AGS-PRF: Radical Precursor Chemistry in the Northeast United States

Fibiger Dorothy L, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

This Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (PRF) supports the participation of an early career female scientist in a large NSF-supported field campaign to measure nitrogen compounds in the atmosphere. The Wintertime Investigation of Transport, Emissions, and Reactivity (WINTER) campaign scheduled during January-February 2015, in the Mid-Atlantic region of the Northeastern U.S. focuses on atmospheric multiphase chemical transformations that generally occur more slowly in wintertime, enabling the resulting pollutants to be transported over wider geographic areas downwind of source regions. The results of this research are important for understanding how nitrogen chemistry influences air quality and climate. Measurements of nitryl chloride (ClNO2) will be made with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer utilizing iodide ion-molecule clusters (I- CIMS). Measurements of NO, NO2, N2O5, NO3 and O3 will be made using a cavity ring-down spectrometer (CRDS). These instruments will be deployed on the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft along with many additional instruments being contributed by other investigators. Other related compounds being measured include Cl2, HONO, HNO3, HNCO, HCl and peroxy nitrates. The three primary research objectives of WINTER are to: 1) Characterize the chemical transformations of wintertime emissions via multiphase, nocturnal, and photochemical processes; 2) Assess the dominant mechanisms of secondary aerosol formation and quantify the geographical distribution of inorganic and organic aerosol types during winter; and 3) Constrain wintertime emission inventories of key pollutants for urban areas, power plants, and agricultural areas, and characterize their export over the North Atlantic.