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 › peer-review

33 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

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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 › peer-review

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.

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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",

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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.

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