Fitzgerald, W. F.: Determination of Volatile Mercury species at the Picogram level by Low-Temperature Gas Chromatography with Cold-vapour Atomic Fluorescence Detection, Anal. Chim. Acta, 208, 151–161, https://doi.org/10.1016/s0003-2670(00)80743-6, 1988.
Brown, R. J. C., Pirrone, N., van Hoek, C., Horvat, M., Kotnik, J., Wangberg, I., Corns, W. T., Bieber, E., and Sprovieri, F.: Standardisation of a European measurement method for the determination of mercury in deposition: results of the field trial campaign and determination of a measurement uncertainty and working range, Accredit. Qual. Assur., 15, 359–366, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00769-010-0636-2, 2010.
Brunke, E.-G., Ebinghaus, R., Kock, H. H., Labuschagne, C., and Slemr, F.: Emissions of mercury in southern Africa derived from long-term observations at Cape Point, South Africa, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 7465–7474, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-7465-2012, 2012.
Calvert, J. G. and Lindberg, S. E.: Mechanisms of mercury removal by O-3 and OH in the atmosphere, Atmos. Environ., 39, 3355–3367, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2005.01.055, 2005.
Carpenter, L. J., Fleming, Z. L., Read, K. A., Lee, J. D., Moller, S. J., Hopkins, J. R., Purvis, R. M., Lewis, A. C., Muller, K., Heinold, B., Herrmann, H., Fomba, K. W., van Pinxteren, D., Muller, C., Tegen, I., Wiedensohler, A., Muller, T., Niedermeier, N., Achterberg, E. P., Patey, M. D., Kozlova, E. A., Heimann, M., Heard, D. E., Plane, J. M. C., Mahajan, A., Oetjen, H., Ingham, T., Stone, D., Whalley, L. K., Evans, M. J., Pilling, M. J., Leigh, R. J., Monks, P. S., Karunaharan, A., Vaughan, S., Arnold, S. R., Tschritter, J., Pohler, D., Friess, U., Holla, R., Mendes, L. M., Lopez, H., Faria, B., Manning, A. J., and Wallace, D. W. R.: Seasonal characteristics of tropical marine boundary layer air measured at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, J. Atmos. Chem., 67, 87–140, https://doi.org/10.1007/s10874-011-9206-1, 2010.
Carslaw, D. C. and Ropkins, K.: openair – an R package for air quality data analysis, Environ. Model. Softw., 27–28, 52–61, 2012.
Cinnirella, S., D'Amore, F., Bencardino, M., Sprovieri, F., and Pirrone, N.: The GMOS cyber(e)-infrastructure: advanced services for supporting science and policy, Environ. Sci. Pollut. R., 21, 4193–4208, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-013-2308-3, 2014.
Cole, A. S., Steffen, A., Eckley, C. S., Narayan, J., Pilote, M., Tordon, R., Graydon, J. A., St Louis, V. L., Xu, X. H., and Branfireun, B. A.: A Survey of Mercury in Air and Precipitation across Canada: Patterns and Trends, Atmosphere, 5, 635–668, https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos5030635, 2014.
D'Amore, F., Bencardino, M., Cinnirella, S., Sprovieri, F., and Pirrone, N.: Data quality through a web-based QA/QC system: implementation for atmospheric mercury data from the global mercury observation system, Environmental Science-Processes & Impacts, 17, 1482–1491, https://doi.org/10.1039/c5em00205b, 2015.
Dastoor, A. P. and Larocque, Y.: Global circulation of atmospheric mercury: a modelling study, Atmos. Environ., 38, 147–161, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2003.08.037, 2004.
De Simone, F., S. Cinnirella, S. Gencarelli, C. N., Yang, X., Hedgecock, I. M., and Pirrone, N.: Model Study of Global Mercury Deposition from Biomass Burning, Environ. Sci. Technol., 49, 6712–6721, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.5b00969, 2015.
Gay, D. A., Schmeltz, D., Prestbo, E., Olson, M., Sharac, T., and Tordon, R.: The Atmospheric Mercury Network: measurement and initial examination of an ongoing atmospheric mercury record across North America, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 11339–11349, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-11339-2013, 2013.
Goodsite, M. E., Plane, J. M. C., and Skov, H.: A theoretical study of the oxidation of Hg-0 to HgBr2 in the troposphere, Environ. Sci. Technol., 38, 1772–1776, https://doi.org/10.1021/es034680s, 2004.
Hartmann, D. L., Klein Tank, A. M. G., Rusticucci, M., Alexander, L. V., Brönnimann, S., Charabi, Y., Dentener, F. J., Dlugokencky, E. J., Easterling, D. R., Kaplan, A., Soden, B. J., Thorne, P. W., Wild, M., and Zhai, P. M.: Observations: Atmosphere and Surface. In: Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, edited by: Stocker, T. F., Qin, D., Plattner, G.-K., Tignor, M., Allen, S. K., Boschung, J., Nauels, A., Xia, Y., Bex, V., and Midgley, P. M., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, 2013.
