Ye, C, Heard, DE orcid.org/0000-0002-0357-6238 and Whalley, LK orcid.org/0000-0002-4486-9029 (2017) Evaluation of Novel Routes for NOx Formation in Remote Regions. Environmental Science and Technology, 51 (13). pp. 7442-7449. ISSN 0013-936X
Abstract
Photochemical cycling of nitrogen oxides (NOx) produces tropospheric ozone (O₃), and NOx is traditionally considered to be directly emitted. The inability of current global models to accurately calculate NOx levels, and concurrently, difficulties in performing direct NOx measurements in low-NOx regimes (several pptv or several tens of pptv) globally introduce a large uncertainty in the modeling of O₃ formation. Here, we use the near-explicit Master Chemical Mechanism (MCM v3.2) within a 0D box-model framework, to describe the chemistry of NOx and O₃ in the remote marine boundary layer at Cape Verde. We explore the impact of a recently discovered NOx recycling route, namely photolysis of particulate nitrate, on the modeling of NOx abundance and O₃ formation. The model is constrained to observations of long-lived species, meteorological parameters, and photolysis frequencies. Only a model with this novel NOx recycling route reproduces levels of gaseous nitrous acid, NO, and NO₂ within the model and measurement uncertainty. O₃ formation from NO oxidation is several times more efficient than previously considered. This study highlights the need for the inclusion of particulate nitrate photolysis in future models for O₃ and for the photolysis rate of particulate nitrate to be quantified under variable atmospheric conditions.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | (c) 2017, American Chemical Society. This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of a Published Work that appeared in final form in Environmental Science and Technology, copyright (c) American Chemical Society after peer review and technical editing by the publisher. To access the final edited and published work see [https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.6b06441] |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Physical Chemistry (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/K012029/1 NERC NE/N006895/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 Jul 2017 11:24 |
Last Modified: | 05 Jun 2018 00:38 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.est.6b06441 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:118767 |