In 2014, a large, comprehensive field campaign was conducted in the densely populated North China Plain. The measurement site was located in a botanic garden close to the small town Wangdu, without major industry but influenced by regional transportation of air pollution. The loss rate coefficient of atmospheric hydroxyl radicals (OH) was quantified by direct measurements of the OH reactivity. Values ranged between 10 and 20 s(-1) for most of the daytime. Highest values were reached in the late night with maximum values of around 40 s(-1). OH reactants mainly originated from anthropogenic activities as indicated (1) by a good correlation between measured OH reactivity and carbon monoxide (linear correlation coefficient R-2 = 0 : 33) and (2) by a high contribution of nitrogen oxide species to the OH reactivity (up to 30% in the morning). Total OH reactivity was measured by a laser flash photolysis-laser-induced fluorescence instrument (LP-LIF). Measured values can be explained well by measured trace gas concentrations including organic compounds, oxygenated organic compounds, CO and nitrogen oxides. Significant, unexplained OH reactivity was only observed during nights, when biomass burning of agricultural waste occurred on surrounding fields. OH reactivity measurements also allow investigating the chemical OH budget. During this campaign, the OH destruction rate calculated from measured OH reactivity and measured OH concentration was balanced by the sum of OH production from ozone and nitrous acid photolysis and OH regeneration from hydroperoxy radicals within the uncertainty of measurements. However, a tendency for higher OH destruction compared to OH production at lower concentrations of nitric oxide is also observed, consistent with previous findings in field campaigns in China.

A chemical box model was used to study nitrate radical (NO3), dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) and nitryl chloride (C1NO(2)) in a rural site during the Campaign of Air Quality Research in Beijing 2006 (CAREBeijing-2006). The model was based on regional atmospheric chemistry mechanism version 2 (RACM(2)) with the heterogeneous uptake of N2O5 and the simplified chloride radical (C1) chemistry mechanism. A high production rate of NO3 with a mean value of 0.8 ppbv/h and low mixing ratios of NO3 and N2O5 (peak values of 17 pptv and 480 pptv, respectively) existed in this site. Budget analysis showed that NO emission suppressed the NO3 chemistry at the surface layer, the reaction of NO3 with VOCs made a similar contribution to NO3 loss as N2O5 heterogeneous uptake. The NO3 chemistry was predominantly controlled by isoprene, and NO3 oxidation produced organic nitrate with a mean value of 0.06 ppbv/h during nighttime. The organic nitrate production initiated by NO3 was equal to that initiated by OH, implying the importance of nighttime chemistry for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation. We confirmed that the N2O5 heterogeneous reaction accounted for nighttime particle NO3 enhancement, with a large day to day variability, and made less of a contribution to NOx loss compared to that of OH reacting with NO2. Additionally, abundant C1NO(2), up to 5.0 ppbv, was formed by N2O5 heterogeneous uptake. C1NO(2) was sustained at a high level until noon in spite of the gradually increasing photolysis of C1NO(2) after sunrise. Chlorine activation caused by N2O5 heterogeneous uptake increased primary ROx formation by 5% and accounted for 8% of the net ozone production enhancement in the morning.

The heterogeneous hydrolysis of dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) is important to understanding the formation of particulate nitrate (pNO(3)(-)). Measurements of N2O5 in the surface layer taken at an urban site in Beijing are presented here. N2O5 was observed with large day-to-day variability. High N2O5 concentrations were determined during pollution episodes with the co-presence of large aerosol loads. The maximum value was 1.3 ppbv (5 s average), associated with an air mass characterized by a high level of O-3. N2O5 uptake coefficients were estimated to be in the range of 0.025-0.072 using the steady-state lifetime method. As a consequence, the nocturnal pNO(3)(-) formation potential by N2O5 heterogeneous uptake was calculated to be 24-85 mu g m(-3) per night and, on average, 57 mu g m(-3) during days with pollution. This was comparable to or even higher than that formed by the partitioning of HNO3. The results highlight that N2O5 heterogeneous hydrolysis is vital in pNO(3)(-) formation in Beijing.

