Articles | Volume 11, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-741-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-741-2018
© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
07 Feb 2018
Research article |
| 07 Feb 2018
| 07 Feb 2018
Development of an instrument for direct ozone production rate measurements: measurement reliability and current limitations
Sofia Sklaveniti
IMT Lille Douai, Univ. Lille, SAGE – Département Sciences de
l'Atmosphère et Génie de l'Environnement, 59000 Lille,
France
School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana
University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Nadine Locoge
IMT Lille Douai, Univ. Lille, SAGE – Département Sciences de
l'Atmosphère et Génie de l'Environnement, 59000 Lille,
France
Philip S. Stevens
School of Public and Environmental Affairs, Indiana
University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA
Department of Chemistry,
Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA
Ezra Wood
Department of Chemistry,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
Department of
Chemistry, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
Shuvashish Kundu
Department of Chemistry,
University of Massachusetts Amherst, Amherst, MA, USA
Sébastien Dusanter
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
IMT Lille Douai, Univ. Lille, SAGE – Département Sciences de
l'Atmosphère et Génie de l'Environnement, 59000 Lille,
France
Related authors
Michelle M. Lew, Pamela S. Rickly, Brandon P. Bottorff, Emily Reidy, Sofia Sklaveniti, Thierry Léonardis, Nadine Locoge, Sebastien Dusanter, Shuvashish Kundu, Ezra Wood, and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9209–9230, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9209-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9209-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The OH radical is the primary oxidant in the atmosphere, and measurements of its concentration provide a rigorous test of our understanding of atmospheric chemistry. Previous measurements of OH concentrations in forest environments have shown large discrepancies with model predictions. In this paper, we present measurements of OH in a forest in Indiana, USA, and compare the results to model predictions to test our understanding of this important chemistry.
Shuvashish Kundu, Benjamin L. Deming, Michelle M. Lew, Brandon P. Bottorff, Pamela Rickly, Philip S. Stevens, Sebastien Dusanter, Sofia Sklaveniti, Thierry Leonardis, Nadine Locoge, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9563–9579, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9563-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9563-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Compounds emitted into the atmosphere are chemically transformed, often leading to new compounds which can affect air pollution and climate. Studying the radicals OH, HO2, and RO2 (organic peroxy radicals) is a crucial activity for assessing how well we understand the rates and products of chemical transformations. In this paper we describe the performance of a new instrument, ECHAMP, for measuring peroxy radicals during its first field deployment.
Carolina Ramírez-Romero, Olatunde Murana, Hichem Bouzidi, Marina Jamar, Sébastien Dusanter, Alexandre Tomas, Ahmad Lahib, Layal Fayad, Véronique Riffault, Christopher Pöhlker, Stéphane Sauvage, and Joel F. de Brito
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2331, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2331, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Measurement Techniques (AMT).
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding how volatile organic compounds from plants and soils contribute to aerosol particles is essential for predicting air quality and climate effects. This study used advanced mass spectrometry to analyze particles formed from these compounds under controlled conditions. By identifying distinct chemical fingerprints, we can trace particle sources and reactions more accurately, improving our understanding of particle formation processes in the atmosphere.
Maitane Iturrate-Garcia, Thérèse Salameh, Paul Schlauri, Annarita Baldan, Martin K. Vollmer, Evdokia Stratigou, Sebastien Dusanter, Jianrong Li, Stefan Persijn, Anja Claude, Rupert Holzinger, Christophe Sutour, Tatiana Macé, Yasin Elshorbany, Andreas Ackermann, Céline Pascale, and Stefan Reimann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 371–403, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-371-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-371-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate and comparable measurements of oxygenated organic compounds (OVOCs) are crucial in assessing tropospheric ozone burdens and trends. However, the monitoring of many OVOCs remains challenging because of their low atmospheric abundance and lack of stable and traceable calibration standards. This paper describes the calibration standards developed for OVOCs at a low amount of substance fractions (<100 nmol mol-1) to transfer traceability of the International System of Units to the field.
Simone T. Andersen, Max R. McGillen, Chaoyang Xue, Tobias Seubert, Patrick Dewald, Gunther N. T. E. Türk, Jan Schuladen, Cyrielle Denjean, Jean-Claude Etienne, Olivier Garrouste, Marina Jamar, Sergio Harb, Manuela Cirtog, Vincent Michoud, Mathieu Cazaunau, Antonin Bergé, Christopher Cantrell, Sebastien Dusanter, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Alexandre Kukui, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Lucy J. Carpenter, Jos Lelieveld, and John N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 11603–11618, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11603-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-11603-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using measurements of various trace gases in a suburban forest near Paris in the summer of 2022, we were able to gain insight into the sources and sinks of NOx (NO+NO2) with a special focus on their nighttime chemical and physical loss processes. NO was observed as a result of nighttime soil emissions when O3 levels were strongly depleted by deposition. NO oxidation products were not observed at night, indicating that soil and/or foliar surfaces are an efficient sink of reactive N.
Patrick Dewald, Tobias Seubert, Simone T. Andersen, Gunther N. T. E. Türk, Jan Schuladen, Max R. McGillen, Cyrielle Denjean, Jean-Claude Etienne, Olivier Garrouste, Marina Jamar, Sergio Harb, Manuela Cirtog, Vincent Michoud, Mathieu Cazaunau, Antonin Bergé, Christopher Cantrell, Sebastien Dusanter, Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, Alexandre Kukui, Chaoyang Xue, Abdelwahid Mellouki, Jos Lelieveld, and John N. Crowley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8983–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8983-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8983-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the scope of a field campaign in a suburban forest near Paris in the summer of 2022, we measured the reactivity of the nitrate radical NO3 towards biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs; e.g. monoterpenes) mainly below but also above the canopy. NO3 reactivity was the highest during nights with strong temperature inversions and decreased strongly with height. Reactions with BVOCs were the main removal process of NO3 throughout the diel cycle below the canopy.
Brandon Bottorff, Michelle M. Lew, Youngjun Woo, Pamela Rickly, Matthew D. Rollings, Benjamin Deming, Daniel C. Anderson, Ezra Wood, Hariprasad D. Alwe, Dylan B. Millet, Andrew Weinheimer, Geoff Tyndall, John Ortega, Sebastien Dusanter, Thierry Leonardis, James Flynn, Matt Erickson, Sergio Alvarez, Jean C. Rivera-Rios, Joshua D. Shutter, Frank Keutsch, Detlev Helmig, Wei Wang, Hannah M. Allen, Johnathan H. Slade, Paul B. Shepson, Steven Bertman, and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10287–10311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10287-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10287-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The hydroxyl (OH), hydroperoxy (HO2), and organic peroxy (RO2) radicals play important roles in atmospheric chemistry and have significant air quality implications. Here, we compare measurements of OH, HO2, and total peroxy radicals (XO2) made in a remote forest in Michigan, USA, to predictions from a series of chemical models. Lower measured radical concentrations suggest that the models may be missing an important radical sink and overestimating the rate of ozone production in this forest.
Andrew J. Lindsay and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5455–5464, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5455-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5455-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous acid (HONO) is an important source of the main atmospheric oxidant – the hydroxyl radical (OH). Advances in nitrous acid measurement techniques and calibration methods therefore improve our understanding of atmospheric oxidation processes. In this paper, we present two calibration methods based on photo-dissociating water vapor. These calibration methods are useful alternatives to conventional calibrations that involve a reacting hydrogen chloride vapor with sodium nitrite.
Andrew J. Lindsay, Daniel C. Anderson, Rebecca A. Wernis, Yutong Liang, Allen H. Goldstein, Scott C. Herndon, Joseph R. Roscioli, Christoph Dyroff, Ed C. Fortner, Philip L. Croteau, Francesca Majluf, Jordan E. Krechmer, Tara I. Yacovitch, Walter B. Knighton, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4909–4928, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4909-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Wildfire smoke dramatically impacts air quality and often has elevated concentrations of ozone. We present measurements of ozone and its precursors at a rural site periodically impacted by wildfire smoke. Measurements of total peroxy radicals, key ozone precursors that have been studied little within wildfires, compare well with chemical box model predictions. Our results indicate no serious issues with using current chemistry mechanisms to model chemistry in aged wildfire plumes.
Dandan Wei, Hariprasad D. Alwe, Dylan B. Millet, Brandon Bottorff, Michelle Lew, Philip S. Stevens, Joshua D. Shutter, Joshua L. Cox, Frank N. Keutsch, Qianwen Shi, Sarah C. Kavassalis, Jennifer G. Murphy, Krystal T. Vasquez, Hannah M. Allen, Eric Praske, John D. Crounse, Paul O. Wennberg, Paul B. Shepson, Alexander A. T. Bui, Henry W. Wallace, Robert J. Griffin, Nathaniel W. May, Megan Connor, Jonathan H. Slade, Kerri A. Pratt, Ezra C. Wood, Mathew Rollings, Benjamin L. Deming, Daniel C. Anderson, and Allison L. Steiner
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 6309–6329, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-6309-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-6309-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Over the past decade, understanding of isoprene oxidation has improved, and proper representation of isoprene oxidation and isoprene-derived SOA (iSOA) formation in canopy–chemistry models is now recognized to be important for an accurate understanding of forest–atmosphere exchange. The updated FORCAsT version 2.0 improves the estimation of some isoprene oxidation products and is one of the few canopy models currently capable of simulating SOA formation from monoterpenes and isoprene.
Brandon Bottorff, Emily Reidy, Levi Mielke, Sebastien Dusanter, and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6039–6056, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6039-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6039-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Nitrous acid (HONO) is an important source of hydroxyl (OH) radicals, the primary oxidant in the atmosphere. Accurate measurements of HONO are thus important to understand the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere. A new instrument capable of measuring atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO) with high sensitivity is presented, utilizing laser photofragmentation of ambient HONO and subsequent detection of the OH radical fragment.
