Impact of clouds and aerosols on ozone production in Southeast Texas

James Flynn, Barry Lefer, Bernhard Rappenglück, Michael Leuchner, Ryan Perna, Jack Dibb, Luke Ziemba, Casey Anderson, Jochen Stutz, William Brune, Xinrong Ren, Jingqiu Mao, Winston Luke, Jennifer Olson, Gao Chen, James Crawford

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

51 Scopus citations

Abstract

A radiative transfer model and photochemical box model are used to examine the effects of clouds and aerosols on actinic flux and photolysis rates, and the impacts of changes in photolysis rates on ozone production and destruction rates in a polluted urban environment like Houston, Texas. During the TexAQS-II Radical and Aerosol Measurement Project the combined cloud and aerosol effects reduced j(NO2) photolysis frequencies by nominally 17%, while aerosols reduced j(NO2) by 3% on six clear sky days. Reductions in actinic flux due to attenuation by clouds and aerosols correspond to reduced net ozone formation rates with a nearly one-to-one relationship. The overall reduction in the net ozone production rate due to reductions in photolysis rates by clouds and aerosols was approximately 8 ppbv h-1.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)4126-4133
Number of pages8
JournalAtmospheric Environment
Volume44
Issue number33
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2010

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • General Environmental Science
  • Atmospheric Science

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