On the Importance of Surface-Enhanced Re-noxification as an Oxides of Nitrogen Source in Rural and Urban New York State: Potential Implications for Photochemical Ozone Production
Abstract
Due to ongoing reductions in anthropogenic oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions, other NOx sources may have a greater impact on photochemical ozone (O3) production. One such NOx source is the photolysis of nitrate (= nitric acid (HNO3) + particle nitrate (pNO3)) on surfaces, also known as re-noxification. Prior studies have quantitatively assessed re-noxification in rural and urban environments. However, these studies have not examined the importance of re-noxification as a NOx source by comparing the re-noxification rate to the NOx emissions and removal rates. In addition, previous work has not explored the effect of re-noxification on photochemical O3 production. To address these research gaps, this study used (1) continuous HNO3, pNO3, NOx, and O3 measurements, (2) NOx emissions from the National Emissions Inventory (NEI), and (3) air quality model simulations. The rural and urban locations of interest were Pinnacle State Park (PSP) in Addison, NY, and Queens College (QC) in New York City, respectively. NOx emissions rates, NOx removal rates, and photochemical O3 production rates were determined during selected case study periods at both sites using the Community Multiscale Air Quality (CMAQ) model instrumented with process analysis. The importance of re-noxification as a NOx source and its impact on photochemical O3 production differed at PSP and QC. This difference will be explored in this work, and may have been due to (1) differences in NOx-sensitive versus NOx-saturated environments, (2) CMAQ model performance, and/or (3) other chemical or dynamical variations not well captured in the measurements or model.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.A11S2808N
- Keywords:
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- 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry;
- ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE;
- 3307 Boundary layer processes;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES;
- 3323 Large eddy simulation;
- ATMOSPHERIC PROCESSES