Alexandre Kukui, Michel Chartier, Jinhe Wang, Hui Chen, Sébastien Dusanter, Stéphane Sauvage, Vincent Michoud, Nadine Locoge, Valérie Gros, Thierry Bourrianne, Karine Sellegri, and Jean-Marc Pichon
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13333–13351, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13333-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13333-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Sulfuric acid, H2SO4, plays a key role in formation of secondary atmospheric aerosol particles. It is generally accepted that the major atmospheric source of H2SO4 is the reaction of OH radicals with SO2. In this study, importance of an additional H2SO4 source via oxidation of SO2 by stabilized Criegee intermediates was estimated based on measurements at a remote site on Cape Corsica. It was found that the oxidation of SO2 by SCI may be an important source of H2SO4, especially during nighttime.
Vincent Michoud, Elise Hallemans, Laura Chiappini, Eva Leoz-Garziandia, Aurélie Colomb, Sébastien Dusanter, Isabelle Fronval, François Gheusi, Jean-Luc Jaffrezo, Thierry Léonardis, Nadine Locoge, Nicolas Marchand, Stéphane Sauvage, Jean Sciare, and Jean-François Doussin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8067–8088, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8067-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8067-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
A multiphasic molecular characterization of oxygenated compounds has been carried out during the ChArMEx field campaign using offline analysis. It leads to the identification of 97 different compounds in the gas and aerosol phases and reveals the important contribution of organic acids to organic aerosol. In addition, comparison between experimental and theoretical partitioning coefficients revealed in most cases a large underestimation by the theory reaching 1 to 7 orders of magnitude.
Cécile Debevec, Stéphane Sauvage, Valérie Gros, Thérèse Salameh, Jean Sciare, François Dulac, and Nadine Locoge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1449–1484, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1449-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1449-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a better characterization of the seasonal variations in VOC sources impacting the western Mediterranean region, based on a comprehensive chemical composition measured over 25 months at a representative receptor site (Ersa) and by determining factors controlling their temporal variations. Some insights into dominant drivers for VOC concentration variations in Europe are also provided, built on comparisons of Ersa observations with the concomitant ones of 17 European sites.
Michelle M. Lew, Pamela S. Rickly, Brandon P. Bottorff, Emily Reidy, Sofia Sklaveniti, Thierry Léonardis, Nadine Locoge, Sebastien Dusanter, Shuvashish Kundu, Ezra Wood, and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9209–9230, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9209-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9209-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The OH radical is the primary oxidant in the atmosphere, and measurements of its concentration provide a rigorous test of our understanding of atmospheric chemistry. Previous measurements of OH concentrations in forest environments have shown large discrepancies with model predictions. In this paper, we present measurements of OH in a forest in Indiana, USA, and compare the results to model predictions to test our understanding of this important chemistry.
Andrew T. Lambe, Ezra C. Wood, Jordan E. Krechmer, Francesca Majluf, Leah R. Williams, Philip L. Croteau, Manuela Cirtog, Anaïs Féron, Jean-Eudes Petit, Alexandre Albinet, Jose L. Jimenez, and Zhe Peng
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 2397–2411, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2397-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-2397-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new method to continuously generate N2O5 in the gas phase that is injected into a reactor where it decomposes to generate nitrate radicals (NO3). To assess the applicability of the method towards different chemical systems, we present experimental and model characterization of the integrated NO3 exposure and other metrics as a function of operating conditions. We demonstrate the method by characterizing secondary organic aerosol particles generated from the β-pinene + NO3 reaction.
Sandy Bsaibes, Mohamad Al Ajami, Kenneth Mermet, François Truong, Sébastien Batut, Christophe Hecquet, Sébastien Dusanter, Thierry Léornadis, Stéphane Sauvage, Julien Kammer, Pierre-Marie Flaud, Emilie Perraudin, Eric Villenave, Nadine Locoge, Valérie Gros, and Coralie Schoemaecker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 1277–1300, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1277-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1277-2020, 2020
Rupert Holzinger, W. Joe F. Acton, William J. Bloss, Martin Breitenlechner, Leigh R. Crilley, Sébastien Dusanter, Marc Gonin, Valerie Gros, Frank N. Keutsch, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Louisa J. Kramer, Jordan E. Krechmer, Baptiste Languille, Nadine Locoge, Felipe Lopez-Hilfiker, Dušan Materić, Sergi Moreno, Eiko Nemitz, Lauriane L. J. Quéléver, Roland Sarda Esteve, Stéphane Sauvage, Simon Schallhart, Roberto Sommariva, Ralf Tillmann, Sergej Wedel, David R. Worton, Kangming Xu, and Alexander Zaytsev
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6193–6208, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6193-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6193-2019, 2019
Kenneth Mermet, Stéphane Sauvage, Sébastien Dusanter, Thérèse Salameh, Thierry Léonardis, Pierre-M. Flaud, Émilie Perraudin, Éric Villenave, and Nadine Locoge
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 12, 6153–6171, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6153-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-12-6153-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
An automated system for the online ambient measurement of 20 biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) was successfully developed and optimized. The analytical performance was satisfying for ambient measurements. The first measurements were carried out during the LANDEX field campaign in summer 2017. The 3-week field measurements displayed the excellent performance of the method with respect to providing speciated BVOC concentration values to further investigate atmospheric BVOCs' reactivity.
Shuvashish Kundu, Benjamin L. Deming, Michelle M. Lew, Brandon P. Bottorff, Pamela Rickly, Philip S. Stevens, Sebastien Dusanter, Sofia Sklaveniti, Thierry Leonardis, Nadine Locoge, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 9563–9579, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9563-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9563-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Compounds emitted into the atmosphere are chemically transformed, often leading to new compounds which can affect air pollution and climate. Studying the radicals OH, HO2, and RO2 (organic peroxy radicals) is a crucial activity for assessing how well we understand the rates and products of chemical transformations. In this paper we describe the performance of a new instrument, ECHAMP, for measuring peroxy radicals during its first field deployment.
Ali Akherati, Christopher D. Cappa, Michael J. Kleeman, Kenneth S. Docherty, Jose L. Jimenez, Stephen M. Griffith, Sebastien Dusanter, Philip S. Stevens, and Shantanu H. Jathar
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 4561–4594, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4561-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-4561-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
Unburned and partially burned organic compounds emitted from fossil fuel and biomass combustion can react in the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight to form particles. In this work, we use an air pollution model to examine the influence of these organic compounds released by motor vehicles and fires on fine particle pollution in southern California.
Daniel C. Anderson, Jessica Pavelec, Conner Daube, Scott C. Herndon, Walter B. Knighton, Brian M. Lerner, J. Robert Roscioli, Tara I. Yacovitch, and Ezra C. Wood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2845–2860, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2845-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2845-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
San Antonio is one of the largest cities in the United States and is in non-attainment of the 8 h ozone standard. Using the Aerodyne Mobile Laboratory, we made observations of ozone and its precursors at three sites in the San Antonio region to determine the main drivers of its production. We found that compounds produced by plants were the dominant organic compound for ozone production and that to limit ozone production at the study site, emissions of nitrogen oxides should be reduced.
Anastasia Panopoulou, Eleni Liakakou, Valérie Gros, Stéphane Sauvage, Nadine Locoge, Bernard Bonsang, Basil E. Psiloglou, Evangelos Gerasopoulos, and Nikolaos Mihalopoulos
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 16139–16154, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16139-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-16139-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This work presents time-resolved data of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) from automatic chromatographs, measured over a period of 5 months in the greater Athens area. The measured concentrations are higher relative to other recent studies for the majority of NMHCs. A remarkable day-to-day variability is also observed. The contributions from traffic and residential heating to NMHCs are investigated, as they were the major sources impacting the air quality during the study period.
Vincent Michoud, Stéphane Sauvage, Thierry Léonardis, Isabelle Fronval, Alexandre Kukui, Nadine Locoge, and Sébastien Dusanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 5729–5740, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5729-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-5729-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the first measurements of ambient methylglyoxal, an important atmospheric α-dicarbonyl, using proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometry. These measurements mostly agree with concomitant measurements from a reference technique: the DNPH derivatization technique and high-performance liquid chromatography with UV detection. In addition, a careful investigation of the differences between the two techniques is carried out to explain the disagreements observed.
Cécile Debevec, Stéphane Sauvage, Valérie Gros, Karine Sellegri, Jean Sciare, Michael Pikridas, Iasonas Stavroulas, Thierry Leonardis, Vincent Gaudion, Laurence Depelchin, Isabelle Fronval, Roland Sarda-Esteve, Dominique Baisnée, Bernard Bonsang, Chrysanthos Savvides, Mihalis Vrekoussis, and Nadine Locoge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14297–14325, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14297-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14297-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This work focuses on the study of the sources and fates of BVOCs and new particle formation (NPF) events in the eastern Mediterranean. NPF events were found on 14 out of 20 days of the campaign. NPF occurred at various condensational sinks and both under polluted and clean atmospheric conditions. Analysis of specific NPF periods of the mixed influence type highlighted that BVOC interactions with anthropogenic compounds enhanced nucleation formation and growth of new particles.
Michelle M. Lew, Sebastien Dusanter, and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 95–109, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-95-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-95-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes measurements of the conversion efficiency of several organic peroxy radicals upon reaction with nitric oxide to the hydroperoxy radical, which can interfere with measurements of the latter. This interference could explain some of the discrepancies between measurements and model predictions of the hydroperoxy radical. Previous measurements of the hydroperoxy radical during the Mexico City Metropolitan Area campaign in 2006 are reanalyzed to account for the interference.
Pamela Rickly and Philip S. Stevens
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 11, 1–16, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-11-1-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The hydroxyl radical is the primary atmospheric oxidant in the atmosphere, and measurements of its concentration provide a rigorous test of our understanding of atmospheric chemistry. This paper presents measurements of a potential interference with measurements of OH using laser-induced fluorescence techniques, which may contribute to measurements of OH in forested environments. The results may help to explain discrepancies between measurements and model predictions in these environments.
