Articles | Volume 24, issue 23
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13317-2024
Opinion
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02 Dec 2024
Opinion | Highlight paper |  | 02 Dec 2024

Opinion: Challenges and needs of tropospheric chemical mechanism development

Barbara Ervens, Andrew Rickard, Bernard Aumont, William P. L. Carter, Max McGillen, Abdelwahid Mellouki, John Orlando, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Paul Seakins, William R. Stockwell, Luc Vereecken, and Timothy J. Wallington

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Cited articles

Abbatt, J. P. D. and Ravishankara, A. R.: Opinion: Atmospheric multiphase chemistry – past, present, and future, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9765–9785, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9765-2023, 2023. a
Atkinson, R., Aschmann, S. A., Carter, W. P. L., Winer, A. M., and J. N. Pitts, Jr.: Alkyl Nitrate Formation from the NOx-Air Photooxidation of C2–C8 n-Alkanes, The J. Phys. Chem. A, 86, 4563–4589, https://doi.org/10.1021/j100220a022, 1982. a
Aumont, B., Jaecker-Voirol, A., Martin, B., and Toupance, G.: Tests of some reduction hypotheses made in photochemical mechanisms, Atmos. Environ., 30, 2061–2077, https://doi.org/10.1016/1352-2310(95)00279-0, 1996. a
Aumont, B., Madronich, S., Bey, I., and Tyndall, G.: Contribution of Secondary VOC to the Composition of Aqueous Atmospheric Particles: A Modeling Approach, J. Atmos. Chem., 35, 59–75, https://doi.org/10.1023/a:1006243509840, 2000. a
Aumont, B., Szopa, S., and Madronich, S.: Modelling the evolution of organic carbon during its gas-phase tropospheric oxidation: development of an explicit model based on a self generating approach, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 5, 2497–2517, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-5-2497-2005, 2005. a, b, c, d
Executive editor
This paper is written by experts in the field and addresses new tropospheric chemical mechanism developments. It shows how new analytical methods, instrumentation and cheminformatics methods have led to the identification of key processes and knowledge gaps in our understanding of chemical mechanisms, both in the gas phase and condensed phases. The opinion paper presents a perspective on these developments in the present and future, and outlines new directions. This opinion will be a very valuable contribution for the community and I am convinced it will be frequently read and cited.
Short summary
Chemical mechanisms describe the chemical processes in atmospheric models that are used to describe the changes in the atmospheric composition. Therefore, accurate chemical mechanisms are necessary to predict the evolution of air pollution and climate change. The article describes all steps that are needed to build chemical mechanisms and discusses the advances and needs of experimental and theoretical research activities needed to build reliable chemical mechanisms.
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