A Computational Approach to Understanding Aerosol Formation and Oxidant Chemistry in the Troposphere

Abstract

An understanding of the mechanisms and kinetics of aerosol formation and ozone production in the troposphere is currently a high priority because these phenomena are recognized as two major effects of energy-related air pollution. Atmospheric aerosols are of concern because of their effect on visibility, climate, and human health. Equally important, aerosols can change the chemistry of the atmosphere, in dramatic fashion, by providing new chemical pathways (in the condensed phase) unavailable in the gas phase. The oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and inorganic compounds (e.g., sulfuric acid, ammonia, nitric acid, ions, and mineral) can produce precursor molecules that act as nucleation seeds.The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Atmospheric Chemistry Program (ACP) has identified the need to evaluate the causes of variations in tropospheric aerosol chemical composition and concentrations, including determining the sources of aerosol particles and the fraction of such that are of primary and secondary origin. In particular, the ACP has called for a deeper understanding into aerosol formation because nucleation creates substantial concentrations of fresh particles that, via growth and coagulation, influence the Earth's radiation budget. Tropospheric ozone is also of concern primarily because of its impact on human health. Ozone levels are controlled by NO x and by VOCs in the lower troposphere. The VOCs can be either from natural emissions from such sources as vegetation and phytoplankton or from anthropogenic sources such as automobiles and oil-fueled power production plants. The major oxidant for VOCs in the atmosphere is the OH radical. With the increase in VOC emissions, there is rising concern regarding the available abundance of HO x species needed to initiate oxidation. Over the last five years, there have been four field studies aimed at initial measurements of HO x species (OH and HO 2 radicals). These measurements revealed HO x levels that are two to four times higher than expected from the commonly assumed primary sources. Such elevated abundances of HO x imply a more photochemically active troposphere than previously thought. This implies that rates of ozone formation in the lower region of the atmosphere and the oxidation of SO 2 can be enhanced, thus promoting the formation of new aerosol properties.Central to unraveling this chemistry is the ability to assess the photochemical product distributions resulting from the photodissociation of by-products of VOC oxidation. We propose to use state-of-the-art theoretical techniques to develop a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of aerosol formation in multicomponent (mixed chemical) systems and the photochemistry of atmospheric organic species. The aerosol studies involve an approach that determines homogeneous gas-particle nucleation rates from knowledge of the molecular interactions that are used to define properties of molecular clusters. Over the past several years we developed Dynamical Nucleation Theory (DNT), a novel advance...