Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) is a chlorine atom source and reactive nitrogen reservoir formed during the night by heterogeneous reactions of dinitrogen pentoxide on chloride‐containing aerosol particles. The main factors that influence ClNO2 production include nitrogen oxides, ozone, aerosol surface area, soluble chloride, and ambient relative humidity. Regions with strong anthropogenic activity therefore have large ClNO2 formation potential even inland of coastal regions due to transport or local emissions of soluble chloride. As part of the Nitrogen, Aerosol Composition, and Halogens on a Tall Tower field study, we report wintertime vertically resolved ClNO2 and molecular chlorine (Cl2) measurements taken on a 300 m tall tower located at NOAA's Boulder Atmospheric Observatory in Weld County, CO, during February and March of 2011. Gas and particle phase measurements aboard the tower carriage allowed for a detailed description of the chemical state of the nocturnal atmosphere as a function of height. These observations show significant vertical structure in ClNO2 and Cl2 mixing ratios that undergo dynamic changes over the course of a night. Using these measurements, we focus on two distinct combustion plume events where ClNO2 mixing ratios reached 600 and 1300 parts per trillion by volume, respectively, aloft of the nocturnal surface layer. We infer ClNO2 yields from N2O5‐aerosol reactions using both observational constraints and box modeling. The derived yields in these plumes suggest efficient ClNO2 production compared to the campaign average, where in‐plume yields range from 0.3 to 1; the campaign average yield in the boundary layer is 0.05 ± 0.15, with substantial night‐to‐night and within night variability similar to previous measurements in this region.

[1] Heterogeneous N 2 O 5 uptake onto aerosol is the primary nocturnal path for removal of NO x (= NO + NO 2 ) from the atmosphere and can also result in halogen activation through production of ClNO 2 . The N 2 O 5 uptake coefficient has been the subject of numerous laboratory studies; however, only a few studies have determined the uptake coefficient from ambient measurements, and none has been focused on winter conditions, when the portion of NO x removed by N 2 O 5 uptake is the largest. In this work, N 2 O 5 uptake coefficients are determined from ambient wintertime measurements of N 2 O 5 and related species at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory in Weld County, CO, a location that is highly impacted by urban pollution from Denver, as well as emissions from agricultural activities and oil and gas extraction. A box model is used to analyze the nocturnal nitrate radical chemistry and predict the N 2 O 5 concentration. The uptake coefficient in the model is iterated until the predicted N 2 O 5 concentration matches the measured concentration. The results suggest that during winter, the most important influence that might suppress N 2 O 5 uptake is aerosol nitrate but that this effect does not suppress uptake coefficients enough to limit the rate of NO x loss through N 2 O 5 hydrolysis. N 2 O 5 hydrolysis was found to dominate the nocturnal chemistry during this study consuming~80% of nocturnal gas phase nitrate radical production. Typically, less than 15% of the total nitrate radical production remained in the form of nocturnal species at sunrise when they are photolyzed and reform NO 2 . , et al. (2013), N 2 O 5 uptake coefficients and nocturnal NO 2 removal rates determined from ambient wintertime measurements, J. Geophys. Res. Atmos., 118,[9331][9332][9333][9334][9335][9336][9337][9338][9339][9340][9341][9342][9343][9344][9345][9346][9347][9348][9349][9350]

[1] A negative-ion proton-transfer chemical ionization mass spectrometer was deployed on a mobile tower-mounted platform during Nitrogen, Aerosol Composition, and Halogens on a Tall Tower (NACHTT) to measure nitrous acid (HONO) in the winter of 2011. High resolution vertical profiles revealed (i) HONO gradients in nocturnal boundary layers, (ii) ground surface dominates HONO production by heterogeneous uptake of NO 2 , (iii) significant quantities of HONO may be deposited to the ground surface at night, (iv) daytime gradients indicative of ground HONO production or emission, and (v) an estimated surface HONO reservoir comparable or larger than integrated daytime HONO surface production. Nocturnal integrated column observations of HONO and NO 2 allowed direct evaluation of nocturnal ground surface uptake coefficients for these species (γ NO2, surf = 2 × 10 À6 to 1.6 × 10 À5 and γ HONO, surf = 2 × 10 À5 to 2 × 10 À4 ). The quantity of surface-deposited HONO was also modeled, showing that HONO deposited to the surface at night was at least 25%, and likely in excess of 100%, of the calculated unknown daytime HONO source. These results suggest that if nocturnally deposited HONO forms a conservative surface reservoir, which can be released the following day, a significant fraction of the daytime HONO source can be explained for the NACHTT observations. Citation: VandenBoer, T. C., et al. (2013), Understanding the role of the ground surface in HONO vertical structure: High resolution vertical profiles during

