Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect

Carsten Warneke; Joost A. De Gouw; Peter M. Edwards; John S. Holloway; Jessica B. Gilman; William C. Kuster; Martin Graus; Elliot Atlas; Don Blake; Drew R. Gentner; Allen H. Goldstein; Robert A. Harley; Sergio Alvarez; Bernhard Rappenglueck; Michael Trainer; David D. Parrish

doi:10.1002/jgrd.50423

Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect

Carsten Warneke, Joost A. De Gouw, Peter M. Edwards, John S. Holloway, Jessica B. Gilman, William C. Kuster, Martin Graus, Elliot Atlas, Don Blake, Drew R. Gentner, Allen H. Goldstein, Robert A. Harley, Sergio Alvarez, Bernhard Rappenglueck, Michael Trainer, David D. Parrish

Atmospheric Sciences

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

During the CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) field study in May-June 2010, measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Los Angeles (LA) basin onboard a NOAA research aircraft and at a ground site located in Pasadena. A weekday-weekend effect in ozone, caused by lower NO_x emissions due to reduced diesel truck traffic in the weekends, has been previously observed in Los Angeles and other cities. Measurements in the Caldecott tunnel show that emission ratios of VOCs do not vary with the day of the week, but measurements during CalNex2010 show a VOC weekday-weekend effect through faster photochemical processing at lower ambient NO_x mixing ratios. Ambient VOC enhancement ratios of long-lived species such as benzene are the same between weekdays and weekends, whereas enhancement ratios of short-lived species, such as trimethyl benzene, are up to a factor of three lower on weekends. Based upon the observed differences in VOC enhancement ratios to CO, we determine that photochemical processing was on average 65%-75% faster on weekends during CalNex2010, which indicates that ambient OH radical concentrations were larger by this factor causing the observed change in VOC composition. A box model calculation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism was used to verify the increase in photochemical processing in the weekends. Key PointsSpatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los AngelesVOC weekday-weekend effectFaster photochemistry in weekends

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	5018-5028
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
Volume	118
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50423
State	Published - May 27 2013

Keywords

Faster photochemistry in weekends
Spatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los Angeles
VOC weekday-weekend effect

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Geophysics
Forestry
Oceanography
Aquatic Science
Ecology
Water Science and Technology
Soil Science
Geochemistry and Petrology
Earth-Surface Processes
Atmospheric Science
Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)
Space and Planetary Science
Palaeontology

Access to Document

10.1002/jgrd.50423

Fingerprint Dive into the research topics of 'Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this

Warneke, C., De Gouw, J. A., Edwards, P. M., Holloway, J. S., Gilman, J. B., Kuster, W. C., Graus, M., Atlas, E., Blake, D., Gentner, D. R., Goldstein, A. H., Harley, R. A., Alvarez, S., Rappenglueck, B., Trainer, M., & Parrish, D. D. (2013). Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 118(10), 5018-5028. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50423

Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin : Weekday-weekend effect. / Warneke, Carsten; De Gouw, Joost A.; Edwards, Peter M.; Holloway, John S.; Gilman, Jessica B.; Kuster, William C.; Graus, Martin; Atlas, Elliot; Blake, Don; Gentner, Drew R.; Goldstein, Allen H.; Harley, Robert A.; Alvarez, Sergio; Rappenglueck, Bernhard; Trainer, Michael; Parrish, David D.

In: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, Vol. 118, No. 10, 27.05.2013, p. 5018-5028.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article

Warneke, C, De Gouw, JA, Edwards, PM, Holloway, JS, Gilman, JB, Kuster, WC, Graus, M, Atlas, E, Blake, D, Gentner, DR, Goldstein, AH, Harley, RA, Alvarez, S, Rappenglueck, B, Trainer, M & Parrish, DD 2013, 'Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect', Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, vol. 118, no. 10, pp. 5018-5028. https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50423

Warneke, Carsten ; De Gouw, Joost A. ; Edwards, Peter M. ; Holloway, John S. ; Gilman, Jessica B. ; Kuster, William C. ; Graus, Martin ; Atlas, Elliot ; Blake, Don ; Gentner, Drew R. ; Goldstein, Allen H. ; Harley, Robert A. ; Alvarez, Sergio ; Rappenglueck, Bernhard ; Trainer, Michael ; Parrish, David D. / Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin : Weekday-weekend effect. In: Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres. 2013 ; Vol. 118, No. 10. pp. 5018-5028.