Hendrik Fuchs, Anna Novelli, Michael Rolletter, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Stephan Kessel, Achim Edtbauer, Jonathan Williams, Vincent Michoud, Sebastien Dusanter, Nadine Locoge, Nora Zannoni, Valerie Gros, Francois Truong, Roland Sarda-Esteve, Danny R. Cryer, Charlotte A. Brumby, Lisa K. Whalley, Daniel Stone, Paul W. Seakins, Dwayne E. Heard, Coralie Schoemaecker, Marion Blocquet, Sebastien Coudert, Sebastien Batut, Christa Fittschen, Alexander B. Thames, William H. Brune, Cheryl Ernest, Hartwig Harder, Jennifer B. A. Muller, Thomas Elste, Dagmar Kubistin, Stefanie Andres, Birger Bohn, Thorsten Hohaus, Frank Holland, Xin Li, Franz Rohrer, Astrid Kiendler-Scharr, Ralf Tillmann, Robert Wegener, Zhujun Yu, Qi Zou, and Andreas Wahner
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 10, 4023–4053, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4023-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-10-4023-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Hydroxyl radical reactivity (k(OH)) is closely related to processes that lead to the formation of oxidised, secondary pollutants such as ozone and aerosol. In order to compare the performances of instruments measuring k(OH), experiments were conducted in the simulation chamber SAPHIR. Chemical conditions were chosen either to be representative of the atmosphere or to test potential limitations of instruments. Overall, the results show that instruments are capable of measuring k(OH).
Nora Zannoni, Valerie Gros, Roland Sarda Esteve, Cerise Kalogridis, Vincent Michoud, Sebastien Dusanter, Stephane Sauvage, Nadine Locoge, Aurelie Colomb, and Bernard Bonsang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 12645–12658, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12645-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-12645-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Our paper presents results of hydroxyl radical (OH) reactivity from a field study conducted during summer 2013 in a western Mediterranean coastal site (Corsica, France). Here, the total OH reactivity, measured with the comparative reactivity method, is compared with the summed OH reactivity from the reactive gases measured with a multitude of different technologies. Our results demonstrate the relatively high observed reactivity and the large impact of biogenic compounds.
Vincent Michoud, Jean Sciare, Stéphane Sauvage, Sébastien Dusanter, Thierry Léonardis, Valérie Gros, Cerise Kalogridis, Nora Zannoni, Anaïs Féron, Jean-Eudes Petit, Vincent Crenn, Dominique Baisnée, Roland Sarda-Estève, Nicolas Bonnaire, Nicolas Marchand, H. Langley DeWitt, Jorge Pey, Aurélie Colomb, François Gheusi, Sonke Szidat, Iasonas Stavroulas, Agnès Borbon, and Nadine Locoge
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 8837–8865, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8837-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-8837-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The ChArMEx SOP2 field campaign took place from 15 July to 5 August 2013 in the western Mediterranean Basin at Ersa, a remote site in Cape Corse. Exhaustive descriptions of the chemical composition of air masses in gas and aerosol phase were performed. An analysis of these measurements was performed using various source-receptor approaches. This led to the identification of several factors linked to primary sources but also to secondary processes of both biogenic and anthropogenic origin.
Benjamin C. Schulze, Henry W. Wallace, James H. Flynn, Barry L. Lefer, Matt H. Erickson, B. Tom Jobson, Sebastien Dusanter, Stephen M. Griffith, Robert F. Hansen, Philip S. Stevens, Timothy VanReken, and Robert J. Griffin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1805–1828, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1805-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1805-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The atmospheric chemistry associated with mixing of anthropogenic and natural species was simulated to understand how shade provided by a forest canopy impacts reactions, product distribution, and subsequent phase distribution of the products. This is important to understand, as forested areas downwind of urban areas will be impacted by this phenomenon. It was found that fast transport from below the canopy led to increases in secondary organic aerosol from nitrate radicals above the canopy.
S. Kundu, K. Kawamura, M. Kobayashi, E. Tachibana, M. Lee, P. Q. Fu, and J. Jung
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 585–596, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-585-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-585-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Chemistry-transport models have predicted a change in secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in the future atmosphere with a large uncertainty. This study measures diacids, major water-soluble surrogates of SOA, on a sub-decadal scale in atmospheric aerosols in eastern Asia. Diacids are observed to increase by 3.9–47.4 % per year. The increases in the water-soluble organic acid fraction could modify the aerosol organic composition and its sensitivity to climate-relevant physical properties.
R. F. Hansen, M. Blocquet, C. Schoemaecker, T. Léonardis, N. Locoge, C. Fittschen, B. Hanoune, P. S. Stevens, V. Sinha, and S. Dusanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 4243–4264, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4243-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-4243-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes and presents results from a intercomparison, in an environment rich in NOx (i.e., NO+NO2), of two OH reactivity instruments: one based on the comparative reactivity method, and one based on the pump-probe method. Co-located measurements were made of both ambient air and standard mixtures. Ambient OH reactivity values measured by both instruments were found to be in good agreement for ambient NOx mixing ratios as high as 100 ppbv.
N. Zannoni, S. Dusanter, V. Gros, R. Sarda Esteve, V. Michoud, V. Sinha, N. Locoge, and B. Bonsang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3851–3865, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3851-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3851-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
Our manuscript shows results of an intercomparison exercise conducted on two home-built comparative reactivity method (CRM) instruments operating under the same settings for measuring total OH reactivity. Despite the corrections of the raw data sets for instrumental artifacts having different weights on the two CRMs, we found very consistent results for the final processed data of ambient OH reactivity. Furthermore, we present in detail how to validate the instruments and process the raw data.
V. Michoud, R. F. Hansen, N. Locoge, P. S. Stevens, and S. Dusanter
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 8, 3537–3553, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3537-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-8-3537-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents the results of an exhaustive characterization of a CRM instrument developed at Mines Douai to measure total OH reactivity in the troposphere. To do so, a suite of laboratory experiments was conducted to assess the different corrections that need to be applied during data processing. The results were then compared to simulations from a 0-D box model, including two different chemical mechanisms, leading to reasonable agreement.
K. R. Baker, A. G. Carlton, T. E. Kleindienst, J. H. Offenberg, M. R. Beaver, D. R. Gentner, A. H. Goldstein, P. L. Hayes, J. L. Jimenez, J. B. Gilman, J. A. de Gouw, M. C. Woody, H. O. T. Pye, J. T. Kelly, M. Lewandowski, M. Jaoui, P. S. Stevens, W. H. Brune, Y.-H. Lin, C. L. Rubitschun, and J. D. Surratt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5243–5258, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5243-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5243-2015, 2015
Short summary
Short summary
This work details the evaluation of PM2.5 carbon, VOC precursors, and OH estimated by the CMAQ photochemical transport model using routine and special measurements from the 2010 CalNex field study. Here, CMAQ and most recent emissions inventory (2011 NEI) are used to generate model PM2.5 OC estimates that are examined in novel ways including primary vs. secondary formation, fossil vs. contemporary carbon, OH and HO2 evaluation, and the relationship between key VOC precursors and SOC tracers.
T. R. Dallmann, T. B. Onasch, T. W. Kirchstetter, D. R. Worton, E. C. Fortner, S. C. Herndon, E. C. Wood, J. P. Franklin, D. R. Worsnop, A. H. Goldstein, and R. A. Harley
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 7585–7599, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7585-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-7585-2014, 2014
C. J. Young, R. A. Washenfelder, P. M. Edwards, D. D. Parrish, J. B. Gilman, W. C. Kuster, L. H. Mielke, H. D. Osthoff, C. Tsai, O. Pikelnaya, J. Stutz, P. R. Veres, J. M. Roberts, S. Griffith, S. Dusanter, P. S. Stevens, J. Flynn, N. Grossberg, B. Lefer, J. S. Holloway, J. Peischl, T. B. Ryerson, E. L. Atlas, D. R. Blake, and S. S. Brown
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 3427–3440, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3427-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-3427-2014, 2014
R. F. Hansen, S. M. Griffith, S. Dusanter, P. S. Rickly, P. S. Stevens, S. B. Bertman, M. A. Carroll, M. H. Erickson, J. H. Flynn, N. Grossberg, B. T. Jobson, B. L. Lefer, and H. W. Wallace
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 14, 2923–2937, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2923-2014, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-14-2923-2014, 2014
S. M. Griffith, R. F. Hansen, S. Dusanter, P. S. Stevens, M. Alaghmand, S. B. Bertman, M. A. Carroll, M. Erickson, M. Galloway, N. Grossberg, J. Hottle, J. Hou, B. T. Jobson, A. Kammrath, F. N. Keutsch, B. L. Lefer, L. H. Mielke, A. O'Brien, P. B. Shepson, M. Thurlow, W. Wallace, N. Zhang, and X. L. Zhou
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 5403–5423, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5403-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5403-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Gases | Technique: In Situ Measurement | Topic: Instruments and Platforms
Simple water vapor sampling for stable isotope analysis using affordable valves and bags
On path length, beam divergence, and retroreflector array size in open-path FTIR spectroscopy
A modular approach to volatile organic compound samplers for tethered balloon and drone platforms
Performance validation and calibration conditions for novel dynamic baseline tracking air sensors in long-term field monitoring
Observation of greenhouse gas vertical profiles in the boundary layer of the Mount Qomolangma region using a multirotor UAV
Description and Validation of a Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Oxide Instrument for High-Altitude Airborne Science (COMA)
Development of a portable laser-flash photolysis Faraday rotation spectrometer for measuring atmospheric total OH reactivity
Surface distributions and vertical profiles of trace gases (CO, O3, NO, NO2) in the Arctic wintertime boundary layer using low-cost sensors during ALPACA-2022
Advances in an OH reactivity instrument for airborne field measurements
The ASK-16 motorized glider: an airborne eddy covariance platform to measure turbulence, energy, and matter fluxes
Development of a Peltier-based chilled-mirror hygrometer, SKYDEW, for tropospheric and lower-stratospheric water vapor measurements
Vertical distribution of halogenated trace gases in the summer Arctic stratosphere determined by two independent in situ methods
Deployment and evaluation of an NH4+∕ H3O+ reagent ion switching chemical ionization mass spectrometer for the detection of reduced and oxygenated gas-phase organic compounds
An economical tunable diode laser spectrometer for fast-response measurements of water vapor in the atmospheric boundary layer
Eddy covariance with slow-response greenhouse gas analysers on tall towers: bridging atmospheric and ecosystem greenhouse gas networks
An overview of outdoor low-cost gas-phase air quality sensor deployments: current efforts, trends, and limitations
