Aircraft engine exhaust emissions and other airport-related contributions to ambient air pollution: A review

Civil aviation is fast-growing (about +5% every year), mainly driven by the developing economies and globalisation. Its impact on the environment is heavily debated, particularly in relation to climate forcing attributed to emissions at cruising altitudes and the noise and the deterioration of air quality at ground-level due to airport operations. This latter environmental issue is of particular interest to the scientific community and policymakers, especially in relation to the breach of limit and target values for many air pollutants, mainly nitrogen oxides and particulate matter, near the busiest airports and the resulting consequences for public health. Despite the increased attention given to aircraft emissions at ground-level and air pollution in the vicinity of airports, many research gaps remain. Sources relevant to air quality include not only engine exhaust and non-exhaust emissions from aircraft, but also emissions from the units providing power to the aircraft on the ground, the traffic due to the airport ground service, maintenance work, heating facilities, fugitive vapours from refuelling operations, kitchens and restaurants for passengers and operators, intermodal transportation systems, and road traffic for transporting people and goods in and out to the airport. Many of these sources have received inadequate attention, despite their high potential for impact on air quality. This review aims to summarise the state-of-the-art research on aircraft and airport emissions and attempts to synthesise the results of studies that have addressed this issue. It also aims to describe the key characteristics of pollution, the impacts upon global and local air quality and to address the future potential of research by highlighting research needs.

Measurement of trace atmospheric species by chemical ionization mass spectrometry: speciation of reactive nitrogen and future directions

Chemical ionization mass spectrometry (CIMS) has proven to be a powerful method for sensitive, fast time response (t approximately 1 sec) measurements of various atmospheric compounds with limits of detection (LOD) of the order of tens of pptv and lower. The rapid time response of CIMS is particularly well suited for airborne measurements and its application has largely grown out of airborne measurements in the stratosphere and upper troposphere. This work reviews some of the advances in CIMS technology that have occurred in the past decade. In particular, CIMS methods for selective measurement of reactive nitrogen species (e.g., HNO3, HO2NO2, PAN, and NH3) in the lower atmosphere (altitudes approximately 0-8 km) are described. In addition, recent developments in CIMS technology for the selective measurement of gas-phase hydroperoxides and aerosol chemical composition are briefly described.

Rate constants for the reactions of CO3- and O3- with SO2 from 300 to 1440 K

Rate constants for the reactions of CO(3) (-) and O(3) (-) with SO(2) have been measured between 300 and 1440 K in a high temperature flowing afterglow apparatus. The CO(3) (-) rate constants near to the collision rate at low temperatures and fall by about a factor of 50 with temperature until a broad minimum is reached at 900-1300 K. The highest temperature point shows the increasing rate constant. Comparison to drift tube data taken in a helium buffer shows that total energy controls the reactivity, presumably because the reaction goes through a long lived complex even at 1440 K. The reaction of O(3) (-) with SO(2) was studied up to 1400 K. The rate constant is collisional until 700 K and then decreases with increasing temperature. Rate constants measured at 1300 and 1400 K appear to show an increase, but that observation is questionable since O(3) (-) could not be made cleanly. The O(3) (-) data at 1200 K and below show that total energy controls reactivity in that range.