Title: NOx Reactions and Transport in Nighttime Plumes and Impact on Next-Day Ozone
Institution(s) Represented: ENVIRON- Greg Yarwood, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)- Steven Brown
Lead PI: Steven Brown
AQRP Project Manager: Elena McDonald-Buller
TCEQ Project Liaison: Dick Karp
Awarded Amount: $202,498.00
Executive Summary- Project #10-020
NOx Reactions and Transport in Nighttime Plumes and Impact on Next-Day Ozone
During the second Texas Air Quality Study in 2006 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) P-3 aircraft measured a wide suite of atmospheric species including important a critical nighttime chemical species: the nitrate radical (NO3), a strong oxidant for highly reactive VOC. Reactions between NO3 and highly reactive VOC can remove them from the atmosphere and prevent their participation in ozone and aerosol formation. This project aims to characterize how the nighttime chemistry affected the NOx and VOC concentrations in the atmosphere over Houston, with particular focus on the petrochemical industrial and power plant emissions. This project will also evaluate the success of plume modeling in reproducing the observations, and improve the algorithms presently incorporated into the photochemical grid models that are used in SIP development.
The expected outcomes of this research are improvement in our understanding of nighttime atmospheric chemistry, particularly with regard to the NO3-VOC chemistry, and its influence on the production of ozone and aerosols in urban areas. This improved understanding will be directly incorporated into the photochemical grid models so that more reliable SIP planning can be conducted.
Work Plan: projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Work Plan.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Mar 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Apr 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report May 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Jun 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Jul 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Aug 2011.pdf
Technical Report(s): projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Tech Report Sep 2011.pdf
QAPP: projectinfo\10-020\10-020 QAPP.pdf
Final Report: projectinfo\10-020\10-020 Final Report.pdf
Publications & Citations
Several papers are expected to be published based on this Project. Their titles and current status are below: Accepted in Journal of Geophysical Research: The Effects of Nox Control and Plume Mixing on Nighttime Chemical Processing of Plumes from Coal-Fired Power Plants. Steven S. Brown, William P. Dubé, Prakash Karamchandani, Greg Yarwood, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, J. Andrew Neuman, John B. Nowak, John S. Holloway, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Charles A. Brock, Gregory J. Frost, Michael, Trainer, David D. Parrish, Frederick C. Fehsenfeld and A. R. Ravishankara In preparation for Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogenic VOC Oxidation and Organic Aerosol Formation within an Urban Nocturnal Boundary Layer - Aircraft Vertical Profiles in Houston, TX. Steven S. Brown, William P. Dubé, Roya Bahreini, Ann M. Middlebrook, Charles A. Brock, Carsten Warneke, Joost A. de Gouw, Rebecca A. Washenfelder, Elliot Atlas, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, J. Andrew Neuman, Jonathan B. Nowak, Michael Trainer, David D. Parrish, Frederick C. Feshenfeld and A. R. Ravishankara In preparation for Atmosphere: Reactive Plume Modeling to Investigate Nox Reactions and Transport at Night Prakash Karamchandani, Shu-Yun Chen, Greg Yarwood, Steven S. Brown, David Parrish In preparation for Atmosphere: Modeling Overnight Power Plant Plume Impacts on Next-Day Ozone Using a Plume-in-Grid Technique Greg Yarwood, Chris Emery, Steven S. Brown, David Parrish