Multiphysical description of atmospheric pressure interface chemical ionisation in MION2 and Eisele type inlets
Improving raw readings from ozone low cost sensors using artificial intelligence for air quality monitoring
Development of a Forced Advection Sampling Technique (FAST) for Quantification of Methane Emissions from Orphaned Wells
A portable nitrogen dioxide instrument using cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy
Development and deployment of a mid-cost CO2 sensor monitoring network to support atmospheric inverse modeling for quantifying urban CO2 emissions in Paris
UAV-based in situ measurements of CO2 and CH4 fluxes over complex natural ecosystems
A new aerial approach for quantifying and attributing methane emissions: implementation and validation
Drone CO2 measurements during the Tajogaite volcanic eruption
Multi-decadal atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements in Hungary, central Europe
Reliable water vapour isotopic composition measurements at low humidity using frequency-stabilised cavity ring-down spectroscopy
A measurement system for CO2 and CH4 emissions quantification of industrial sites using a new in situ concentration sensor operated on board uncrewed aircraft vehicles
Using metal oxide gas sensors to estimate the emission rates and locations of methane leaks in an industrial site: assessment with controlled methane releases
Toward on-demand measurements of greenhouse gas emissions using an uncrewed aircraft AirCore system
Long-term evaluation of commercial air quality sensors: an overview from the QUANT (Quantification of Utility of Atmospheric Network Technologies) study
In-flight characterization of a compact airborne quantum cascade laser absorption spectrometer
Full characterization and calibration of a transfer standard monitor for atmospheric radon measurements
Observing low-altitude features in ozone concentrations in a shoreline environment via uncrewed aerial systems
An integrated uncrewed aerial vehicle platform with sensing and sampling systems for the measurement of air pollutant concentrations
Design and evaluation of a low-cost sensor node for near-background methane measurement
Development of a Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) for mobile measurements of volatile organic compounds
Evaluation of Aeris mid-infrared absorption (MIRA), Picarro CRDS (cavity ring-down spectroscopy) G2307, and dinitrophenylhydrazine (DNPH)-based sampling for long-term formaldehyde monitoring efforts
Performance characterization of a laminar gas inlet
Validation and field application of a low-cost device to measure CO2 and evapotranspiration (ET) fluxes
Identifying and correcting interferences to PTR-ToF-MS measurements of isoprene and other urban volatile organic compounds
Development of a continuous UAV-mounted air sampler and application to the quantification of CO2 and CH4 emissions from a major coking plant
Uptake behavior of polycyclic aromatic compounds during field calibrations of the XAD-based passive air sampler across seasons and locations
Effect of land–sea air mass transport on spatiotemporal distributions of atmospheric CO2 and CH4 mixing ratios over the southern Yellow Sea
HYPHOP: a tool for high-altitude, long-range monitoring of hydrogen peroxide and higher organic peroxides in the atmosphere
Portable, low-cost samplers for distributed sampling of atmospheric gases
SI-traceable validation of a laser spectrometer for balloon-borne measurements of water vapor in the upper atmosphere
Field evaluation of low-cost electrochemical air quality gas sensors under extreme temperature and relative humidity conditions
A novel, cost-effective analytical method for measuring high-resolution vertical profiles of stratospheric trace gases using a gas chromatograph coupled with an electron capture detector
Ethylene oxide monitor with part-per-trillion precision for in situ measurements
Development of an automated pump-efficiency measuring system for ozonesondes utilizing an airbag-type flowmeter
Adrian Dahlmann, John D. Marshall, David Dubbert, Mathias Hoffmann, and Maren Dubbert
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2607–2618, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2607-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2607-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Water-stable isotopes are commonly used in hydrological and ecological research. Until now, measurements have been obtained either destructively or directly in the field. Here, we present a novel, affordable, and easy-to-use approach to measure the stable isotope signatures of soil water. Our gas bag approach demonstrates a high accuracy and extends usability by allowing water vapor samples to be collected and stored in the field without the need for an instrument or a permanent power supply.
Cameron E. N. Power and Aldona Wiacek
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2537–2552, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2537-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2537-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The choice of path length and retroreflector array size in open-path Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy must be made with care. Longer paths increase target gas absorption (lowering detection limits), and larger retroreflector arrays increase the return signal (improving retrieved concentration precision), but there are limitations to both. An optimum array size and path combination exists in each specific observational environment and application, as explored in this work.
Meghan Guagenti, Darielle Dexheimer, Alexandra Ulinksi, Paul Walter, James H. Flynn III, and Sascha Usenko
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 2125–2136, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2125-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-2125-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A robust, automatic volatile organic compound (VOC) collection system was developed for vertical VOC sampling associated with the 2022 DOE ARM-program-led TRACER in Houston, Texas. This modular sampler has been developed to measure vertical profiles of VOCs to improve near-surface characterization. This article helps fill the current lack of commercially available options for aerial VOC sampling and serves to support and encourage researchers to build and develop custom samplers.
Han Mei, Peng Wei, Meisam Ahmadi Ghadikolaei, Nirmal Kumar Gali, Ya Wang, and Zhi Ning
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1771–1785, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1771-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1771-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Long-term field testing across diverse climatic environments is conducted to identify the optimized calibration conditions for NO2, NO, CO and O3 electrochemical sensors. The results uncovered three factors that influence calibration performance: calibration period, concentration range and time averaging. We developed a comprehensive framework for the best sensor calibration practices, which serves as a valuable reference for calibrating various sensor types used in air quality monitoring.
Ying Zhou, Congcong Qiao, Minqiang Zhou, Yilong Wang, Xiangjun Tian, Yinghong Wang, and Minzheng Duan
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1609–1619, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1609-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1609-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed an automated, flexible atmospheric sampling device for various platforms. During a 5 d field campaign in the Mount Qomolangma region, we performed 15 flights using the device mounted on a hexacopter unoccupied aerial vehicle (UAV). A total of 139 samples were analyzed using an Agilent 7890A gas chromatograph. Vertical profiles of four greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and sulfur hexafluoride (SF6)) were analyzed and discussed.
Emma L. Yates, Levi M. Golston, James R. Podolske, Laura T. Iraci, Kristen E. Okorn, Caroline Dang, Roy R. Johnson, James Eilers, Richard Kolyer, Ian Astley, and J. Brian Leen
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1081, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-1081, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
In this work, we describe the development of the Carbon monOxide Measurement from Ames (COMA) instrument for measurement of carbon monoxide (CO) and nitrous oxide (N2O) aboard NASA's WB-57 high altitude research aircraft. We detail the modifications and testing conducted as well as details of COMA's performance during research flights for NASA’s Asian summer monsoon Chemical & CLImate Project (ACCLIP) 2022 campaign.
Bo Fang, Nana Wei, Weixiong Zhao, Nana Yang, Hao Zhou, Heng Zhang, Jiarong Li, Weijun Zhang, Yanyu Lu, Zhu Zhu, and Yue Liu
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1243–1256, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1243-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1243-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A portable laser-flash photolysis Faraday rotation spectrometer for measuring atmospheric total hydroxyl (OH) reactivity was developed, with optical box dimensions of 130 cm × 40 cm × 35 cm. It features a pump–probe multi-pass cell with a high overlapping factor of 75.4 %. The instrument’s precision and uncertainty are 1.0 s-1 (1σ, 300 s) and within 2 s-1, respectively. This portable, cost-effective instrument expands current measurement capabilities and is convenient for field applications.
Brice Barret, Patrice Medina, Natalie Brett, Roman Pohorsky, Kathy S. Law, Slimane Bekki, Gilberto J. Fochesatto, Julia Schmale, Steve R. Arnold, Andrea Baccarini, Maurizio Busetto, Meeta Cesler-Maloney, Barbara D'Anna, Stefano Decesari, Jingqiu Mao, Gianluca Pappaccogli, Joel Savarino, Federico Scoto, and William R. Simpson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 1163–1184, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1163-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-1163-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Fairbanks area experiences severe pollution episodes in winter because of enhanced emissions of pollutants trapped near the surface by strong temperature inversions. Low-cost sensors were deployed on board a car and a tethered balloon to measure the concentrations of gaseous pollutants (CO, O3, and NOx) in Fairbanks during winter 2022. Data calibration with reference measurements and machine learning methods enabled us to document pollution at the surface and power plant plumes aloft.
Hendrik Fuchs, Aaron Stainsby, Florian Berg, René Dubus, Michelle Färber, Andreas Hofzumahaus, Frank Holland, Kelvin H. Bates, Steven S. Brown, Matthew M. Coggon, Glenn S. Diskin, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Christopher M. Jernigan, Jeff Peischl, Michael A. Robinson, Andrew W. Rollins, Nell B. Schafer, Rebecca H. Schwantes, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Patrick R. Veres, Carsten Warneke, Eleanor M. Waxman, Lu Xu, Kristen Zuraski, Andreas Wahner, and Anna Novelli
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 881–895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-881-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-881-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Significant improvements have been made to the instruments used to measure OH reactivity, which is equivalent to the sum of air pollutant concentrations. Accurate and precise measurements with a high time resolution have been achieved, allowing use on aircraft, as demonstrated during flights in the USA.
Inge Wiekenkamp, Anna Katharina Lehmann, Alexander Bütow, Jörg Hartmann, Stefan Metzger, Thomas Ruhtz, Christian Wille, Mathias Zöllner, and Torsten Sachs
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 749–772, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-749-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne eddy covariance platforms are crucial to measure three-dimensional wind and turbulent matter and energy transport between the surface and the atmosphere at larger scales. In this study, we introduce a new airborne eddy covariance platform (Schleicher ASK-16) and demonstrate that this platform is able to accurately measure turbulent fluxes and wind vectors. Data from this platform can help to build bridges between local tower measurements and remote-sensing-based products.
