The sum of all reactive nitrogen species (NOy) includes NOx (NO2 + NO) and all of its oxidized forms, and the accurate detection of NOy is critical to understanding atmospheric nitrogen chemistry. Thermal dissociation (TD) inlets, which convert NOy to NO2 followed by NO2 detection, are frequently used in conjunction with techniques such as laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) and cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) to measure total NO y when set at > 600 degrees C or speciated NOy when set at intermediate temperatures. We report the conversion efficiency of known amounts of several representative NOy species to NO2 in our TD-CRDS instrument, under a variety of experimental conditions. We find that the conversion efficiency of HNO3 is highly sensitive to the flow rate and the residence time through the TD inlet as well as the presence of other species that may be present during ambient sampling, such as ozone (O-3). Conversion of HNO3 at 400 degrees C, nominally the set point used to selectively convert organic nitrates, can range from 2 to 6% and may represent an interference in measurement of organic nitrates under some conditions. The conversion efficiency is strongly dependent on the operating characteristics of individual quartz ovens and should be well calibrated prior to use in field sampling. We demonstrate quantitative conversion of both gas-phase N2O5 and particulate ammonium nitrate in the TD inlet at 650 degrees C, which is the temperature normally used for conversion of HNO3. N2O5 has two thermal dissociation steps, one at low temperature representing dissociation to NO2 and NO3 and one at high temperature representing dissociation of NO3, which produces exclusively NO2 and not NO. We also find a significant interference from partial conversion (5-10 %) of NH3 to NO at 650 degrees C in the presence of representative (50 ppbv) levels of O-3 in dry zero air. Although this interference appears to be suppressed when sampling ambient air, we nevertheless recommend regular characterization of this interference using standard additions of NH3 to TD instruments that convert reactive nitrogen to NO or NO2.
Lerner, B. M.; Gilman, J. B.; Aikin, K. C.; Atlas, E. L.; Goldan, P. D.; Graus, M.; Hendershot, R.; Isaacman-VanWertz, G. A.; Koss, A.; Kuster, W. C.; Lueb, R. A.; McLaughlin, R. J.; Peischl, J.; Sueper, D.; Ryerson, T. B.; Tokarek, T. W.; Warneke, C.; Yuan, B.; de Gouw, J. A.;
Volatile organic compounds were quantified during two aircraft-based field campaigns using highly automated, whole air samplers with expedited post-flight analysis via a new custom-built, field-deployable gas chromatography-mass spectrometry instrume...
Tevlin, A. G.; Li, Y.; Collett, J. L.; McDuffie, E. E.; Fischer, E. V.; Murphy, J. G.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 122(22), 12468-12487.
Description:
Ammonia (NH3) mixing ratios were measured between the surface and 280m aboveground level from a moveable carriage at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory tower in summer 2014 as part of the Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Experiment. The ...
Colette, A.; Andersson, C.; Manders, A.; Mar, K.; Mircea, M.; Pay, M. T.; Raffort, V.; Tsyro, S.; Cuvelier, C.; Adani, M.; Bessagnet, B.; Bergstrom, R.; Briganti, G.; Butler, T.; Cappelletti, A.; Couvidat, F.; D'Isidoro, M.; Doumbia, T.; Fagerli, H.; Granier, C.; Heyes, C.; Klimont, Z.; Ojha, N.; Otero, N.; Schaap, M.; Sindelarova, K.; Stegehuis, A. I.; Roustan, Y.; Vautard, R.; van Meijgaard, E.; Vivanco, M. G.; Wind, P.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Geoscientific Model Development, 10(9), 3255-3276.
Description:
The EURODELTA-Trends multi-model chemistry-transport experiment has been designed to facilitate a better understanding of the evolution of air pollution and its drivers for the period 1990-2010 in Europe. The main objective of the experiment is to as...
We describe the University of Colorado mobile Solar Occultation Flux instrument (CU mobile SOF). The instrument consists of a digital mobile solar tracker that is coupled to a Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) of 0.5 cm (-1) resolution and a UV-vi...
Giordano, M. R.; Kalnajs, L. E.; Avery, A.; Goetz, J. D.; Davis, S. M.; DeCarlo, P. F.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(1), 1-20.
Description:
Understanding the sources and evolution of aerosols is crucial for constraining the impacts that aerosols have on a global scale. An unanswered question in atmospheric science is the source and evolution of the Antarctic aerosol population. Previous ...
