A Predictive Model for Biogenic Hydrocarbon Aerosol Formation Using a Gas Phase Kinetic-Aerosol Partitioning Approach

University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill NC

Investigators

Abstract

This project will investigate the chemical kinetics mechanisms involved in gas phase biogenic reactions. The goal of the project is to develop a predictive model for hydrocarbon aerosol formation as a result of biological gas phase emissions. Currently, biogenic aerosol formation is represented in modeling efforts based on empirically determined parameters. Biogenic aerosols can contribute both to visibility loss on a local scale and to climate forcing effects on a regional scale. The project will involve a number of outdoor chamber experiments to measure terpene gas and particle phase reaction products in the presence of light and nitrogen oxides over a specified temperature range to develop a sequence of kinetic expressions to model aerosol formation.