Takuji Sugidachi, Masatomo Fujiwara, Kensaku Shimizu, Shin-Ya Ogino, Junko Suzuki, and Ruud J. Dirksen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 509–531, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-509-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-509-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A Peltier-based chilled-mirror hygrometer, SKYDEW, has been developed to measure tropospheric and stratospheric water vapor. Continuous accurate measurements of water vapor are essential for climate monitoring. More than 40 soundings with SKYDEW have been conducted since 2011 to evaluate the performance. The result of soundings at tropical and midlatitudes demonstrated that SKYDEW is able to measure up to an altitude of 20–25 km for daytime soundings and above 25 km for nighttime soundings.
Johannes C. Laube, Tanja J. Schuck, Huilin Chen, Markus Geldenhuys, Steven van Heuven, Timo Keber, Maria Elena Popa, Elinor Tuffnell, Bärbel Vogel, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Alessandro Zanchetta, and Andreas Engel
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4034, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4034, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
A large balloon was launched in summer 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km, above the reach of aircraft. The main aims were to evaluate different techniques and atmospheric processes. We focus on halogenated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. For this, air was collected with the AirCore technique and a cryogenic air sampler and measured after the flight. A companion paper reports observations of major greenhouse gases.
Cort L. Zang and Megan D. Willis
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 17–35, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-17-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-17-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Atmospheric chemistry of the diverse pool of reactive organic carbon (ROC; all organic species excluding methane) controls air quality, both indoors and outdoors, and influences Earth's climate. However, many important ROC compounds in the atmosphere are difficult to measure. We demonstrate measurement of diverse ROC compounds in a single instrument at a forested site. This approach can improve our ability to measure a broad range of atmospheric ROC.
Emily D. Wein, Lars E. Kalnajs, and Darin W. Toohey
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 7097–7107, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7097-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-7097-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a low-cost and small research-grade spectrometer for measurements of water vapor in the boundary layer. The instrument uses small Arduino microcontrollers and inexpensive laser diodes to reduce cost while maintaining high performance comparable to more expensive instruments. Performance was assessed with intercomparisons between commercially available instruments outdoors. The design's simplicity, performance, and price point allow it to be accessible to a variety of users.
Pedro Henrique Herig Coimbra, Benjamin Loubet, Olivier Laurent, Laura Bignotti, Mathis Lozano, and Michel Ramonet
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6625–6645, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6625-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6625-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study presents direct flux measurements in tall towers using existing slow-response analysers and adding 3D sonic anemometers. This way, we can significantly improve greenhouse gas monitoring with little extra instrumental effort. Slow-response analysers may be used here as the relevant frequency ranges depend on measuring height. Tall towers offer a large footprint, amplifying spatial coverage. The presented concept is a valuable bridge between atmospheric and ecosystem communities.
Kristen Okorn and Laura T. Iraci
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 6425–6457, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6425-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-6425-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We reviewed 60 sensor networks and 17 related efforts (sensor review papers and data accessibility projects) to better understand the landscape of stationary low-cost gas-phase sensor networks deployed in outdoor environments worldwide. Gaps in monitoring efforts include the availability of gas-phase measurements compared to particulate matter (PM) and geographic coverage gaps (the Global South, rural areas). We conclude with a summary of cross-network unification and quality control efforts.
Henning Finkenzeller, Jyri Mikkilä, Cecilia Righi, Paxton Juuti, Mikko Sipilä, Matti Rissanen, Douglas Worsnop, Aleksei Shcherbinin, Nina Sarnela, and Juha Kangasluoma
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5989–6001, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5989-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5989-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Chemical ionisation mass spectrometry is used in the atmospheric sciences to measure trace gas concentrations. Neutral gases require charging in inlets before the mass-to-charge ratio of the resulting ions can be analysed. This study uses multiphysics modelling to investigate how the MION2 and Eisele type inlets work and shows the effect of tuning parameters and their current limitations. The findings are helpful for inlet users and are expected to aid in developing improved inlets.
Guillem Montalban-Faet, Eric Meneses-Albala, Santiago Felici-Castell, Juan J. Perez-Solano, and Jaume Segura-Garcia
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-127, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2024-127, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for AMT
Short summary
Short summary
WHO warns of ground-level ozone problems in urban areas, recommending increased monitoring for which low-cost sensors coupled with artificial intelligence are an excellent alternative.
Mohit L. Dubey, Andre Santos, Andrew B. Moyes, Ken Reichl, James E. Lee, Manvendra K. Dubey, Corentin LeYhuelic, Evan Variano, Emily Follansbee, Fotini K. Chow, and Sébastien C. Biraud
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3040, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3040, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Orphaned wells, meaning wells lacking responsible owners, pose a significant and poorly understood environmental challenge. We propose, develop, and test a novel method for estimating emissions from orphaned wells using a Forced Advection Sampling Technique (FAST) that can overcome many of the limitations in current methods (cost, accuracy, safety). Our results suggest that the FAST method can provide a low-cost alternative to existing methods over a range of leak rates.
Steven A. Bailey, Reem A. Hannun, Andrew K. Swanson, and Thomas F. Hanisco
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5903–5910, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5903-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5903-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a portable, optically based instrument that measures NO2. It consumes less than 6 W of power, so it can easily run off a small battery. This instrument has made both balloon and UAV flights. NO2 measurement results compare favorably with other known NO2 instruments. We find this instrument to be stable with repeatable results compared with calibration sources. Material cost to build a single instrument is around USD 4000. This could be lowered with economies of scale.
Jinghui Lian, Olivier Laurent, Mali Chariot, Luc Lienhardt, Michel Ramonet, Hervé Utard, Thomas Lauvaux, François-Marie Bréon, Grégoire Broquet, Karina Cucchi, Laurent Millair, and Philippe Ciais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5821–5839, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5821-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5821-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We have designed and deployed a mid-cost medium-precision CO2 sensor monitoring network in Paris since July 2020. The data are automatically calibrated by a newly implemented data processing system. The accuracies of the mid-cost instruments vary from 1.0 to 2.4 ppm for hourly afternoon measurements. Our model–data analyses highlight prospects for integrating mid-cost instrument data with high-precision measurements to improve fine-scale CO2 emission quantification in urban areas.
Abdullah Bolek, Martin Heimann, and Mathias Göckede
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5619–5636, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5619-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5619-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study describes the development of a new UAV platform to measure atmospheric greenhouse gas (GHG) mole fractions, 2D wind speed, air temperature, humidity, and pressure. Understanding GHG flux processes and controls across various ecosystems is essential for estimating the current and future state of climate change. It was shown that using the UAV platform for such measurements is beneficial for improving our understanding of GHG processes over complex landscapes.
Jonathan F. Dooley, Kenneth Minschwaner, Manvendra K. Dubey, Sahar H. El Abbadi, Evan D. Sherwin, Aaron G. Meyer, Emily Follansbee, and James E. Lee
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5091–5111, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5091-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5091-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas originating from both natural and human activities. We describe a new uncrewed aerial system (UAS) designed to measure methane emission rates over a wide range of scales. This system has been used for direct quantification of point sources and distributed emitters over scales of up to 1 km. The system uses simultaneous measurements of methane and ethane to distinguish between different kinds of natural and human-related emission sources.
John Ericksen, Tobias P. Fischer, G. Matthew Fricke, Scott Nowicki, Nemesio M. Pérez, Pedro Hernández Pérez, Eleazar Padrón González, and Melanie E. Moses
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4725–4736, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4725-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4725-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Volcanic eruptions emit significant quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) to the atmosphere. We present a new method for directly determining the CO2 emission from a volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma, Spain, using an unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV). We also collected samples of the emitted CO2 and analyzed their isotopic composition. Together with the emission rate the isotopic data provide valuable information on the state of volcanic activity and the potential evolution of the eruption.
László Haszpra
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4629–4647, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4629-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4629-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The paper evaluates a 30-year-long atmospheric CO2 data series from a mid-continental central European site, Hegyhátsál (HUN). It presents the site-specific features observed in the long-term evolution of the atmospheric CO2 concentration. Since the measurement data are widely used in atmospheric inverse models and budget calculations all around the world, the paper provides potentially valuable information for model tuning and interpretation of the model results.
Mathieu Casado, Amaelle Landais, Tim Stoltmann, Justin Chaillot, Mathieu Daëron, Fréderic Prié, Baptiste Bordet, and Samir Kassi
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4599–4612, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4599-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4599-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Measuring water isotopic composition in Antarctica is difficult because of the extremely cold temperature in winter. Here, we designed a new infrared spectrometer able to measure the vapour isotopic composition during more than 95 % of the year in the coldest locations of Antarctica, whereas current commercial instruments are only able to measure during the warm summer months in the interior.
Jean-Louis Bonne, Ludovic Donnat, Grégory Albora, Jérémie Burgalat, Nicolas Chauvin, Delphine Combaz, Julien Cousin, Thomas Decarpenterie, Olivier Duclaux, Nicolas Dumelié, Nicolas Galas, Catherine Juery, Florian Parent, Florent Pineau, Abel Maunoury, Olivier Ventre, Marie-France Bénassy, and Lilian Joly
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4471–4491, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4471-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4471-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We present a top-down approach to quantify CO2 and CH4 emissions at the scale of an industrial site, based on a mass balance model relying on atmospheric concentrations measurements from a new sensor embarked on board uncrewed aircraft vehicles (UAVs). We present a laboratory characterization of our sensor and a field validation of our quantification method, together with field application to the monitoring of two real-world offshore oil and gas platforms.
Rodrigo Rivera-Martinez, Pramod Kumar, Olivier Laurent, Gregoire Broquet, Christopher Caldow, Ford Cropley, Diego Santaren, Adil Shah, Cécile Mallet, Michel Ramonet, Leonard Rivier, Catherine Juery, Olivier Duclaux, Caroline Bouchet, Elisa Allegrini, Hervé Utard, and Philippe Ciais
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 4257–4290, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4257-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-4257-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We explore the use of metal oxide semiconductors (MOSs) as a low-cost alternative for detecting and measuring CH4 emissions from industrial facilities. MOSs were exposed to several controlled releases to test their accuracy in detecting and quantifying emissions. Two reconstruction models were compared, and emission estimates were computed using a Gaussian dispersion model. Findings show that MOSs can provide accurate emission estimates with a 25 % emission rate error and a 9.5 m location error.
