Regional Analysis of Nonmethane Volatile Organic Compounds in the Lower Troposphere of the Southeast United States

Abstract

Nonmethane organic compounds (NMOCs) along with ozone as well as other trace gas and meteorological parameters were measured at eight rural sites located in the Southeast United States, as part of the Southern Oxidants Study. Fifty-four C-2-C-10 NMOCs were collected from 1,200-1,300 local time, once every six days from September 1992 through October 1993 and intermittently during 1994. This study was undertaken to characterize the nonmethane hydrocarbons in the rural areas of Southeast United States with respect to their concentrations, reactivities, and relative importance of natural and anthropogenic abundances of NMOCs. Though the sites are well removed from large urban source regions, the observations show a clear anthropogenic influence on the hydrocarbon levels at these rural sites. The data for the sites show similar seasonal patterns for total NMOC with summer maxima (average concentrations of 198 ppbC at the Long Creek, South Carolina, site to 47 ppbC at the Candor, North Carolina site) and fall minima (average concentrations of 73 ppbC at the Long Creek site to 31 ppbC at the Centreville, Alabama site). A secondary maximum is observed during the winter. A seasonal trend was observed in the concentrations of light molecular weight C-2-C-4 NMOCs (ethane, ethene, acetylene, propane, i-butane, and n-butane) with a winter maximum and a summer minimum. An analysis of changes in C2-C4 hydrocarbon ratios over a period of one year indicates that the variation is most likely due to seasonal changes in OH concentrations. A seasonal trend was also observed for the biogenically emitted NMOC, isoprene, with summer maxima (average concentrations of 37 ppbC at the Long Creek, South Carolina, site to 8.6 ppbC at the Giles County, Tennessee and Metter, Georgia, sites) and winter minima with winter seasonal values below the level of detection. Isoprene was observed to be the most dominant NMOC at most sites during the summer. The ambient concentrations of isoprene measured during the summer were found to be dependent on the ambient temperature. The monoterpenes a-pinene, b-pinene, and d-limonene also peaked during the summer with averages ranging between 3.19 ppbC (Centreville, Alabama) and 6.38 ppbC (Oak Grove, Missouri), and a background concentration of 1.25 to 1.9 ppbC for all the sites during the winter