@article{2ef0542c3ae849b7beae37c3bdfa2f83,

title = "Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin: Weekday-weekend effect",

abstract = "During the CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) field study in May-June 2010, measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Los Angeles (LA) basin onboard a NOAA research aircraft and at a ground site located in Pasadena. A weekday-weekend effect in ozone, caused by lower NOx emissions due to reduced diesel truck traffic in the weekends, has been previously observed in Los Angeles and other cities. Measurements in the Caldecott tunnel show that emission ratios of VOCs do not vary with the day of the week, but measurements during CalNex2010 show a VOC weekday-weekend effect through faster photochemical processing at lower ambient NOx mixing ratios. Ambient VOC enhancement ratios of long-lived species such as benzene are the same between weekdays and weekends, whereas enhancement ratios of short-lived species, such as trimethyl benzene, are up to a factor of three lower on weekends. Based upon the observed differences in VOC enhancement ratios to CO, we determine that photochemical processing was on average 65%-75% faster on weekends during CalNex2010, which indicates that ambient OH radical concentrations were larger by this factor causing the observed change in VOC composition. A box model calculation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism was used to verify the increase in photochemical processing in the weekends. Key PointsSpatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los AngelesVOC weekday-weekend effectFaster photochemistry in weekends",

keywords = "Faster photochemistry in weekends, Spatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los Angeles, VOC weekday-weekend effect",

author = "Carsten Warneke and {De Gouw}, {Joost A.} and Edwards, {Peter M.} and Holloway, {John S.} and Gilman, {Jessica B.} and Kuster, {William C.} and Martin Graus and Elliot Atlas and Don Blake and Gentner, {Drew R.} and Goldstein, {Allen H.} and Harley, {Robert A.} and Sergio Alvarez and Bernhard Rappenglueck and Michael Trainer and Parrish, {David D.}",

year = "2013",

month = may,

day = "27",

doi = "10.1002/jgrd.50423",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "118",

pages = "5018--5028",

journal = "Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres",

issn = "2169-897X",

number = "10",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Photochemical aging of volatile organic compounds in the Los Angeles basin

T2 - Weekday-weekend effect

AU - Warneke, Carsten

AU - De Gouw, Joost A.

AU - Edwards, Peter M.

AU - Holloway, John S.

AU - Gilman, Jessica B.

AU - Kuster, William C.

AU - Graus, Martin

AU - Atlas, Elliot

AU - Blake, Don

AU - Gentner, Drew R.

AU - Goldstein, Allen H.

AU - Harley, Robert A.

AU - Alvarez, Sergio

AU - Rappenglueck, Bernhard

AU - Trainer, Michael

AU - Parrish, David D.

PY - 2013/5/27

Y1 - 2013/5/27

N2 - During the CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) field study in May-June 2010, measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Los Angeles (LA) basin onboard a NOAA research aircraft and at a ground site located in Pasadena. A weekday-weekend effect in ozone, caused by lower NOx emissions due to reduced diesel truck traffic in the weekends, has been previously observed in Los Angeles and other cities. Measurements in the Caldecott tunnel show that emission ratios of VOCs do not vary with the day of the week, but measurements during CalNex2010 show a VOC weekday-weekend effect through faster photochemical processing at lower ambient NOx mixing ratios. Ambient VOC enhancement ratios of long-lived species such as benzene are the same between weekdays and weekends, whereas enhancement ratios of short-lived species, such as trimethyl benzene, are up to a factor of three lower on weekends. Based upon the observed differences in VOC enhancement ratios to CO, we determine that photochemical processing was on average 65%-75% faster on weekends during CalNex2010, which indicates that ambient OH radical concentrations were larger by this factor causing the observed change in VOC composition. A box model calculation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism was used to verify the increase in photochemical processing in the weekends. Key PointsSpatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los AngelesVOC weekday-weekend effectFaster photochemistry in weekends

AB - During the CalNex (California Research at the Nexus of Air Quality and Climate Change) field study in May-June 2010, measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were performed in the Los Angeles (LA) basin onboard a NOAA research aircraft and at a ground site located in Pasadena. A weekday-weekend effect in ozone, caused by lower NOx emissions due to reduced diesel truck traffic in the weekends, has been previously observed in Los Angeles and other cities. Measurements in the Caldecott tunnel show that emission ratios of VOCs do not vary with the day of the week, but measurements during CalNex2010 show a VOC weekday-weekend effect through faster photochemical processing at lower ambient NOx mixing ratios. Ambient VOC enhancement ratios of long-lived species such as benzene are the same between weekdays and weekends, whereas enhancement ratios of short-lived species, such as trimethyl benzene, are up to a factor of three lower on weekends. Based upon the observed differences in VOC enhancement ratios to CO, we determine that photochemical processing was on average 65%-75% faster on weekends during CalNex2010, which indicates that ambient OH radical concentrations were larger by this factor causing the observed change in VOC composition. A box model calculation based on the Master Chemical Mechanism was used to verify the increase in photochemical processing in the weekends. Key PointsSpatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los AngelesVOC weekday-weekend effectFaster photochemistry in weekends

KW - Faster photochemistry in weekends

KW - Spatial and temporal photochemical processing in Los Angeles

KW - VOC weekday-weekend effect

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84881141870&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84881141870&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1002/jgrd.50423

DO - 10.1002/jgrd.50423

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:84881141870

VL - 118

SP - 5018

EP - 5028

JO - Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

JF - Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres

SN - 2169-897X

IS - 10

ER -