A small and portable incoherent broadband cavityenhanced absorption spectrometer (IBBCEAS) for NO3 and N2O5 measurement has been developed. The instrument features a mechanically aligned non-adjustable optical mounting system, and the novel design of the optical mounting system enables a fast setup and stable operation in field applications. To remove the influence of the strong nonlinear absorption by water vapour, a dynamic reference spectrum through NO titration is used for the spectrum analysis. The wall loss effects of the sample system were extensively studied, and the total transmission efficiencies were determined to be 85 and 55% for N2O5 and NO3, respectively, for our experimental setup. The limit of detection (LOD) was estimated to be 2.4 pptv (1 sigma) and 2.7 pptv (1 sigma) at 1 s intervals for NO3 and N2O5, respectively. The associated uncertainty of the field measurement was estimated to be 19% for NO3 and 22-36% for N2O5 measurements from the uncertainties of transmission efficiency, absorption cross section, effective cavity length, and mirror reflectivity. The instrument was successfully deployed in two comprehensive field campaigns conducted in the winter and summer of 2016 in Beijing. Up to 1.0 ppb NO3 C N2O5 was observed with the presence of high aerosol loadings, which indicates an active night-time chemistry in Beijing.

The photolysis frequency of NO2, j(NO2), is an important analytical parameter in the study of tropospheric chemistry. A chemical actinometer (CA) was built to measure the ambient j(NO2) based on a high precision NOx instrument with 1 min time resolution. Parallel measurements of the ambient j(NO2) by using the CA and a commercial spectroradiometer (SR) were conducted at a typical urban site (Peking University Urban Environmental Monitoring Station) in Beijing. In general, good agreement was achieved between the CA and SR data with a high linear correlation coefficient (R-2 = 0.977) and a regression slope of 1.12. The regression offset was negligible compared to the measured signal level. The j(NO2) data were calculated using the tropospheric ultraviolet visible radiation (TUV) model, which was constrained to observe aerosol optical properties. The calculated j(NO2) was intermediate between the results obtained with CA and SR, demonstrating the consistency of all the parameters observed at this site. The good agreement between the CA and SR data, and the consistency with the TUV model results, demonstrate the good performance of the installed SR instrument. Since a drift of the SR sensitivity is expected by the manufacturer, we propose a regular check of the data acquired via SR against those obtained by CA for long-term delivery of a high quality series of j(NO2) data. Establishing such a time series will be invaluable for analyzing the long-term atmospheric oxidation capacity trends as well as O-3 pollution for urban Beijing. (C) Higher Education Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2016

Particulate pollution is a major air pollution problem in Chinese mega-cities. Under such conditions, the atmospheric gas-phase chemistry is strongly influenced by heterogeneous reactions, of which to quantify the heterogeneous reaction processes of N2O5 is essential for the understanding of the nighttime oxidation capacity, regional NOx budget, photochemical ozone prodution, etc. In this paper, we extensively review the research progress of the N2O5 heterogeneous reaction processes such as its reaction mechanism, measurement techniques of the corresponding uptake coefficient (gamma(N2O5)) and the measurement results on different aerosol substrates. The heterogeneous reaction processes of N2O5 is a typical reactive uptake process which can be ideally studied by the aerosol flow tube system. The corresponding laboratory kinetic studies are started from model aerosols (sulfate), and evolved to be more realistic aerosols according to the accumulated knowledges on the aerosol properties obtained in field studies. It is found that the gamma(N2O5) varied from 0. 001 to 0. 2 on different aerosol substrates, more than two orders of magnitude. The variation is influenced by the ambient temperature, relative humidity, mixing state, phase state, aerosol chemical compositions like NO3-, Cl-, SO42-, liquid water content (LWC), organics, etc., of which the uptake coefficient is higher with higher LWC, Cl-, SO42- while lower with higher NO3- and organics. The avaiable field studies in the United States and Europe showed that, to describe gamma(N2O5), these impact factors can' t be independently expressed; and the dependence seems to be very complicated and cross correlated. Therefore the state of art parameterization methods of gamma(N2O5) developed from lab kinetic studies are still not able to describe the field observations. Since high aerosol loading and high N2O5 are always co-located at urban aeras, more field observations and sucessful parameterization of gamma(N2O5) is proposed to be conducted in typical urban conditions including Chinese megacity regions.

