Articles | Volume 26, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-13767-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-13767-2026
Research article
 | 
01 Oct 2026
Research article |  | 01 Oct 2026

Tropospheric OH and its trends: new insight into atmospheric processes and implications for methane lifetime

Xuewei Hou, Ryan Hossaini, Oliver Wild, Andrea Mazzeo, Richard J. Pope, Ye Wang, Siyuan Wang, Yuanhong Zhao, James Lee, Bin Zhu, Tianliang Zhao, and Alok K. Pandey

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Cited articles

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Amedro, D., Bunkan, A. J. C., Berasategui, M., and Crowley, J. N.: Kinetics of the OH+NO2 reaction: rate coefficients (217–333 K, 16–1200 mbar) and fall-off parameters for N2 and O2 bath gases, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 10643–10657, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-10643-2019, 2019. 
Amedro, D., Berasategui, M., Bunkan, A. J. C., Pozzer, A., Lelieveld, J., and Crowley, J. N.: Kinetics of the OH+NO2 reaction: effect of water vapour and new parameterization for global modelling, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 3091–3105, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-3091-2020, 2020. 
Anderson, D. C., Duncan, B. N., Fiore, A. M., Baublitz, C. B., Follette-Cook, M. B., Nicely, J. M., and Wolfe, G. M.: Spatial and temporal variability in the hydroxyl (OH) radical: understanding the role of large-scale climate features and their influence on OH through its dynamical and photochemical drivers, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6481–6508, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6481-2021, 2021. 
Anderson, D. C., Duncan, B. N., Liu, J., Nicely, J. M., Strode, S. A., Follette-Cook, M. B., Souri, A. H., Ziemke, J. R., González-Abad, G., and Ayazpour, Z.: Trends and interannual variability of the hydroxyl radical in the remote tropics during boreal autumn inferred from satellite proxy data, Geophys. Res. Lett., 51, e2024GL108531, https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL108531, 2024. 
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The atmosphere’s ability to remove pollutants and greenhouse gases is largely controlled by the hydroxyl radical, but the causes of its long-term changes remain uncertain. Using a global atmospheric model, we quantified the effects of emissions, weather, and key chemical processes on hydroxyl radical levels between 2000 and 2017. Our findings improve understanding of atmospheric self-cleansing and help reduce uncertainties in future climate assessments.
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