Observations of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC) from the Remote North Atlantic: Preliminary Results from the High-Wind Gas-Exchange Study (HiWinGS)
Abstract
Marine biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) can play a controlling role in setting the oxidative capacity of the marine boundary layer, secondary organic aerosol production rates and the chemistry of the upper ocean. Models suggest a wide range of significance for these reactive trace gases driven largely by local biophysical controls. This variability remains poorly constrained by observations, particularly from open-ocean regions. Here, we report preliminary BVOC mixing ratios and direct flux measurements from the High-Wind Gas Exchange Study (HiWinGS). This research cruise targeted regions of enhanced trace gas exchange, driven by elevated biological activity and strong surface winds in the remote North Atlantic during Fall of 2013. A custom-built chemical-ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer was deployed to capture full mass spectra at high resolution (10 Hz) with demonstrated sensitivity (>10^2 Hz/pptv) to a wide range of BVOC species such as dimethylsulfide, isoprene, monoterpenes and alkylamines.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2011
- Bibcode:
- 2011AGUFM.A14C..03K
- Keywords:
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- 0320 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Cloud physics and chemistry;
- 0312 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Air/sea constituent fluxes;
- 0322 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Constituent sources and sinks;
- 0365 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Troposphere: composition and chemistry