In the last four decades, various techniques including spectroscopic, wet chemical and mass spectrometric methods, have been developed and applied for the detection of ambient nitrous acid (HONO). We developed a HONO detection system based on long path photometry which consists of three independent modules i.e., sampling module, fluid propulsion module and detection module. In the propulsion module, solenoid pumps are applied. With solenoid pumps the pulsed flow can be computer controlled both in terms of pump stroke volume and pulse frequency, which enables the attainment of a very stable flow rate. In the detection module, a customized Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cell (LWCC) is used. The customized LWCC pre-sets the optical fiber in-coupling with the liquid wave guide, providing the option of fast startup and easy maintenance of the absorption photometry. In summer 2014, our system was deployed in a comprehensive campaign at a rural site in the North China Plain. More than one month of high quality HONO data spanning from the limit of detection to 5 ppb were collected. Intercomparison of our system with another established system from Forschungszentrum Juelich is presented and discussed. In conclusion, our instrument achieved a detection limit of 10 pptV within 2 min and a measurement uncertainty of 7%, which is well suited for investigation of the HONO budget from urban to rural conditions in China. (C) 2016 The Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Nitrate radical (NO3) and dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) are key species of the tropospheric chemistry, that play a central role in the tropospheric chemical issues such as atmospheric self cleansing capacity, secondary aerosol formations, reactive halogen chemistry, global sulfur cycles, etc. Nevertheless, the accurate and precise determination of both NO3 and N2O5 is still a challenging task due to their low ambient concentrations, high reactivity and short life time. In this paper, we summarize all kinds of measurement techniques used in the field observations of NO3 and N2O5, including differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS), cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS), cavity enhance absorption spectroscopy (CEAS), laser-induced fluorescence (LIF), matrix isolation electron spin resonance spectroscopy (MIESR), and chemical ionization mass spectrometry(CIMS). The advantages and disadvantages of those techniques are reviewed on the aspects of measurement accuracy, precision, time resolution, interference, calibration and operation stability. The absorption spectroscopy is the best technical approach, especially the subcategories-CRDS and CEAS developed in the last decade are the techniques with high potential of good performance in field applications. However, because high aerosol loadings are always presented in the atmosphere of the mega-city regions in China, the aerosol extinction could be a significant barrier to come over for the techniques based on absorption spectroscopy. Moreover, the observed NO3 and N2O5 concentrations and the major scientific findings of corresponding measurement campaigns conducted in typical tropospheric conditions as urban, forest, free troposphere and marine environments, etc. are outlined. Finally, we discuss the unresolved issues of the NO3 and N2O5 chemistry and possible new directions for future studies in chemically complex environments.

An inhomogeneous mixing of reactants causes a reduction of their chemical removal compared to the homogeneously mixed case in turbulent atmospheric flows. This can be described by the intensity of segregation I-S being the covariance of the mixing ratios of two species divided by the product of their means. Both terms appear in the balance equation of the mixing ratio and are discussed for the reaction between isoprene and OH for data of the field study ECHO 2003 above a deciduous forest. For most of these data, I-S is negatively correlated with the fraction of mean OH mixing ratio reacting with isoprene. I-S is also negatively correlated with the isoprene standard deviation. Both findings agree with model results discussed by Patton et al. (2001) and others. The correlation coefficient between OH and isoprene and, therefore, I-S increases with increasing mean reaction rate. In addition, the balance equation of the covariance between isoprene and OH is applied as the theoretical framework for the analysis of the same field data. The storage term is small, and, therefore, a diagnostic equation for this covariance can be derived. The chemical reaction term R-ij is dominated by the variance of isoprene times the quotient of mixing ratios of OH and isoprene. Based on these findings a new diagnostic equation for I-S is formulated. Comparing different terms of this equation, I-S and R-ij show a relation also to the normalised isoprene standard deviation. It is shown that not only chemistry but also turbulent and convective mixing and advection - considered in a residual term - influence I-S. Despite this finding, a detection of the influence of coherent eddy transport above the forest according to Katul et al. (1997) on I-S fails, but a relation to the turbulent and advective transport of isoprene variance is determined. The largest values of I-S are found for most unstable conditions with increasing buoyant production, confirming qualitatively model predictions by Ouwersloot et al. (2011).

HCHO and CHOCHO are important trace gases in the atmosphere, serving as tracers of VOC oxidations. In the past decade, high concentrations of HCHO and CHOCHO have been observed for the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region in southern China. In this study, we performed box model simulations of HCHO and CHOCHO at a semi-rural site in the PRD, focusing on understanding their sources and sinks and factors influencing the CHOCHO to HCHO ratio (R-GF). The model was constrained by the simultaneous measurements of trace gases and radicals. Isoprene oxidation by OH radicals is the major pathway forming HCHO, followed by degradations of alkenes, aromatics, and alkanes. The production of CHOCHO is dominated by isoprene and aromatic degradation; contributions from other NMHCs are of minor importance. Compared to the measurement results, the model predicts significant higher HCHO and CHOCHO concentrations. Sensitivity studies suggest that fresh emissions of precursor VOCs, uptake of HCHO and CHOCHO by aerosols, fast vertical transport, and uncertainties in the treatment of dry deposition all have the potential to contribute significantly to this discrepancy. Our study indicates that, in addition to chemical considerations (i.e., VOC composition, OH and NOx levels), atmospheric physical processes (e.g., transport, dilution, deposition) make it difficult to use the CHOCHO to HCHO ratio as an indicator for the origin of air mass composition.