Holmes, C. D., Jacob, D. J., Corbitt, E. S., Mao, J., Yang, X., Talbot, R., and Slemr, F.: Global atmospheric model for mercury including oxidation by bromine atoms, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 12037–12057, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-12037-2010, 2010.
Lin, C. J., Pongprueksa, P., Lindberg, S. E., Pehkonen, S. O., Byun, D., and Jang, C.: Scientific uncertainties in atmospheric mercury models I: Model science evaluation, Atmos. Environ., 40, 2911–2928, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.01.009, 2006.
Mason, R. P., Choi, A. L., Fitzgerald, W. F., Hammerschmidt, C. R., Lamborg, C. H., Soerensen, A. L., and Sunderland, E. M.: Mercury biogeochemical cycling in the ocean and policy implications, Environ. Res., 119, 101–117, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2012.03.013, 2012.
Müller, D., Wip, D., Warneke, T., Holmes, C. D., Dastoor, A., and Notholt, J.: Sources of atmospheric mercury in the tropics: continuous observations at a coastal site in Suriname, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 7391–7397, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-7391-2012, 2012.
Muntean, M., Janssens-Maenhout, G., Song, S. J., Selin, N. E., Olivier, J. G. J., Guizzardi, D., Maas, R., and Dentener, F.: Trend analysis from 1970 to 2008 and model evaluation of EDGARv4 global gridded anthropogenic mercury emissions, Sci. Total Environ., 494, 337–350, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2014.06.014, 2014.
Pacyna, E. G., Pacyna, J. M., Sundseth, K., Munthe, J., Kindbom, K., Wilson, S., Steenhuisen, F., and Maxson, P.: Global emission of mercury to the atmosphere from anthropogenic sources in 2005 and projections to 2020, Atmos. Environ., 44, 2487–2499, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.06.009, 2010.
Pirrone, N., Aas, W., Cinnirella, S., Ebinghaus, R., Hedgecock, I. M., Pacyna, J., Sprovieri, F., and Sunderland, E. M.: Toward the next generation of air quality monitoring: Mercury, Atmos. Environ., 80, 599–611, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.053, 2013.
Pongprueksa, P., Lin, C. J., Lindberg, S. E., Jang, C., Braverman, T., Bullock, O. R., Ho, T. C., and Chu, H. W.: Scientific uncertainties in atmospheric mercury models III: Boundary and initial conditions, model grid resolution, and Hg(II) reduction mechanism, Atmos. Environ., 42, 1828–1845, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.11.020, 2008.
Qureshi, A., MacLeod, M., Sunderland, E., and Hungerbühler, K.: Exchange of Elemental Mercury between the Oceans and the Atmosphere, in Environmental Chemistry and Toxicology of Mercury, edited by: Liu, G., Cai, Y., and O'Driscoll, N., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, NJ, USA, https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118146644.ch12, 2011.
Read, K. A.: Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory: Total Gaseous Mercury (TGM) measurements, NCAS British Atmospheric Data Centre, available at: http://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/0ae5eb7ce3ad4885a7223dd7b69f4db6 (last access: 4 May 2016), 2010.
Read, K. A., Mahajan, A. S., Carpenter, L. J., Evans, M. J., Faria, B. V. E., Heard, D. E., Hopkins, J. R., Lee, J. D., Moller, S. J., Lewis, A. C., Mendes, L., McQuaid, J. B., Oetjen, H., Saiz-Lopez, A., Pilling, M. J., and Plane, J. M. C.: Extensive halogen-mediated ozone destruction over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Nature, 453, 1232–1235, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature07035, 2008.
Read, K. A., Lee, J. D., Lewis, A. C., Moller, S. J., Mendes, L., and Carpenter, L. J.: Intra-annual cycles of NMVOC in the tropical marine boundary layer and their use for interpreting seasonal variability in CO, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 114, D21303, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009jd011879, 2009.
Roberts, G., Wooster, M. J., and Lagoudakis, E.: Annual and diurnal african biomass burning temporal dynamics, Biogeosciences, 6, 849–866, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-6-849-2009, 2009.
Ryall, D. B., Derwent, R. G., Manning, A. J., Simmonds, P. G., and O'Doherty, S.: Estimating source regions of European emissions of trace gases from observations at Mace Head, Atmos. Environ., 35, 2507–2523, https://doi.org/10.1016/s1352-2310(00)00433-7, 2001.