Zihan Zhu, Javier González-Rocha, Yifan Ding, Isis Frausto-Vicencio, Sajjan Heerah, Akula Venkatram, Manvendra Dubey, Don Collins, and Francesca M. Hopkins
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3883–3895, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3883-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3883-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Increases in agriculture, oil and gas, and waste management activities have contributed to the increase in atmospheric methane levels and resultant climate warming. In this paper, we explore the use of small uncrewed aircraft systems (sUASs) and AirCore technology to detect and quantify methane emissions. Results from field experiments demonstrate that sUASs and AirCore technology can be effective for detecting and quantifying methane emissions in near real time.
Sebastian Diez, Stuart Lacy, Hugh Coe, Josefina Urquiza, Max Priestman, Michael Flynn, Nicholas Marsden, Nicholas A. Martin, Stefan Gillott, Thomas Bannan, and Pete M. Edwards
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3809–3827, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3809-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3809-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper we present an overview of the QUANT project, which to our knowledge is one of the largest evaluations of commercial sensors to date. The objective was to evaluate the performance of a range of commercial products and also to nourish the different applications in which these technologies can offer relevant information.
Linda Ort, Lenard Lukas Röder, Uwe Parchatka, Rainer Königstedt, Daniel Crowley, Frank Kunz, Ralf Wittkowski, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3553–3565, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3553-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3553-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Airborne in situ measurements are of great importance to collect valuable data to improve our knowledge of the atmosphere but also present challenges which demand specific designs. This study presents an IR spectrometer for airborne trace-gas measurements with high data efficiency and a simple, compact design. Its in-flight performance is characterized with the help of a test flight and a comparison with another spectrometer. Moreover, results from its first campaign highlight its benefits.
Roger Curcoll, Claudia Grossi, Stefan Röttger, and Arturo Vargas
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 3047–3065, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3047-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-3047-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a new user-friendly version of the Atmospheric Radon MONitor (ARMON). The efficiency of the instrument is of 0.0057 s-1, obtained using different techniques at Spanish and German chambers. The total calculated uncertainty of the ARMON for hourly radon concentrations above 5 Bq m-3 is lower than 10 % (k = 1). Results confirm that the ARMON is suitable to measure low-level radon activity concentrations and to be used as a transfer standard to calibrate in situ radon monitors.
Josie K. Radtke, Benjamin N. Kies, Whitney A. Mottishaw, Sydney M. Zeuli, Aidan T. H. Voon, Kelly L. Koerber, Grant W. Petty, Michael P. Vermeuel, Timothy H. Bertram, Ankur R. Desai, Joseph P. Hupy, R. Bradley Pierce, Timothy J. Wagner, and Patricia A. Cleary
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2833–2847, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2833-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2833-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The use of uncrewed aircraft systems (UASs) to conduct a vertical profiling of ozone and meteorological variables was evaluated using comparisons between tower or ground observations and UAS-based measurements. Changes to the UAS profiler showed an improvement in performance. The profiler was used to see the impact of Chicago pollution plumes on a shoreline area near Lake Michigan.
Chen-Wei Liang and Chang-Hung Shen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2671–2686, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2671-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2671-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In the present study, a UAV platform with sensing and sampling systems was developed for 3D air pollutant concentration measurements. The sensing system of this platform contains multiple microsensors and IoT technologies for obtaining the real-time 3D distributions of critical air pollutants. The sampling system contains gas sampling sets and a 1 L Tedlar bag instead of a canister for the 3D measurement of VOC concentrations in accordance with the TO-15 method of the US EPA.
Daniel Furuta, Bruce Wilson, Albert A. Presto, and Jiayu Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2103–2121, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2103-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2103-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Methane is an important driver of climate change and is challenging to inexpensively sense in low atmospheric concentrations. We developed a low-cost sensor to monitor methane and tested it in indoor and outdoor settings. Our device shows promise for monitoring low levels of methane. We characterize its limitations and suggest future research directions for further development.
Audrey J. Dang, Nathan M. Kreisberg, Tyler L. Cargill, Jhao-Hong Chen, Sydney Hornitschek, Remy Hutheesing, Jay R. Turner, and Brent J. Williams
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2067–2087, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2067-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The Multichannel Organics In situ enviRonmental Analyzer (MOIRA) is a new instrument for measuring speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the air and has been developed for mapping concentrations from a hybrid car. MOIRA is characterized in the lab and pilot field studies of indoor air in a single-family residence and outdoor air during a mobile deployment. Future applications include indoor, outdoor, and lab measurements to grasp the impact of VOCs on air quality, health, and climate.
Asher P. Mouat, Zelda A. Siegel, and Jennifer Kaiser
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1979–1994, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1979-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1979-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Three fast-measurement formaldehyde monitors were deployed at two field sites in Atlanta, GA, over 1 year. Four different zeroing methods were tested to develop an optimal field setup as well as procedures for instrument calibration. Observations agreed well after calibration but were much higher compared to the TO-11A monitoring method, which is the golden standard. Historical HCHO concentrations were compared with measurements in this work, showing a 22 % reduction in midday HCHO since 1999.
Da Yang, Margarita Reza, Roy Mauldin, Rainer Volkamer, and Suresh Dhaniyala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1463–1474, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1463-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1463-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This paper evaluates the performance of an aircraft gas inlet. Here, we use computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and experiments to demonstrate the role of turbulence in determining sampling performance of a gas inlet and identify ideal conditions for inlet operation to minimize gas loss. Experiments conducted in a high-speed wind tunnel under near-aircraft speeds validated numerical results. We believe that the results obtained from this work will greatly inform future gas inlet studies.
Reena Macagga, Michael Asante, Geoffroy Sossa, Danica Antonijević, Maren Dubbert, and Mathias Hoffmann
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1317–1332, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1317-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1317-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using only low-cost microcontrollers and sensors, we constructed a measurement device to accurately and precisely obtain atmospheric carbon dioxide and water fluxes. The device was tested against known concentration increases and high-cost, commercial sensors during a laboratory and field experiment. We additionally tested the device over a longer period in a field study in Ghana during which the net ecosystem carbon balance and water use efficiency of maize cultivation were studied.
Matthew M. Coggon, Chelsea E. Stockwell, Megan S. Claflin, Eva Y. Pfannerstill, Lu Xu, Jessica B. Gilman, Julia Marcantonio, Cong Cao, Kelvin Bates, Georgios I. Gkatzelis, Aaron Lamplugh, Erin F. Katz, Caleb Arata, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Felix Piel, Francesca Majluf, Donald R. Blake, Armin Wisthaler, Manjula Canagaratna, Brian M. Lerner, Allen H. Goldstein, John E. Mak, and Carsten Warneke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 801–825, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-801-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Mass spectrometry is a tool commonly used to measure air pollutants. This study evaluates measurement artifacts produced in the proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer. We provide methods to correct these biases and better measure compounds that degrade air quality.
Tianran Han, Conghui Xie, Yayong Liu, Yanrong Yang, Yuheng Zhang, Yufei Huang, Xiangyu Gao, Xiaohua Zhang, Fangmin Bao, and Shao-Meng Li
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 677–691, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-677-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-677-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study reported an integrated UAV measurement platform for GHG monitoring and its application for emission quantification from a coking plant. The key element of this system is a newly designed air sampler, consisting of a 150 m long tube with remote-controlled time stamping. When comparing the top-down results to those derived from the bottom-up inventory method, the present findings indicate that the use of IPCC emission factors for emission calculations can lead to overestimation.
Yuening Li, Faqiang Zhan, Yushan Su, Ying Duan Lei, Chubashini Shunthirasingham, Zilin Zhou, Jonathan P. D. Abbatt, Hayley Hung, and Frank Wania
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 715–729, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-715-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-715-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A simple device for sampling gases from the atmosphere without the help of pumps was calibrated for an important group of hazardous air pollutants called polycyclic aromatic compounds (PACs). While the sampler appeared to perform well when used for relatively short periods of up to several months, some PACs were lost from the sampler during longer deployments. Sampling rates that can be used to quantitatively interpret the quantities of PACs taken up in the device have been derived.
Jiaxin Li, Kunpeng Zang, Yi Lin, Yuanyuan Chen, Shuo Liu, Shanshan Qiu, Kai Jiang, Xuemei Qing, Haoyu Xiong, Haixiang Hong, Shuangxi Fang, Honghui Xu, and Yujun Jiang
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4757–4768, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4757-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4757-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Based on observed data of CO2 and CH4 and meteorological parameters over the Yellow Sea in November 2012 and June 2013, a data process and quality control method was optimized and established to filter the data influenced by multiple factors. Spatial and seasonal variations in CO2 and CH4 mixing ratios were mainly controlled by the East Asian Monsoon, while the influence of air–sea exchange was slight.
Zaneta Hamryszczak, Antonia Hartmann, Dirk Dienhart, Sascha Hafermann, Bettina Brendel, Rainer Königstedt, Uwe Parchatka, Jos Lelieveld, and Horst Fischer
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4741–4756, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4741-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4741-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Hydroperoxide measurements improve the understanding of atmospheric oxidation processes. We introduce an instrumental setup for airborne measurements. The aim of the work is the characterization of the measurement method with emphasis on interferences impacting instrumental uncertainty. Technical and physical challenges do not critically impact the instrumental performance. The instrument resolves dynamic processes, such as convective transport, as shown based on the CAFE-Brazil campaign.
James F. Hurley, Alejandra Caceres, Deborah F. McGlynn, Mary E. Tovillo, Suzanne Pinar, Roger Schürch, Ksenia Onufrieva, and Gabriel Isaacman-VanWertz
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4681–4692, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4681-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4681-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have a wide range of sources and impacts on environments and human health that make them spatially, temporally, and chemically varied. Current methods lack the ability to collect samples in ways that provide spatial and chemical resolution without complex, costly instrumentation. We describe and validate a low-cost, portable VOC sampler and demonstrate its utility in collecting distributed coordinated samples.
