Effect of Clouds and Aerosols on Ozone Production in the LA Basin

Braven Leung Mentor: Nicole Grossberg Faculty: Dr. Barry Lefer University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign NASA Student Airborne Research Program 2013

Ozone Formation
(R1) (R1a) (R2) (R3) NO + O3 NO2 + O2 NO + RO2 NO2 + RO NO2 + hv NO + O O + O2 O3
* where R denotes H or organic group

k1 k1a jNO2 k3

What is jNO2
NO2 + hv NO + O ( < 424 nm)
Sunlight is Rate Determining Component!

d[NO 2 ] = jNO 2 [NO2 ] dt

Photolysis Rate
How fast NO2 is being photolyzed

What affects UV levels?

Institute of Physics of the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil

Aerosol Effects: Effects Scatter

Scattered sky radiation Direct solar radiation

Sun

Volume of gases

Scattered reflected radiation

Reflected radiation Scattering by gases and particles

1. Scatter

Adapted from Finlayson-Pitts et al. (2000)

Earth

Aerosol Effects: Effects Absorb

Scattered sky radiation Direct solar radiation

Sun

Volume of gases

Scattered reflected radiation

Reflected radiation Scattering by gases and particles

1. Scatter 2. Absorb
Adapted from Finlayson-Pitts et al. (2000)

Earth

Aerosol + Cloud Effects

Scattered sky radiation Direct solar radiation

Sun

Volume of gases

Scattered reflected radiation

Reflected radiation Scattering by gases and particles

Adapted from Finlayson-Pitts et al. (2000)

Earth

Filter Radiometer
Simple Lightweight Fast response time Photons Optical Filter Photodiode Calculate jNO2

Photo courtesy of NASA

California Nexus 2010 Study

Duration: May 15

June 15, 2010 Measurements

Pressure Temperature jNO2 O3 CO NO NO2
LA Ground Site at Caltech (Pasadena, CA), courtesy of NOAA

May

June

Model Flow Diagram: Part 1

Input Files Run TUV Model vs. Measured Run LaRC Model vs. Measured Ozone Prod.

Meteorological Data

Ozone Column Aerosol Properties

NCAR TUV Model

TUV jNO2

FR jNO2

LaRC 0-D Box Model

Ozone Photochemistry

Model Flow Diagram: Part 1

Input Parameters
Latitude Longitude Altitude Meas. Height

Run TUV

Model vs. Measured

NCAR TUV Model

TUV jNO2

FR jNO2

May

June

Partly Cloudy vs. Cloudy Days

Partly Cloudy Very Cloudy

San Gabriel Mountains

Cloud-Free Day: Aerosol Effect

Photolysis Reduction Regimes

Aerosols

Clouds + Aerosols

Model Flow Diagram: Part 2

Model vs. Measured Run LaRC Ozone Photochemistry

TUV jNO2

FR jNO2

LaRC 0-D Box Model

1. TUV P(O3) 2. FR P(O3)

Average Net O3 Production

40

Clouds + Aerosols

Aerosols Only
Measured (FR) Modeled (TUV)

Average Net Ozone Rate (ppbv/hr)

35

16%

30

25

20

25%

15

10

All Days

Cloud-Free (10 Days)

Aerosol & Cloud Impact on Net O3

Aerosol & Cloud Impact on NO2

NO2 + hv NO + O

Conclusions
Presence of aerosols caused average of 10% reduction in

jNO2 values Combined effect of clouds & aerosols caused net average of 26% reduction in O3 production Aerosols alone reduced net average of O3 production by 16% High sensitivity in O3 production from small jNO2 fluctuations Increasing aerosols decreases O3 production, better to target NOx and VOCs

Future Work
q Run aerosol simulation for model verification q Investigate nature of aerosols
Size Distribution Coarse & Fine Mode Chemical Composition (organics, NO3, black carbon, etc.)

Acknowledgements
Barry Lefer Nicole Grossberg James Flynn Sam Pellock Emily Schaller Rick Shetter 2013 SARP Class

SARP 2013: Santa Barbara Channel, CA

References

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