OZONE PRECURSORS, SOURCE REGIONS, AND O(3) FORMATION DURING THE TEXAQS 2000 STUDY.

Conference · Mon Oct 01 04:00:00 EDT 2001

OSTI ID:789242

DAUM, P H ^[1]; KLEINMAN, L I; BRECHTEL, F; LEE, Y N; NUNNERMACKER, L J; SPRINGSTON, S R; WEINSTEIN-LLOYD, J

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1. BROOKHAVEN NATIONAL LABORATORY

The DOE G-1 aircraft made flights on 14 days during the TexAQS 2000 study. On 7 of those days, the aircraft encountered highly localized plumes exhibiting O{sub 3} concentrations in excess of 150 ppb; on some days, peak O{sub 3} concentrations were in excess of 200 ppb. These ozone plumes were rapidly formed with an efficiency (O{sub 3} per NO{sub x} molecule consumed) much higher (7-20) than observed in other urban areas (3-4), and were frequently associated with high concentrations (>20 ppb) of secondary hydrocarbon species such as formaldehyde. Back trajectory analysis showed that the plumes were invariably associated with emissions from one or more of the large industrial complexes clustered about the Houston Ship Channel and Galveston Bay. Very high hydrocarbon reactivities were found in the vicinity of these facilities during morning flights. These hydrocarbon reactivities, in combination with local NO{sub x} emissions, were large enough to support instantaneous O{sub 3} production rates as high as 200 ppb/h. It is hypothesized that the combination of nitrogen oxides and hydrocarbon emissions emanating from this complex of industries provided a potent mixture of chemicals that caused the rapid formation of very high concentrations of ozone which, depending on the prevailing meteorology, could cause exceedance of the NAAQS ozone standard anywhere in the Houston metropolitan area.

• Research Organization: Brookhaven National Lab., Upton, NY (US)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Research (ER) (US)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-98CH10886
• OSTI ID: 789242
• Report Number(s): BNL--68701; KP1202010; KP1202010
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
FORMALDEHYDE
GALVESTON BAY
HYDROCARBONS
METEOROLOGY
NITROGEN OXIDES
OZONE
PLUMES
SYNTHESIS
TEXAS
URBAN AREAS