Simone Brunamonti, Manuel Graf, Tobias Bühlmann, Céline Pascale, Ivan Ilak, Lukas Emmenegger, and Béla Tuzson
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 4391–4407, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4391-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4391-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The abundance of water vapor (H2O) in the upper atmosphere has a significant impact on the rate of global warming. We developed a new lightweight spectrometer (ALBATROSS) for H2O measurements aboard meteorological balloons. Here, we assess the accuracy and precision of ALBATROSS using metrology-grade reference gases. The results demonstrate the exceptional potential of mid-infrared laser absorption spectroscopy as a new reference method for in situ measurements of H2O in the upper atmosphere.
Roubina Papaconstantinou, Marios Demosthenous, Spyros Bezantakos, Neoclis Hadjigeorgiou, Marinos Costi, Melina Stylianou, Elli Symeou, Chrysanthos Savvides, and George Biskos
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 3313–3329, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3313-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-3313-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this paper, we investigate the performance of low-cost electrochemical gas sensors. We carried out yearlong measurements at a traffic air quality monitoring station, where the low-cost sensors were collocated with reference instruments and exposed to highly variable environmental conditions with extremely high temperatures and low relative humidity (RH). Sensors provide measurements that exhibit increasing errors and decreasing correlations as temperature increases and RH decreases.
Jianghanyang Li, Bianca C. Baier, Fred Moore, Tim Newberger, Sonja Wolter, Jack Higgs, Geoff Dutton, Eric Hintsa, Bradley Hall, and Colm Sweeney
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 2851–2863, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-2851-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Monitoring a suite of trace gases in the stratosphere will help us better understand the stratospheric circulation and its impact on the earth's radiation balance. However, such measurements are rare and usually expensive. We developed an instrument that can measure stratospheric trace gases using a low-cost sampling platform (AirCore). The results showed expected agreement with aircraft measurements, demonstrating this technique provides a low-cost and robust way to observe the stratosphere.
Tara I. Yacovitch, Christoph Dyroff, Joseph R. Roscioli, Conner Daube, J. Barry McManus, and Scott C. Herndon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1915–1921, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1915-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Ethylene oxide is a toxic, carcinogenic compound used in the medical and bulk sterilization industry. Here we describe a precise and fast laser-based ethylene oxide monitor. We report months-long concentrations at a Massachusetts site, and we show how they suggest a potential emission source 35 km away. This source, and another, is confirmed by driving the instrument downwind of the sites, where concentrations were tens to tens of thousands of times greater than background levels.
Tatsumi Nakano and Takashi Morofuji
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 1583–1595, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1583-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-1583-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We have developed a system that can automatically measure the pump efficiency of the ECC-type ozonesonde. Operational measurement for 13 years by this system revealed that the efficiency fluctuates in each and slightly increases over time. Those can affect the estimation of total ozone amount by up to 4 %. This result indicates that it is necessary to understand the tendency of the pump correction factor of each ozonesonde in order to detect the actual atmospheric change with high accuracy.
Cited articles
Akimoto, H.: Global Air Quality and Pollution, Science, 302, 1716–1719,
2003.
Ashmore, M. R.: Assessing the future global impacts of ozone on vegetation,
Plant Cell Environ., 28, 949–964, 2005.
Atkinson, R., Baulch, D. L., Cox, R. A., Crowley, J. N., Hampson, R. F.,
Hynes, R. G., Jenkin, M. E., Rossi, M. J., and Troe, J.: Evaluated kinetic
and photochemical data for atmospheric chemistry: Volume I – gas phase
reactions of Ox, HOx, NOx and SOx species, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4,
1461–1738, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-4-1461-2004, 2004.
Badol, C., Borbon, A., Locoge, N., Léonardis, T., and Galloo, J.-C.: An
automated monitoring system for VOC ozone precursors in ambient air:
development, implementation and data analysis, Anal. Bioanal. Chem., 378, 1815–1827, 2004.
Baier, B. C., Brune, W. H., Lefer, B. L., Miller, D. O., and Martins, D. K.:
Direct ozone production rate measurements and their use in assessing ozone
source and receptor regions for Houston in 2013, Atmos. Environ.,
114, 83–91, 2015.
Cazorla, M. and Brune, W. H.: Measurement of Ozone Production Sensor, Atmos.
Meas. Tech., 3, 545–555, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-3-545-2010, 2010.
Cazorla, M., Brune, W. H., Ren, X., and Lefer, B.: Direct measurement of
ozone production rates in Houston in 2009 and comparison with two estimation
methods, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 1203–1212,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-1203-2012, 2012.
Chen, S., Ren, X., Mao, J., Chen, Z., Brune, W. H., Lefer, B.,
Rappenglück, B., Flynn, J., Olson, J., and Crawford, J. H.: A comparison
of chemical mechanisms based on TRAMP-2006 field data, Atmos. Environ., 44,
4116–4125, 2010.
Dusanter, S., Vimal, D., Stevens, P. S., Volkamer, R., and Molina, L. T.:
Measurements of OH and HO2 concentrations during the MCMA-2006 field
campaign – Part 1: Deployment of the Indiana University laser-induced
fluorescence instrument, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 1665–1685,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-1665-2009, 2009a.
Dusanter, S., Vimal, D., Stevens, P. S., Volkamer, R., Molina, L. T., Baker,
A., Meinardi, S., Blake, D., Sheehy, P., Merten, A., Zhang, R., Zheng, J.,
Fortner, E. C., Junkermann, W., Dubey, M., Rahn, T., Eichinger, B.,
Lewandowski, P., Prueger, J., and Holder, H.: Measurements of OH and HO2
concentrations during the MCMA-2006 field campaign – Part 2: Model
comparison and radical budget, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 6655–6675,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-6655-2009, 2009b.
Fu, J. S., Brill Jr., E. D., and Ranjithan, S. R.: Conjunctive use of models
to design cost-effective ozone control strategies, J. Air Waste Ma., 56, 800–809, 2006.
Fuchs, H., Holland, F., and Hofzumahaus, A.: Measurement of tropospheric
RO2 and HO2 radicals by a laser-induced fluorescence instrument,
The Review of scientific instruments, 79, 084104, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2968712,
2008.
Funk, J. L., Jones, C. G., Gray, D. W., Throop, H. L., Hyatt, L. A., and
Lerdau, M. T.: Variation in isoprene emission from Quercus rubra: Sources,
causes, and consequences for estimating fluxes, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 110,
D04301, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD005229, 2005.
Geng, F., Tie, X., Guenther, A., Li, G., Cao, J., and Harley, P.: Effect of
isoprene emissions from major forests on ozone formation in the city of
Shanghai, China, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 10449–10459,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-10449-2011, 2011.
Goliff, W. S., Stockwell, W. R., and Lawson, C. V.: The regional atmospheric
chemistry mechanism, version 2, Atmos. Environ., 68, 174–185, 2013.
Green, T. J., Reeves, C. E., Fleming, Z. L., Brough, N., Rickard, A. R.,
Bandy, B. J., Monks, P. S., and Penkett, S. A.: An improved dual channel
PERCA instrument for atmospheric measurements of peroxy radicals, J. Environ. Monitor., 8, 530–536, 2006.
Griffith, S. M., Hansen, R. F., Dusanter, S., Stevens, P. S., Alaghmand, M.,
Bertman, S. B., Carroll, M. A., Erickson, M., Galloway, M., Grossberg, N.,
Hottle, J., Hou, J., Jobson, B. T., Kammrath, A., Keutsch, F. N., Lefer, B.
L., Mielke, L. H., O'Brien, A., Shepson, P. B., Thurlow, M., Wallace, W.,
Zhang, N., and Zhou, X. L.: OH and HO2 radical chemistry during PROPHET 2008
and CABINEX 2009 – Part 1: Measurements and model comparison, Atmos. Chem.
Phys., 13, 5403–5423, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-5403-2013, 2013.
Griffith, S. M., Hansen, R. F., Dusanter, S., Michoud, V., Gilman, J. B.,
Kuster, W. C., Veres, P. R., Graus, M., de Gouw, J. A., Roberts, J., Young,
C., Washenfelder, R., Brown, S. S., Thalman, R., Waxman, E., Volkamer, R.,
Tsai, C., Stutz, J., Flynn, J. H., Grossberg, N., Lefer, B., Alvarez, S. L.,
Rappenglueck, B., Mielke, L. H., Osthoff, H. D., and Stevens, P. S.:
Measurements of hydroxyl and hydroperoxy radicals during CalNex-LA: Model
comparisons and radical budgets, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 121, 4211–4232, 2016.
Hofzumahaus, A., Rohrer, F., Lu, K., Bohn, B., Brauers, T., Chang, C.-C.,
Fuchs, H., Holland, F., Kita, K., Kondo, Y., Li, X., Lou, S., Shao, M., Zeng,
L., Wahner, A., and Zhang, Y.: Amplified Trace Gas Removal in the
Troposphere, Science, 324, 1702–1704, 2009.
Isebrands, J. G., Guenther, A. B., Harley, P., Helmig, D., Klinger, L.,
Vierling, L., Zimmerman, P., and Geron, C.: Volatile organic compound
emission rates from mixed deciduous and coniferous forests in Northern
Wisconsin, USA, Atmos. Environ., 33, 2527–2536, 1999.
Kanaya, Y., Cao, R., Akimoto, H., Fukuda, M., Komazaki, Y., Yokouchi, Y.,
Koike, M., Tanimoto, H., Takegawa, N., and Kondo, Y.: Urban photochemistry in
central Tokyo: 1. Observed and modeled OH and HO2 radical concentrations
during the winter and summer of 2004, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 112, D21312,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JD008670, 2007.
Kebabian, P. L., Herndon, S. C., and Freedman, A.: Detection of nitrogen
dioxide by cavity attenuated phase shift spectroscopy, Anal. Chem., 77,
724–728, 2005.
Kebabian, P. L., Wood, E. C., Herndon, S. C., and Freedman, A.: A practical
alternative to chemiluminescence-based detection of nitrogen dioxide: cavity
attenuated phase shift spectroscopy, Environ Sci. Technol., 42, 6040–6045,
2008.
