Abstract. A
new chemical mechanism for the oxidation of biogenic volatile organic
compounds (BVOCs) is presented and implemented in the Model of Atmospheric
composition at Global and Regional scales using Inversion Techniques for
Trace gas Emissions (MAGRITTE v1.1). With a total of 105 organic species and
over 265 gas-phase reactions, 69 photodissociations, and 7 heterogeneous
reactions, the mechanism treats the chemical degradation of isoprene – its
main focus – as well as acetaldehyde, acetone, methylbutenol, and the family
of monoterpenes. Regarding isoprene, the mechanism incorporates a
state-of-the-art representation of its oxidation scheme accounting for all
major advances put forward in recent theoretical and laboratory studies. The
recycling of OH radicals in isoprene oxidation through the
isomerization of Z-δ-hydroxyperoxy radicals is found to enhance
OH concentrations by up to 40 % over western Amazonia in the
boundary layer and by 10 %–15 % over the southeastern US and Siberia
in July. The model and its chemical mechanism are evaluated against the suite
of chemical measurements from the SEAC4RS (Studies of Emissions and
Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys)
airborne campaign, demonstrating a good overall agreement for major isoprene
oxidation products, although the aerosol hydrolysis of tertiary and
non-tertiary nitrates remain poorly constrained. The comparisons for
methylnitrate indicate a very low nitrate yield (<3×10-4) in the
CH3O2+NO reaction. The oxidation of isoprene, acetone, and
acetaldehyde by OH is shown to be a substantial source of enols and
keto-enols, primarily through the photolysis of multifunctional carbonyls
generated in their oxidation schemes. Oxidation of those enols by OH
radicals constitutes a sizable source of carboxylic acids estimated at
9 Tg (HC(O)OH) yr−1 and 11 Tg(CH3C(O)OH) yr−1
or ∼20 % of their global identified source. The ozonolysis of
alkenes is found to be a smaller source of HC(O)OH
(6 Tg HC(O)OH yr−1) than previously estimated, due to several
factors including the strong deposition sink of hydroxymethyl hydroperoxide
(HMHP).