Sather, M. E., Mukerjee, S., Smith, L., Mathew, J., Jackson, C., Callison, R., Scrapper, L., Hathcoat, A., Adam, J., Keese, D., Ketcher, P., Brunette, R., Karlstrom, J., and Van der Jagt, G.: Gaseous oxidized mercury dry deposition measurements in the Four Corners area and Eastern Oklahoma, U.S.A, Atmospheric Pollution Research, 4, 168–180, https://doi.org/10.5094/apr.2013.017, 2013.
Schroeder, W. H. and Munthe, J.: Atmospheric mercury – An overview, Atmos. Environ., 32, 809–822, https://doi.org/10.1016/s1352-2310(97)00293-8, 1998.
Seigneur, C., Vijayaraghavan, K., and Lohman, K.: Atmospheric mercury chemistry: Sensitivity of global model simulations to chemical reactions, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D22306, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005jd006780, 2006.
Selin, N. E., Jacob, D. J., Park, R. J., Yantosca, R. M., Strode, S., Jaegle, L., and Jaffe, D.: Chemical cycling and deposition of atmospheric mercury: Global constraints from observations, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 112, D02308, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006jd007450, 2007.
Sen, P. K.: Estimates of the regression coefficient based on Kendall's tau, J. Am. Stat. Assoc., 63, 1379–1389, https://doi.org/10.1080/01621459.1968.10480934, 1968.
Sexauer Gustin, M., Weiss-Penzias, P. S., and Peterson, C.: Investigating sources of gaseous oxidized mercury in dry deposition at three sites across Florida, USA, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 9201–9219, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-9201-2012, 2012.
Slemr, F., Ebinghaus, R., Simmonds, P. G., and Jennings, S. G.: European emissions of mercuryderived from long-term observations at mace head, on the western Irish coast, Atmos. Environ., 40, 6966–6974, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2006.06.013, 2006.
Slemr, F., Brunke, E.-G., Ebinghaus, R., and Kuss, J.: Worldwide trend of atmospheric mercury since 1995, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 4779–4787, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-4779-2011, 2011.
Slemr, F., Angot, H., Dommergue, A., Magand, O., Barret, M., Weigelt, A., Ebinghaus, R., Brunke, E.-G., Pfaffhuber, K. A., Edwards, G., Howard, D., Powell, J., Keywood, M., and Wang, F.: Comparison of mercury concentrations measured at several sites in the Southern Hemisphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 3125–3133, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-3125-2015, 2015.
Smith, C. N., Kesler, S. E., Blum, J. D., and Rytuba, J. J.: isotope geochemistry of mercury in source rocks, mineral deposits and spring deposits of the California Coast Ranges, USA, Earth Planet. Sc. Lett, 269, 399–407, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2008.02.029, 2008.
Soerensen, A. L., Jacob, D. J., Streets, D. G., Witt, M. L. I., Ebinghaus, R., Mason, R. P., Andersson, M., and Sunderland, E. M.: Multi-decadal decline of mercury in the North Atlantic atmosphere explained by changing subsurface seawater concentrations, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, L21810, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012gl053736, 2012.
Sprovieri, F., Pirrone, N., Ebinghaus, R., Kock, H., and Dommergue, A.: A review of worldwide atmospheric mercury measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 8245–8265, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-8245-2010, 2010.
Sprovieri, F., Pirrone, N., Bencardino, M., D'Amore, F., Carbone, F., Cinnirella, S., Mannarino, V., Landis, M., Ebinghaus, R., Weigelt, A., Brunke, E.-G., Labuschagne, C., Martin, L., Munthe, J., Wängberg, I., Artaxo, P., Morais, F., Barbosa, H. D. M. J., Brito, J., Cairns, W., Barbante, C., Diéguez, M. D. C., Garcia, P. E., Dommergue, A., Angot, H., Magand, O., Skov, H., Horvat, M., Kotnik, J., Read, K. A., Neves, L. M., Gawlik, B. M., Sena, F., Mashyanov, N., Obolkin, V., Wip, D., Feng, X. B., Zhang, H., Fu, X., Ramachandran, R., Cossa, D., Knoery, J., Marusczak, N., Nerentorp, M., and Norstrom, C.: Atmospheric mercury concentrations observed at ground-based monitoring sites globally distributed in the framework of the GMOS network, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11915–11935, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11915-2016, 2016.
Steffen, A., Scherz, T., Olson, M., Gay, D., and Blanchard, P.: A comparison of data quality control protocols for atmospheric mercury speciation measurements, J. Environ. Monitor., 14, 752–765, https://doi.org/10.1039/c2em10735j, 2012.
Steffen, A., Bottenheim, J., Cole, A., Ebinghaus, R., Lawson, G., and Leaitch, W. R.: Atmospheric mercury speciation and mercury in snow over time at Alert, Canada, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2219–2231, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2219-2014, 2014.