Kleinman, L. I.: The dependence of tropospheric ozone production rate on
ozone precursors, Atmos. Environ., 39, 575–586, 2005.
Kleinman, L. I., Daum, P. H., Imre, D., Lee, Y. N., Nunnermacker, L. J.,
Springston, S. R., Weinstein-Lloyd, J., and Rudolph, J.: Ozone production
rate and hydrocarbon reactivity in 5 urban areas: A cause of high ozone
concentration in Houston, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, 105-101–105-104, 2002.
Laufs, S. and Kleffmann, J.: Investigations on HONO formation from photolysis
of adsorbed HNO3 on quartz glass surfaces, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 18, 9616–9625, 2016.
Lelieveld, J., Butler, T. M., Crowley, J. N., Dillon, T. J., Fischer, H.,
Ganzeveld, L., Harder, H., Lawrence, M. G., Martinez, M., Taraborrelli, D.,
and Williams, J.: Atmospheric oxidation capacity sustained by a tropical
forest, Nature, 452, 737–740, 2008.
Liu, Y. and Zhang, J.: Atmospheric Peroxy Radical Measurements Using
Dual-Channel Chemical Amplification Cavity Ringdown Spectroscopy, Anal. Chem., 86, 5391–5398, 2014.
Lu, K. D., Hofzumahaus, A., Holland, F., Bohn, B., Brauers, T., Fuchs, H.,
Hu, M., Häseler, R., Kita, K., Kondo, Y., Li, X., Lou, S. R., Oebel, A.,
Shao, M., Zeng, L. M., Wahner, A., Zhu, T., Zhang, Y. H., and Rohrer, F.:
Missing OH source in a suburban environment near Beijing: observed and
modelled OH and HO2 concentrations in summer 2006, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13,
1057–1080, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-1057-2013, 2013.
Mao, J., Ren, X., Chen, S., Brune, W. H., Chen, Z., Martinez, M., Harder, H.,
Lefer, B., Rappenglück, B., Flynn, J., and Leuchner, M.: Atmospheric
oxidation capacity in the summer of Houston 2006: Comparison with summer
measurements in other metropolitan studies, Atmos. Environ., 44, 4107–4115,
2010.
Mao, J., Ren, X., Zhang, L., Van Duin, D. M., Cohen, R. C., Park, J.-H.,
Goldstein, A. H., Paulot, F., Beaver, M. R., Crounse, J. D., Wennberg, P. O.,
DiGangi, J. P., Henry, S. B., Keutsch, F. N., Park, C., Schade, G. W., Wolfe,
G. M., Thornton, J. A., and Brune, W. H.: Insights into hydroxyl measurements
and atmospheric oxidation in a California forest, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12,
8009–8020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-8009-2012, 2012.
Monks, P. S.: Gas-phase radical chemistry in the troposphere, Chem. Soc. Rev., 34, 376–395, 2005.
Philipp, H. R., Le Grand, D. G., Cole, H. S., and Liu, Y. S.: The optical
properties of a polyetherimide, Polym. Eng. Sci., 29,
1574–1578, 1989.
Prinn, R. G.: The cleansing capacity of the atmosphere, Annu. Rev. Env. Resour., 28, 29–57,
https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.energy.28.011503.163425, 2003.
Pugh, T. A. M., MacKenzie, A. R., Hewitt, C. N., Langford, B., Edwards, P.
M., Furneaux, K. L., Heard, D. E., Hopkins, J. R., Jones, C. E., Karunaharan,
A., Lee, J., Mills, G., Misztal, P., Moller, S., Monks, P. S., and Whalley,
L. K.: Simulating atmospheric composition over a South-East Asian tropical
rainforest: performance of a chemistry box model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10,
279–298, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-279-2010, 2010.
Rao, S. T., Galmarini, S., and Puckett, K.: Air Quality Model Evaluation
International Initiative (AQMEII): Advancing the State of the Science in
Regional Photochemical Modeling and Its Applications, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 92, 23–30, 10.1175/2010BAMS3069.1, 2010.
Ren, X., Harder, H., Martinez, M., Lesher, R. L., Oliger, A., Simpas, J. B.,
Brune, W. H., Schwab, J. J., Demerjian, K. L., He, Y., Zhou, X., and Gao,
H.: OH and HO2 Chemistry in the urban atmosphere of New York City,
Atmos. Environ., 37, 3639–3651, 2003.
Ren, X., van Duin, D., Cazorla, M., Chen, S., Mao, J., Zhang, L., Brune, W.
H., Flynn, J. H., Grossberg, N., Lefer, B. L., Rappenglück, B., Wong, K.
W., Tsai, C., Stutz, J., Dibb, J. E., Thomas Jobson, B., Luke, W. T., and
Kelley, P.: Atmospheric oxidation chemistry and ozone production: Results
from SHARP 2009 in Houston, Texas, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 5770–5780, 2013.
Rohrer, F., Lu, K., Hofzumahaus, A., Bohn, B., Brauers, T., Chang, C.-C.,
Fuchs, H., Haseler, R., Holland, F., Hu, M., Kita, K., Kondo, Y., Li, X.,
Lou, S., Oebel, A., Shao, M., Zeng, L., Zhu, T., Zhang, Y., and Wahner, A.:
Maximum efficiency in the hydroxyl-radical-based self-cleansing of the
troposphere, Nat. Geosci., 7, 559–563, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2199, 2014.
Roukos, J., Plaisance, H., Leonardis, T., Bates, M., and Locoge, N.:
Development and validation of an automated monitoring system for oxygenated
volatile organic compounds and nitrile compounds in ambient air, J.
Chromatogr. A., 1216, 8642–8651, 2009.
Sadanaga, Y., Kawasaki, S., Tanaka, Y., Kajii, Y., and Bandow, H.: New System
for Measuring the Photochemical Ozone Production Rate in the Atmosphere,
Environ. Sci. Technol., 51, 2871–2878, 2017.
Saunders, S. M., Jenkin, M. E., Derwent, R. G., and Pilling, M. J.: Protocol
for the development of the Master Chemical Mechanism, MCM v3 (Part A):
tropospheric degradation of non-aromatic volatile organic compounds, Atmos.
Chem. Phys., 3, 161–180, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-3-161-2003, 2003.
Seinfeld, J. H. and Pandis, S. N.: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics: From
Air Pollution to Climate Change, Wiley, New-York, 2006.
Shirley, T. R., Brune, W. H., Ren, X., Mao, J., Lesher, R., Cardenas, B.,
Volkamer, R., Molina, L. T., Molina, M. J., Lamb, B., Velasco, E., Jobson,
T., and Alexander, M.: Atmospheric oxidation in the Mexico City Metropolitan
Area (MCMA) during April 2003, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 2753–2765,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-2753-2006, 2006.
Stevenson, D. S., Dentener, F. J., Schultz, M. G., Ellingsen, K., van Noije,
T. P. C., Wild, O., Zeng, G., Amann, M., Atherton, C. S., Bell, N., Bergmann,
D. J., Bey, I., Butler, T., Cofala, J., Collins, W. J., Derwent, R. G.,
Doherty, R. M., Drevet, J., Eskes, H. J., Fiore, A. M., Gauss, M.,
Hauglustaine, D. A., Horowitz, L. W., Isaksen, I. S. A., Krol, M. C.,
Lamarque, J. F., Lawrence, M. G., Montanaro, V., Müller, J. F., Pitari,
G., Prather, M. J., Pyle, J. A., Rast, S., Rodriguez, J. M., Sanderson, M.
G., Savage, N. H., Shindell, D. T., Strahan, S. E., Sudo, K., and Szopa, S.:
Multimodel ensemble simulations of present-day and near-future tropospheric
ozone, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D08301, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006338,
2006.
Stockwell, W. R., Kirchner, F., Kuhn, M., and Seefeld, S.: A new mechanism
for regional atmospheric chemistry modeling, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 102,
25847–25879, 1997.
Stockwell, W. R., Lawson, C. V., Saunders, E., and Goliff, W. S.: A Review of
Tropospheric Atmospheric Chemistry and Gas-Phase Chemical Mechanisms for Air
Quality Modeling, Atmosphere, 3, 1–32, 2011.
Tan, D., Faloona, I., Simpas, J. B., Brune, W., Shepson, P. B., Couch, T. L.,
Sumner, A. L., Carroll, M. A., Thornberry, T., Apel, E., Riemer, D., and
Stockwell, W.: HOx budgets in a deciduous forest: Results from the PROPHET
summer 1998 campaign, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 106, 24407–24427, 2001.
Thornton, J. A., Wooldridge, P. J., Cohen, R. C., Martinez, M., Harder, H.,
Brune, W. H., Williams, E. J., Roberts, J. M., Fehsenfeld, F. C., Hall, S.
R., Shetter, R. E., Wert, B. P., and Fried, A.: Ozone production rates as a
function of NOx abundances and HOx production rates in the
Nashville urban plume, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, ACH 7-1–ACH 7-17, 2002.
Whalley, L. K., Edwards, P. M., Furneaux, K. L., Goddard, A., Ingham, T.,
Evans, M. J., Stone, D., Hopkins, J. R., Jones, C. E., Karunaharan, A., Lee,
J. D., Lewis, A. C., Monks, P. S., Moller, S. J., and Heard, D. E.:
Quantifying the magnitude of a missing hydroxyl radical source in a tropical
rainforest, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 7223–7233,
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-7223-2011, 2011.
WHO: Review of evidence on health aspects of air pollution, REVIHAAP Project
Technical report, World Health Organization, Regional Office for Europe,
2013.
Short summary
Ground-level ozone is a pollutant that affects both global climate change and regional air quality. Its complex formation chemistry makes the implementation of reduction strategies challenging and needs to be well understood to develop efficient strategies. This publication reports the development of an instrument capable of monitoring the ozone formation rate in the atmosphere. Its reliability was tested in the laboratory and in the field and important recommendations are given for improvement.
Ground-level ozone is a pollutant that affects both global climate change and regional air...
