Natural emissions of oxidant precursors. Interim report, Jan 90-May 91

Technical Report · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:5285232

Novak, J H; Pierce, T E

The paper provides an overview of the sources, the estimation methodology, and the relative amounts of natural hydrocarbon and nitrogen oxide emissions. The most recent estimate of natural nonmethane hydrocarbon (NMHC) emissions for the United States is 28 teragrams per year (Tg/yr). This compares with 20 Tg/yr for anthropogenic NMHC sources. The southeastern and southcentral portions of the United States account for approximately 43% of the annual U.S. natural NMHC estimate. These emissions exhibit strong diurnal and seasonal dependencies related to temperature, solar radiation, and active biomass. Forests are the primary vegetative source of hydrocarbons. The major sources of natural nitrogen oxide emissions in North America are biomass burning, lightning, and microbial activity in soil. The authors present a comparison of hourly gridded nitrogen oxide emissions from lightning, soil, and man-made sources for the northeastern United States. They also provide results from preliminary investigations of the sensitivity of ozone predictions from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Oxidant Model to natural NMHC and nitric oxide emissions.

• Research Organization: Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (United States). Atmospheric Research and Exposure Assessment Lab.
• OSTI ID: 5285232
• Report Number(s): PB-91-211334/XAB
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
540120* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (1990-)
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
CHALCOGENIDES
DAILY VARIATIONS
DOCUMENT TYPES
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
FORESTS
HYDROCARBONS
MONITORING
NITROGEN COMPOUNDS
NITROGEN OXIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
OZONE
POLLUTION SOURCES
REVIEWS
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
VARIATIONS