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NO x Lifetime and NO y Partitioning During WINTER
Author(s) -
Kenagy Hannah S.,
Sparks Tamara L.,
Ebben Carlena J.,
Wooldrige Paul J.,
LopezHilfiker Felipe D.,
Lee Ben H.,
Thornton Joel A.,
McDuffie Erin E.,
Fibiger Dorothy L.,
Brown Steven S.,
Montzka Denise D.,
Weinheimer Andrew J.,
Schroder Jason C.,
CampuzanoJost Pedro,
Day Douglas A.,
Jimenez Jose L.,
Dibb Jack E.,
Campos Teresa,
Shah Viral,
Jaeglé Lyatt,
Cohen Ronald C.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1029/2018jd028736
Subject(s) - outflow , aerosol , atmospheric sciences , nitric acid , flux (metallurgy) , environmental science , daytime , nox , box model , reactivity (psychology) , climatology , meteorology , chemistry , geography , physics , inorganic chemistry , geology , organic chemistry , combustion , medicine , alternative medicine , pathology
Abstract Although urban NO x lifetimes have been examined extensively during summertime conditions, wintertime NO x chemistry has been comparatively less studied. We use measurements of NO x and its oxidation products from the aircraft‐based WINTER (Wintertime INvestigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity) experiment over the northeastern United States during February–March 2015 to describe the NO x lifetime during conditions when days are shorter, actinic flux is reduced, and temperatures are colder. By analyzing regional outflow from the East Coast, we show that NO x is long lived during the winter, with a longer daytime lifetime (29 hr) than nighttime lifetime (6.3 hr). We demonstrate that wintertime NO x emissions have an overall lifetime controlled by the nighttime conversion of NO x to nitric acid (HNO 3 ) via N 2 O 5 heterogeneous chemistry, and we discuss constraints on the rates of NO x conversion to HNO 3 . Additionally, analysis of the nighttime O x budget suggests that approximately 15% of O 3 is lost overnight through N 2 O 5 production and subsequent reaction with aerosol to form HNO 3 .