Articles | Volume 23, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1227-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
24 Jan 2023
Research article |
| 24 Jan 2023
| 24 Jan 2023
Nitrogen oxides in the free troposphere: implications for tropospheric oxidants and the interpretation of satellite NO2 measurements
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 01238, USA
now at: Global Modeling and Assimilation Office, NASA Goddard
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
now at: Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, MD 20706, USA
Daniel J. Jacob
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 01238, USA
Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Harvard University,
Cambridge, MA 02138, USA
Ruijun Dang
Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 01238, USA
Lok N. Lamsal
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
GESTAR II, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
Sarah A. Strode
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
GESTAR II, Morgan State University, Baltimore, MD 21251, USA
Stephen D. Steenrod
Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space
Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA
GESTAR II, University of Maryland Baltimore County, Baltimore, MD 21250, USA
K. Folkert Boersma
Satellite Observations Department, Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), De Bilt, the Netherlands
Meteorology and Air Quality Group, Wageningen University, Wageningen, the Netherlands
Sebastian D. Eastham
Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, Department of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Thibaud M. Fritz
Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment, Department of
Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA
Chelsea Thompson
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Jeff Peischl
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Ilann Bourgeois
NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
now at: Extreme Environments Research Laboratory, École
Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Valais Wallis, Sion, Switzerland
now at: Plant Ecology Research Laboratory, École Polytechnique
Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
Ilana B. Pollack
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA
Benjamin A. Nault
Center for Aerosols and Cloud Chemistry, Aerodyne Research, Inc.,
Billerica, MA 01821, USA
Ronald C. Cohen
Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley,
Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Pedro Campuzano-Jost
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Jose L. Jimenez
Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Department of Chemistry, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO 80309, USA
Simone T. Andersen
Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Lucy J. Carpenter
Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
Tomás Sherwen
Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, York
YO10 5DD, UK
Mat J. Evans
Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK
National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York, York
YO10 5DD, UK
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Latest update: 20 May 2025
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.
NOx in the free troposphere (above 2 km) affects global tropospheric chemistry and the retrieval...
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