Reactive nitrogen compounds, specifically NOx and NO 3, likely influence global organic aerosol levels. To assess these interactions, GEOS-Chem, a chemical transport model, is updated to include improved biogenic emissions (following MEGAN v2.1/2.04), a new organic aerosol tracer lumping scheme, aerosol from nitrate radical (NO3) oxidation of isoprene, and NOx-dependent monoterpene and sesquiterpene aerosol yields. As a result of significant nighttime terpene emissions, fast reaction of monoterpenes with the nitrate radical, and relatively high aerosol yields from NO3 oxidation, biogenic hydrocarbon-NO3 reactions are expected to be a major contributor to surface level aerosol concentrations in anthropogenically influenced areas such as the United States. By including aerosol from nitrate radical oxidation in GEOS-Chem, terpene (monoterpene + sesquiterpene) aerosol approximately doubles and isoprene aerosol is enhanced by 30 to 40% in the Southeast United States. In terms of the global budget of organic aerosol, however, aerosol from nitrate radical oxidation is somewhat minor (slightly more than 3 Tg/yr) due to the relatively high volatility of organic-NO3 oxidation products in the yield parameterization. Globally, 69 to 88 Tg/yr of organic aerosol is predicted to be produced annually, of which 14-15 Tg/yr is from oxidation of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes and 8-9 Tg/yr from isoprene. © 2010 Author(s).
CITATION STYLE
Pye, H. O. T., Chan, A. W. H., Barkley, M. P., & Seinfeld, J. H. (2010). Global modeling of organic aerosol: The importance of reactive nitrogen (NOx and NO3). Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10(22), 11261–11276. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-11261-2010
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