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Influence of oil and gas emissions on summertime ozone in the Colorado Northern Front Range
Author(s) -
McDuffie Erin E.,
Edwards Peter M.,
Gilman Jessica B.,
Lerner Brian M.,
Dubé William P.,
Trainer Michael,
Wolfe Daniel E.,
Angevine Wayne M.,
deGouw Joost,
Williams Eric J.,
Tevlin Alex G.,
Murphy Jennifer G.,
Fischer Emily V.,
McKeen Stuart,
Ryerson Thomas B.,
Peischl Jeff,
Holloway John S.,
Aikin Kenneth,
Langford Andrew O.,
Senff Christoph J.,
Alvarez Raul J.,
Hall Samuel R.,
Ullmann Kirk,
Lantz Kathy O.,
Brown Steven S.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2016jd025265
Subject(s) - ozone , tropospheric ozone , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , air quality index , front (military) , troposphere , mixing ratio , greenhouse gas , plume , range (aeronautics) , environmental chemistry , chemistry , meteorology , geography , physics , geology , materials science , oceanography , composite material
Tropospheric O 3 has been decreasing across much of the eastern U.S. but has remained steady or even increased in some western regions. Recent increases in VOC and NO x emissions associated with the production of oil and natural gas (O&NG) may contribute to this trend in some areas. The Northern Front Range of Colorado has regularly exceeded O 3 air quality standards during summertime in recent years. This region has VOC emissions from a rapidly developing O&NG basin and low concentrations of biogenic VOC in close proximity to urban‐Denver NO x emissions. Here VOC OH reactivity (OHR), O 3 production efficiency (OPE), and an observationally constrained box model are used to quantify the influence of O&NG emissions on regional summertime O 3 production. Analyses are based on measurements acquired over two summers at a central location within the Northern Front Range that lies between major regional O&NG and urban emission sectors. Observational analyses suggest that mixing obscures any OPE differences in air primarily influenced by O&NG or urban emission sector. The box model confirms relatively modest OPE differences that are within the uncertainties of the field observations. Box model results also indicate that maximum O 3 at the measurement location is sensitive to changes in NO x mixing ratio but also responsive to O&NG VOC reductions. Combined, these analyses show that O&NG alkanes contribute over 80% to the observed carbon mixing ratio, roughly 50% to the regional VOC OHR, and approximately 20% to regional photochemical O 3 production.