NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Reactive Nitrogen Distribution and Partitioning in the North American Troposphere and Lowermost StratosphereA comprehensive group of reactive nitrogen species (NO, NO2, HNO3, HO2NO2, PANs, alkyl nitrates, and aerosol-NO3) were measured in the troposphere and lowermost stratosphere over North America and the Atlantic during July/August 2004 (INTEX-A) from the NASA DC-8 platform (0.1-12 km). Less reactive nitrogen species (HCN and CH3CN), that are also unique tracers of biomass combustion, were also measured along with a host of other gaseous (CO, VOC, OVOC, halocarbon) and aerosol tracers. Clean background air as well as air with influences from biogenic emissions, anthropogenic pollution, biomass combustion, and stratosphere was sampled both over continental U. S., Atlantic and Pacific. The North American upper troposphere was found to be greatly influenced by both lightning NO(x) and surface pollution lofted via convection and contained elevated concentrations of PAN, ozone, hydrocarbons, and NO(x). Under polluted conditions PAN was a dominant carrier of reactive nitrogen in the upper troposphere while nitric acid dominated in the lower troposphere. Peroxynitric acid (HO2NO2) was present in sizable concentrations always peaking at around 8 km. Aerosol nitrate appeared to be mostly contained in large soil based particles in the lower troposphere. Plumes from Alaskan fires contained large amounts of PAN and very little enhancement in ozone. Observational data suggest that lightning was a far greater contributor to NO(x) in the upper troposphere than previously believed. NO(x) and NO(y) reservoir appeared to be in steady state only in the middle troposphere where NO(x)/NO(y) was independent of air mass age. A first comparison of observed data with simulations from four 3-D models shows significant differences between observations and models as well as among models. These uncertainties likely propagate themselves in satellites derived NOx data. Observed data are interpreted to suggest that soil sinks of HCN/CH3CN are at best very small. We investigate the partitioning and interplay of the reactive nitrogen species within characteristic air masses and further examine their role in ozone formation.
Document ID
20080007146
Acquisition Source
Langley Research Center
Document Type
Preprint (Draft being sent to journal)
Authors
Singh, H. B. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Salas, L. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Herlth, D. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Kolyer, R. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Czech, E. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Avery, M. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Crawford, J. H. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Pierce, B. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Sachse, G. W. (NASA Langley Research Center Hampton, VA, United States)
Blake, D. R. (California Univ. Irvine, CA, United States)
Cohen, R. C. (California Univ. Berkeley, CA, United States)
Dibb, J. (New Hampshire Univ. Durham, NH, United States)
Huey, G. (Georgia Inst. of Tech. Atlanta, GA, United States)
Hudman, R. C. (Harvard Univ. MA, United States)
Turquety, S. (Harvard Univ. MA, United States)
Emmons, L. K. (National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO, United States)
FLocke, F. (National Center for Atmospheric Research Boulder, CO, United States)
Tang, Y. (Iowa Univ. Iowa City, IA, United States)
Carmichael, G. R. (Iowa Univ. Iowa City, IA, United States)
Horowitz, L. W. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Princeton, NJ, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2007
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Funding Number(s)
WBS: WBS 281945.02.39.01.04
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available