Sayers, M. J.; Grimm, A. G.; Shuchman, R. A.; Bosse, K. R.; Fahnenstiel, G. L.; Ruberg, S. A.; Leshkevich, G. A.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Journal of Great Lakes Research, 45(3), 508-521.
Description:
Blooms of harmful cyanobacteria (cyanoHABs) have occurred on an annual basis in western Lake Erie for more than a decade. Previously, we developed and validated an algorithm to map the extent of the submerged and surface scum components of cyanoHABs ...
Hill, M. C.; Bendlin, A. R.; Van Cise, A. M.; Milette-Winfree, A.; Ligon, A. D.; Ü, A. C.; Deakos, M. H.; Oleson, E. M.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Marine Mammal Science, 35(3), 797-824.
Description:
Abstract Little is known about short-finned pilot whales (Globicephala macrorhynchus) in the western North Pacific outside of Japanese coastal waters. To expand understanding of short-finned pilot whale ecology in the region, we conducted small-boat ...
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 9(1), 627-646.
Description:
Low and high clouds of shallow extent, especially stratocumulus and even more so for high-level cirrus clouds that reside where vertical resolution is particularly coarse, are poorly represented in large-scale models such as global climate models and...
Butler, A. H.; Sjoberg, J. P.; Seidel, D. J.; Rosenlof, K. H.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Earth System Science Data, 9(1), 63-76.
Description:
Major, sudden midwinter stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are large and rapid temperature increases in the winter polar stratosphere are associated with a complete reversal of the climatological westerly winds (i.e., the polar vortex). These extreme even...
Sayers, M. J.; Bosse, K. R.; Shuchman, R. A.; Ruberg, S. A.; Fahnenstiel, G. L.; Leshkevich, G. A.; Stuart, D. G.; Johengen, T. H.; Burtner, A. M.; Palladino, D.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Journal of Great Lakes Research, 45(3), 490-507.
Description:
Lake Erie has experienced dramatic changes in water quality over the past several decades requiring extensive monitoring to assess effectiveness of adaptive management strategies. Remote sensing offers a unique potential to provide synoptic monitorin...
Jensen, E. J.; Karcher, B.; Ueyama, R.; Pfister, L.; Bui, T. V.; Diskin, G. S.; DiGangi, J. P.; Woods, S.; Lawson, R. P.; Froyd, K. D.; Murphy, D. M.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 123(21), 12210-12227.
Description:
Recent laboratory experiments have advanced our understanding of heterogeneous ice nucleation at low temperatures. We use these laboratory results, along with field measurements of aerosol composition, to constrain a parameterization of heterogeneous...
Stauffer, R. M.; Thompson, A. M.; Oltmans, S. J.; Johnson, B. J.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 122(2), 1261-1280.
Description:
Much attention has been focused on the transport of ozone (O-3) to the western U.S., particularly given the latest revision of the National Ambient Air Quality Standard to 70 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) of O-3. This makes quantifying the contr...
Jathar, S. H.; Heppding, C.; Link, M. F.; Farmer, D. K.; Akherati, A.; Kleeman, M. J.; de Gouw, J. A.; Veres, P. R.; Roberts, J. M.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(14), 8959-8970.
Description:
Isocyanic acid (HNCO), an acidic gas found in tobacco smoke, urban environments, and biomass-burning-affected regions, has been linked to adverse health outcomes. Gasoline-and diesel-powered engines and biomass burning are known to emit HNCO and hypo...
Barkley, H. C.; Cohen, A. L.; Mollica, N. R.; Brainard, R. E.; Rivera, H. E.; DeCarlo, T. M.; Lohmann, G. P.; Drenkard, E. J.; Alpert, A. E.; Young, C. W.; Vargas-Ángel, B.; Lino, K. C.; Oliver, T. A.; Pietro, K. R.; Luu, V. H.;
Published Date:
2018
Source:
Communications Biology, 1(1), 177.
Description:
The oceans are warming and coral reefs are bleaching with increased frequency and severity, fueling concerns for their survival through this century. Yet in the central equatorial Pacific, some of the world’s most productive reefs regularly experie...
Yuan, B.; Coggon, M. M.; Koss, A. R.; Warneke, C.; Eilerman, S.; Peischl, J.; Aikin, K. C.; Ryerson, T. B.; de Gouw, J. A.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(8), 4945-4956.
Description:
Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) emit a large number of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the atmosphere. In this study, we conducted mobile laboratory measurements of VOCs, methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) downwind of dairy cattle, b...
Observations of atmospheric trace gases in the tropical upper troposphere (UT), tropical tropopause layer (TTL), and lower stratosphere (LS) require dedicated measurement platforms and instrumentation. Here we present a new limb-scanning Differential...
Palm, B. B.; Campuzano-Jost, P.; Day, D. A.; Ortega, A. M.; Fry, J. L.; Brown, S. S.; Zarzana, K. J.; Dube, W.; Wagner, N. L.; Draper, D. C.; Kaser, L.; Jud, W.; Karl, T.; Hansel, A.; Gutierrez-Montes, C.; Jimenez, J. L.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(8), 5331-5354.
Description:
Ambient pine forest air was oxidized by OH, O-3, or NO3 radicals using an oxidation flow reactor (OFR) during the BEACHON-RoMBAS (Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics and Nitrogen - Rocky Mountain Biogenic Aero...
Long, C. S.; Fujiwara, M.; Davis, S.; Mitchell, D. M.; Wright, C. J.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(23), 14593-14629.
Description:
Two of the most basic parameters generated from a reanalysis are temperature and winds. Temperatures in the reanalyses are derived from conventional (surface and balloon), aircraft, and satellite observations. Winds are observed by conventional syste...
Perring, A. E.; Schwarz, J. P.; Markovic, M. Z.; Fahey, D. W.; Jimenez, J. L.; Campuzano-Jost, P.; Palm, B. D.; Wisthaler, A.; Mikoviny, T.; Diskin, G.; Sachse, G.; Ziemba, L.; Anderson, B.; Shingler, T.; Crosbie, E.; Sorooshian, A.; Yokelson, R.; Gao, R. S.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres, 122(2), 1086-1097.
Description:
Water uptake by black carbon (BC)-containing aerosol was quantified in North American wildfire plumes of varying age (1 to similar to 40 h old) sampled during the SEAC(4)RS mission (2013). A Humidified Dual SP2 (HD-SP2) is used to optically size BC-c...
Miller, C. C.; Jacob, D. J.; Marais, E. A.; Yu, K. R.; Travis, K. R.; Kim, P. S.; Fisher, J. A.; Zhu, L.; Wolfe, G. M.; Hanisco, T. F.; Keutsch, F. N.; Kaiser, J.; Min, K. E.; Brown, S. S.; Washenfelder, R. A.; Abad, G. G.; Chance, K.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(14), 8725-8738.
Description:
Glyoxal (CHOCHO) is produced in the atmosphere by the oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Like formaldehyde (HCHO), another VOC oxidation product, it is measurable from space by solar backscatter. Isoprene emitted by vegetation is the dom...
Sparks, T. L.; Ebben, C. J.; Wooldridge, P. J.; Lopez-Hilfiker, F. D.; Lee, B. H.; Thornton, J. A.; McDuffie, E. E.; Fibiger, D. L.; Brown, S. S.; Montzka, D. D.; Weinheimer, A. J.; Schroder, J. C.; Campuzano-Jost, P.; Jimenez, J. L.; Cohen, R. C.;
Published Date:
2019
Source:
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 124(19), 10483-10502
Description:
We present a comparison of instruments measuring nitrogen oxide species from an aircraft during the 2015 Wintertime INvestigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity (WINTER) campaign over the northeast United States. Instrument techniques compar...
Ng, N. L.; Brown, S. S.; Archibald, A. T.; Atlas, E.; Cohen, R. C.; Crowley, J. N.; Day, D. A.; Donahue, N. M.; Fry, J. L.; Fuchs, H.; Griffin, R. J.; Guzman, M. I.; Herrmann, H.; Hodzic, A.; Iinuma, Y.; Jimenez, J. L.; Kiendler-Scharr, A.; Lee, B. H.; Luecken, D. J.; Mao, J. Q.; McLaren, R.; Mutzel, A.; Osthoff, H. D.; Ouyang, B.; Picquet-Varrault, B.; Platt, U.; Pye, H. O. T.; Rudich, Y.; Schwantes, R. H.; Shiraiwa, M.; Stutz, J.; Thornton, J. A.; Tilgner, A.; Williams, B. J.; Zaveri, R. A.;
Published Date:
2017
Source:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17(3), 2103-2162.