Open AccessTrace gas measurements during the Oxidizing Capacity of the Tropospheric Atmosphere campaign 1993 at Izaña
Author(s) -
Fischer H.,
Nikitas C.,
Parchatka U.,
Zenker T.,
Harris G. W.,
Matuska P.,
Schmitt R.,
Mihelcic D.,
Muesgen P.,
Paetz H.W.,
Schultz M.,
VolzThomas A.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/97jd01497
Subject(s) - troposphere , trace gas , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , atmosphere (unit) , isoprene , ozone , atmospheric chemistry , climatology , meteorology , environmental chemistry , chemistry , geology , geography , organic chemistry , copolymer , polymer
As part of the Oxidizing Capacity of the Tropospheric Atmosphere (OCTA) project, an intensive measurement campaign was conducted in July/August 1993 at the high‐altitude observatory Izaña, Tenerife. Measurements of NO, NO 2 , NO y , PAN, J NO 2 , CO, VOC, HCHO, H 2 O 2 , O 3 , and RO x were made to study the photochemical processes which control the oxidizing capacity of the remote troposphere. Special attention was paid to the processes controlling the budget of ozone. Diurnal changes in the concentration of the species resulted primarily from the transition between downslope flow (usually free tropospheric air) and upslope flow (a mixture of marine boundary layer air and free tropospheric air modified by island emissions). Median concentrations for downslope and upslope conditions were NO x (47/76 parts per trillion by volume (pptv)), NO y (392/519 pptv), peroxyacetylnitrate (PAN) (10/23 pptv), CO (89/92 parts per billion by volume (ppbv), ethane (499/486 pptv), propane (35/40 pptv), ethene (25/31 pptv), isoprene (0/60 pptv), HCHO (1.1/1.4 ppbv), H 2 O 2 (2.4/2.1 ppbv), and O 3 (40/38 ppbv). Maximum amounts of RO x were measured around noon and reached values up to 70 pptv with no observable signal in the night during downslope conditions.