Photolabile nighttime radical reservoirs, such as nitrous acid (HONO) and nitryl chloride (ClNO(2)), contribute to the oxidizing potential of the atmosphere, particularly in early morning. We present the first vertically resolved measurements of ClNO(2), together with vertically resolved measurements of HONO. These measurements were acquired during the California Nexus (CalNex) campaign in the Los Angeles basin in spring 2010. Average profiles of ClNO(2) exhibited no significant dependence on height within the boundary layer and residual layer, although individual vertical profiles did show variability. By contrast, nitrous acid was strongly enhanced near the ground surface with much smaller concentrations aloft. These observations are consistent with a ClNO(2) source from aerosol uptake of N(2)O(5) throughout the boundary layer and a HONO source from dry deposition of NO(2) to the ground surface and subsequent chemical conversion. At ground level, daytime radical formation calculated from nighttime-accumulated HONO and ClNO(2) was approximately equal. Incorporating the different vertical distributions by integrating through the boundary and residual layers demonstrated that nighttime-accumulated ClNO(2) produced nine times as many radicals as nighttime-accumulated HONO. A comprehensive radical budget at ground level demonstrated that nighttime radical reservoirs accounted for 8% of total radicals formed and that they were the dominant radical source between sunrise and 09:00 Pacific daylight time (PDT). These data show that vertical gradients of radical precursors should be taken into account in radical budgets, particularly with respect to HONO.

Indoor oxidizing capacity in occupied residences is poorly understood. We made simultaneous continuous time-resolved measurements of ozone (O), nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO), and nitrous acid (HONO) for two months in an occupied detached home with gas appliances in Syracuse, NY. Indoor NO and HONO mixing ratios were higher than those outdoors, whereas O was much lower (sub-ppbv) indoors. Cooking led to peak NO, NO, and HONO levels 20-100 times greater than background levels; HONO mixing ratios of up to 50 ppbv were measured. Our results suggest that many reported NO levels may have a large positive bias due to HONO interference. Nitrous acid, NO, and NO were removed from indoor air more rapidly than CO, indicative of reactive removal processes or surface uptake. We measured spectral irradiance from sunlight entering the residence through glass doors; hydroxyl radical (OH) production rates of (0.8-10) × 10 molecules cm s were calculated in sunlit areas due to HONO photolysis, in some cases exceeding rates expected from ozone-alkene reactions. Steady-state nitrate radical (NO) mixing ratios indoors were predicted to be lower than 1.65 × 10 molecules cm. This work will help constrain the temporal nature of oxidant concentrations in occupied residences and will improve indoor chemistry models.

In many parts of the world, the implementation of air quality regulations has led to significant decreases in SO emissions with minimal impact on NH emissions. In Canada and the United States, the molar ratio of NH : SO emissions has increased dramatically between 1990 and 2014. In many regions of North America, this will lead the molar ratio of NH : SO, where NH is the sum of particle phase NH and gas phase NH, and SO is the sum of particle phase HSO and SO, to exceed 2. A thermodynamic model (E-AIM model II) is used to investigate the sensitivity of particle pH, and the gas-particle partitioning of NH and inorganic nitrate, to the atmospheric NH : SO ratio. Steep increases in pH and the gas fraction of NH are found as NH : SO varies from below 1 to above 2. The sensitivity of the gas fraction of nitrate also depends strongly on temperature. The results show that if NH : SO exceeds 2, and the gas and particle phase NH are in equilibrium, the particle pH will be above 2. Observations of the composition of particulate matter and gas phase NH from two field campaigns in southern Canada in 2007 and 2012 have median NH : SO ratios of 3.8 and 25, respectively. These campaigns exhibited similar amounts of NH, but very different particle phase loadings. Under these conditions, the pH values calculated using the observations as input to the E-AIM model were in the range of 1-4. The pH values were typically higher at night because the higher relative humidity increased the particle water content, diluting the acidity. The assumption of equilibration between the gas and particle phase NH was evaluated by comparing the observed and modelled gas fraction of NH. In general, E-AIM was able to reproduce the partitioning well, suggesting that the dominant constituents contributing to particle acidity were measured, and that the estimated pH values were realistic. These results suggest that regions of the world where the ratio of NH : SO emissions is beginning to exceed 2 on a molar basis may be experiencing rapid increases in aerosol pH of 1-3 pH units. This could have important consequences for the rates of condensed phase reactions that are acid-catalyzed.

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.

Isocyanic acid (HNCO) has only recently been measured in the ambient atmosphere, and many aspects of its atmospheric chemistry are still uncertain. HNCO was measured during three diverse field campaigns: California Nexus-Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change (CalNex 2010) at the Pasadena ground site, Nitrogen, Aerosol Composition, and Halogens on a Tall Tower (NACHTT 2011) at the Boulder Atmospheric Observatory (BAO) in Weld County, CO, and Biofuel Crops emission of Ozone precursors intensive (BioCORN 2011), in a cornfield NW of Fort Collins, CO. Mixing ratios varied from below detection limit (~0.003 ppbv) to over 1.2 ppbv during a period when agricultural burning impacted the BAO Tower site. Urban areas, such as the CalNex 2010 Pasadena site, appear to have both primary (combustion) and secondary (photochemical) sources of HNCO, 50 ± 9%, and 33 ± 12%, respectively, while primary sources were responsible for the large mixing ratios of HNCO observed during the wintertime NACHTT study in suburban Colorado. Isocyanic acid during the BioCORN study in rural NE Colorado was closely correlated to ozone and therefore likely photochemically produced as a secondary product from amines or formamide. The removal of HNCO from the lower atmosphere is thought to be due to deposition, as common gas phase loss processes of photolysis and reactions with hydroxyl radicals, are slow. These ambient measurements are consistent with some HNCO deposition, which was evident at night at these surface sites.