Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry

Measurements of ground level ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and meteorological parameters (air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed and direction) has been made for 3 years from March 2007 to February 2010 at Nagercoil (8.2°N, 77.5°E, 23 m above sea level), an equatorial rural coastal site of southern India. The monthly average of daytime maximum of O3 concentrations ranged from 28 to 50 parts per billion (ppb) with an annual average of 19.8 ppb. Similarly, monthly average of NO2 concentration ranged from 3.4 ppb to 7.7 ppb with an annual average of 5.3 ppb. The monthly variation of meteorological parameters shows the little changes being a coastal site. The estimated summer crops yield losses by 1.1–15.6 % from present O3 concentration level associated with AOT40 index 3.1–5 ppm h.

The hydroxyl column abundance in the middle atmosphere is measured for 3 years in Tokyo by ground-based uv absorption spectroscopy utilizing the Doppler shift of the solar spectrum due to the solar rotation. The diurnal and seasonal variations of the measured column abundance are found to be reproduced qualitatively by a one-dimensional photochemical-diffusive model; however, the measured column abundances are smaller than the calculated by 20 to 30% systematically.

The aim of this article is to investigate the dynamical behaviour ofmultiphase atmospheric chemical mechanisms. Reducing procedures areapplied to a multiphase chemical box model including gas-phasereactions, aqueous-phase reactions and interfacial mass transfer. The lumping of species is computed in an automatic wayusing an efficient algorithm (apla). The computed lumped species arerelated to the fast behaviour of chemical and microphysical processessuch as Chapman cycle, ionic dissociations within the cloud drops andinterfacial Henry's equilibria. Depending on some parameters (liquidwater content, droplet radius) mixed lumped species (including both phases) may also becomputed. We show the existence of hierarchical reduced models due to the existence ofmultiple timescales. We use a special algorithm (dan2) in order tosolve the reduced models. Such models are accurate and the relative errorremains under the threshold of 1%. The speed-up is up to a factor 5comparedwith a fully implicit method (Gear) for the same accuracy. The key pointis that it provides a good qualitative understanding for the behaviourof the kinetic scheme.

Observed pollutants are of both primary and secondary origins, influenced by local topography and meteorology. Identifying sources and relative contribution often require vast detailed data collection and complicated models. This study applied a statistical time series analysis to two selected pollution events, spring and fall, at two sites in northern Taiwan. Vector moving average representations were used to quantitatively examine relationships among chemical pollutants and estimate their lifetimes. Results from impulse responses show that wind direction change alters the characteristic of pollution observed in opposite sites of Taipei City, from chemical dominant system to transport dominant one and vice versa. Chemicals are clearly separated into photochemical pollutants and primary pollutants. Results pointed out that Taipei City is the major source of photochemical smog, but not these primary pollutants. Derived chemical lifetimes at same location vary from 20% to four times under different meteorological condition. Estimated concentrations of hydroxyl radical range between 2 to 8 × 107 cm−3. Photochemical pollutants are responsible for parts of PM10 collected in both station observed. Oxidation of SO2 is only important in PM10 observed at one station. This study provides a simpler tool to derive information usually from complex models, therefore, is suitable as complement in decision-making process.

Goal and Scope. The UNECE heavy metals in Mosses Surveys provide data on the accumulation of metals in naturally growing mosses throughout Europe. Using Germany as an example, this article concentrates on the elaboration and application of methods of data analysis that are necessary for a comprehensive interpretation of spatial and temporal trends in metal accumulation. Methods and Results. The sampling of mosses, and the chemical analysis of Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, Ti, V and Zn in 1990, 1995 and 2000 are summarized briefly. The variogram analyses detect distinct autocorrelation structures in the sample data which may consequently be estimated for all sites in Germany without monitoring metal accumulation by means of ordinary kriging. A procedure for the geostatistical detection of spatial outliers was developed and applied and, after the elimination of the spatial outliers, several measurements were seen to indicate an adequate quality of the geostatistical estimations. The cluster analyses of the z-transformed estimation data result in a nominal multi-element index that indicates regional metal accumulation types over time. Percentile statistics serve for computation of an ordinal, scaled, multi-element accumulation index which is spatially differentiated over time in terms of multivariate, statistically defined ecoregions. The integrative statistical analysis reveals, from 1990 to 2000, that the metal accumulation declines up to 80% in some of the ecoregions. Hot spots of metal accumulation are mapped and interpreted by means of metadata analysis. Conclusions. Dot maps depict the spatial structure of the metal accumulation without spatial bias. This information, detailed with respect to metal species and space, should be generalized for better supporting the interpretation. The combination of geostatistical analysis and estimation, percentile and multivariate statistics is suitable for the calculation of indices that serve for a comprehensive mapping of metal accumulation in the ecoregions over time, for quantifying the bias of the surface estimation, and for mapping spatial outliers and hot spots of metal accumulation.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) is an important organic pollutant in the air-water carbon cycle system, potentially influencing the global climate. In this study, 204 rainwater samples from five sampling stations in the Mt. Yulong region were synchronously collected from June to September in 2014. We comprehensively investigated the sources and wet deposition of DOC in summer precipitation. The average concentrations of DOC at five stations ranged from 0.74 to 1.31 mg L−1. The mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of rainwater DOC evaluated at 365 nm was 0.43 ± 0.32 m2 g−1. Backward trajectory analyses indicated that the southwest advection air parcel accounting for 46% of precipitation events, while the corresponding average concentration of rainwater DOC was 1.25 ± 0.56 mg C L−1. In addition to the local or regional contribution, large amount of atmospheric pollutants were transported from South Asia and Southeast Asia to the Mt. Yulong region, both of which had exerted great influence on the regional atmospheric environment. For the first time, the annual wet deposition of DOC in the Mt. Yulong region was estimated and determined to be 1.99 g C m−2 year−1. This is significant because the deposition of DOC on glaciers has great influence on surface albedo of snow and glacier melt. This study can bridge the gap of rainwater DOC research between the Mt. Yulong region and the southeast of Tibetan Plateau (TP), which has significant implications for better understanding the relationship of DOC deposition and glacial shrink in the TP.

A high resolution tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDLAS) was used to measure the broadening effect of water vapor and other gases (dry air, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and helium) on three methane lines in the v4 fundamental. The effects on methane eddy correlation flux measurements amount to a few percent for the least broadened line for expected H2O fluxes, to ≈10% for the most broadened line for higher H2O and lower CH4 fluxes likely to be encountered. The broadening coefficients of methane measured for air, N2, O2, and He are in good agreement with recently published values.