Streets, D. G., Devane, M. K., Lu, Z. F., Bond, T. C., Sunderland, E. M., and Jacob, D. J.: All-Time Releases of Mercury to the Atmosphere from Human Activities, Environ. Sci. Technol., 45, 10485–10491, https://doi.org/10.1021/es202765m, 2011.
Strode, S. A., Jaegle, L., Selin, N. E., Jacob, D. J., Park, R. J., Yantosca, R. M., Mason, R. P., and Slemr, F.: Air-sea exchange in the global mercury cycle, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 21, GB1017, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006gb002766, 2007.
Telmer, K. and Veiga, M. M.: World emissions of mercury from artisanal and small scale gold mining, in: Mercury Fate and Transport in the Global Atmosphere Emissions, Measurements and Models, edited by: Pirrone, N. and Mason, R., Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg, Germany, 131–172, 2009.
Temme, C., Blanchard, P., Steffen, A., Banic, C., Beauchamp, S., Poissant, L., Tordon, R., and Wiens, B.: Trend, seasonal and multivariate analysis study of total gaseous mercury data from the Canadian atmospheric mercury measurement network (CAMNet), Atmos. Environ., 41, 5423–5441, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.02.021, 2007.
Theil, H.: A rank-invariant method of linear and polynomial regression analysis. I, II, III, Nederl. Akad. Wetensch., Proc., 53, 386–392, 521–525, 1397–1412, 1950.
UNEP: UNEP: Technical background report for the Global Mercury Assessment 2013. Arctic Monitoring and Assessment programme, Oslo, Norway/UNEP Chemicals Branch, Geneva, Switzerland, 2013.
US EPA: Mercury Study Report to Congress, Fate and transport or mercury in the Environment, Vol. 111, EPA-452/R-97-005, US environmental Protection Agency, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 1997.
Wang, X., Lin, C.-J., and Feng, X.: Sensitivity analysis of an updated bidirectional air–surface exchange model for elemental mercury vapor, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 6273–6287, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-6273-2014, 2014.
Wang, X., Lin, C. J., Lu, Z. Y., Zhang, H., Zhang, Y. P., and Feng, X. B.: Enhanced accumulation and storage of mercury on subtropical evergreen forest floor: Implications on mercury budget in global forest ecosystems, J. Geophys. Res.-Biogeo., 121, 2096–2109, https://doi.org/10.1002/2016jg003446, 2016.
Weigelt, A., Ebinghaus, R., Manning, A. J., Derwent, R. G., Simmonds, P. G., Spain, T. G., Jennings, S. G., and Slemr, F.: Analysis and interpretation of 18 years of mercury observations since 1996 at Mace Head, Ireland, Atmos. Environ., 100, 85–93, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2014.10.050, 2015.
Whalley, L. K., Furneaux, K. L., Goddard, A., Lee, J. D., Mahajan, A., Oetjen, H., Read, K. A., Kaaden, N., Carpenter, L. J., Lewis, A. C., Plane, J. M. C., Saltzman, E. S., Wiedensohler, A., and Heard, D. E.: The chemistry of OH and HO2 radicals in the boundary layer over the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 1555–1576, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-1555-2010, 2010.
Wright, G., Gustin, M. S., Weiss-Penzias, P., and Miller, M. B.: Investigation of mercury deposition and potential sources at six sites from the Pacific Coast to the Great Basin, USA, Sci. Total Environ., 470, 1099–1113, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2013.10.071, 2014.
Zhang, L. M., Wright, L. P., and Blanchard, P.: A review of current knowledge concerning dry deposition of atmospheric mercury, Atmos. Environ., 43, 5853–5864, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.08.019, 2009.
Zhang, Y., Jaeglé, L., van Donkelaar, A., Martin, R. V., Holmes, C. D., Amos, H. M., Wang, Q., Talbot, R., Artz, R., Brooks, S., Luke, W., Holsen, T. M., Felton, D., Miller, E. K., Perry, K. D., Schmeltz, D., Steffen, A., Tordon, R., Weiss-Penzias, P., and Zsolway, R.: Nested-grid simulation of mercury over North America, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 6095–6111, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-6095-2012, 2012.
Zhang, Y. X., Jacob, D. J., Horowitz, H. M., Chen, L., Amos, H. M., Krabbenhoft, D. P., Slemr, F., St Louis, V. L., and Sunderland, E. M.: Observed decrease in atmospheric mercury explained by global decline in anthropogenic emissions, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 113, 526–531, https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1516312113, 2016.
Short summary
This paper presents 4 years of total gaseous mercury data obtained from measurements made at the Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory, a subtropical site in the Atlantic Ocean. The data show a clear decreasing trend in the overall concentrations but in air from sub-Saharan Africa the trend is less significant and the data more variable. We attribute this result to an influence from artisanal small-scale gold mining in this region, a source for which there is uncertain information.
This paper presents 4 years of total gaseous mercury data obtained from measurements made at the...
Special issue
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint