The understanding of oxidation in forest atmospheres is being challenged by measurements of unexpectedly large amounts of hydroxyl (OH). A significant number of these OH measurements were made by laser-induced fluorescence in low-pressure detection chambers (called Fluorescence Assay with Gas Expansion (FAGE)) using the Penn State Ground-based Tropospheric Hydrogen Oxides Sensor (GTHOS). We deployed a new chemical removal method to measure OH in parallel with the traditional FAGE method in a California forest. The new method gives on average only 40–60% of the OH from the traditional method and this discrepancy is temperature dependent. Evidence indicates that the new method measures atmospheric OH while the traditional method is affected by internally generated OH, possibly from oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds. The improved agreement between OH measured by this new technique and modeled OH suggests that oxidation chemistry in at least one forest atmosphere is better understood than previously thought

The chemical complexity of atmospheric organic aerosol (OA) has caused substantial uncertainties in understanding its origins and environmental impacts. Here, we provide constraints on OA origins through compositional characterization with molecular-level details. Our results suggest that secondary OA (SOA) from monoterpene oxidation accounts for approximately half of summertime fine OA in Centreville, AL, a forested area in the southeastern United States influenced by anthropogenic pollution. We find that different chemical processes involving nitrogen oxides, during days and nights, play a central role in determining the mass of monoterpene SOA produced. These findings elucidate the strong anthropogenic-biogenic interaction affecting ambient aerosol in the southeastern United States and point out the importance of reducing anthropogenic emissions, especially under a changing climate, where biogenic emissions will likely keep increasing.

Abstract. We use observations from the April 2008 NASA ARCTAS aircraft campaign to the North American Arctic, interpreted with a global 3-D chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem), to better understand the sources and cycling of hydrogen oxide radicals (HO x ≡H+OH+peroxy radicals) and their reservoirs (HO y ≡HO x +peroxides) in the springtime Arctic atmosphere. We find that a standard gas-phase chemical mechanism overestimates the observed HO 2 and H 2 O 2 concentrations. Computation of HO x and HO y gasphase chemical budgets on the basis of the aircraft observations also indicates a large missing sink for both. We hyCorrespondence to: J. Mao (mao@fas.harvard.edu) pothesize that this could reflect HO 2 uptake by aerosols, favored by low temperatures and relatively high aerosol loadings, through a mechanism that does not produce H 2 O 2 . We implemented such an uptake of HO 2 by aerosol in the model using a standard reactive uptake coefficient parameterization with γ (HO 2 ) values ranging from 0.02 at 275 K to 0.5 at 220 K. This successfully reproduces the concentrations and vertical distributions of the different HO x species and HO y reservoirs. HO 2 uptake by aerosol is then a major HO x and HO y sink, decreasing mean OH and HO 2 concentrations in the Arctic troposphere by 32% and 31% respectively. Better rate and product data for HO 2 uptake by aerosol are needed to understand this role of aerosols in limiting the oxidizing power of the Arctic atmosphere.

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Abstract. The San Joaquin Valley (SJV) experiences some of the worst ozone air quality in the US, frequently exceeding the California 8 h standard of 70.4 ppb. To improve our understanding of trends in the number of ozone violations in the SJV, we analyze observed relationships between organic reactivity, nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and daily maximum temperature in the southern SJV using measurements made as part of California at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change in 2010 (CalNex-SJV). We find the daytime speciated organic reactivity with respect to OH during CalNex-SJV has a temperature-independent portion with molecules typically associated with motor vehicles being the major component.Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. S. E. Pusede et al.: Temperature-dependent impacts of emission controlsAt high temperatures, characteristic of days with high ozone, the largest portion of the total organic reactivity increases exponentially with temperature and is dominated by small, oxygenated organics and molecules that are unidentified. We use this simple temperature classification to consider changes in organic emissions over the last and next decade. With the CalNex-SJV observations as constraints, we examine the sensitivity of ozone production (P O 3 ) to future NO x and organic reactivity controls. We find that P O 3 is NO x -limited at all temperatures on weekends and on weekdays when daily maximum temperatures are greater than 29 • C. As a consequence, NO x reductions are the most effective control option for reducing the frequency of future ozone violations in the southern SJV.

We have investigated the optical properties of internally mixed aerosol particles composed of dicarboxylic acids and ammonium sulfate using cavity ring-down aerosol extinction spectroscopy at a wavelength of 532 nm. The real refractive indices of these nonabsorbing species were retrieved from the extinction and concentration of the particles using Mie scattering theory. We obtain refractive indices for pure ammonium sulfate and pure dicarboxylic acids that are consistent with literature values, where they exist, to within experimental error. For mixed particles, however, our data deviates significantly from a volume-weighted average of the pure components. Surprisingly, the real refractive indices of internal mixtures of succinic acid and ammonium sulfate are higher than either of the pure components at the highest organic weight fractions. For binary internal mixtures of oxalic or adipic acid with ammonium sulfate, the real refractive indices of the mixtures are approximately the same as ammonium sulfate for all organic weight fractions. Various optical mixing rules for homogeneous and slightly heterogeneous systems fail to explain the experimental real refractive indices. It is likely that complex particle morphologies are responsible for the observed behavior of the mixed particles. Implications of our results for atmospheric modeling and aerosol structure are discussed.

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The C 5 -hydroperoxyenals (C 5 -HPALDs) are a newly-recognized class of multi-functional hydrocarbons produced during the hydroxyl radical (OH)-initiated oxidation of isoprene. Recent theoretical calculations suggest that fast photolysis of these compounds may be an important OH source in high-isoprene, low-NO regions. We report experimental constraints for key parameters of photolysis, OH reaction and ozone reaction of these compounds as derived from a closelyrelated, custom-synthesized C 6 -HPALD. The photolysis quantum yield is 1.0 AE 0.4 over the range 300-400 nm, assuming an absorption cross section equal to the average of those measured for several analogous enals. The yield of OH from photolysis was determined as 1.0 AE 0.8. The OH reaction rate constant is (5.1 AE 1.8) Â 10 À11 cm 3 molecule À1 s À1 at 296 K. The ozone reaction rate constant is (1.2 AE 0.2) Â 10 À18 cm 3 molecule À1 s À1 at 296 K. These results are consistent with previous first-principles estimates, though the nature and fate of secondary oxidation products remains uncertain. Incorporation of C 5 -HPALD chemistry with the above parameters in a 0-D box model, along with experimentally-constrained rates for C 5 -HPALD production from isomerization of first-generation isoprene hydroxyperoxy radicals, is found to enhance modeled OH concentrations by 5-16% relative to the traditional isoprene oxidation mechanism for the chemical regimes of recent observational studies in rural and remote regions. This enhancement in OH will increase if C 5 -HPALD photo-oxidation products also photolyze to yield additional OH or if the C 5 -HPALD production rate is faster than has been observed.