OH radicals reactivity towards phenol-related pollutants in water: temperature dependence of the rate constants and novel insights into the [OH-phenol]˙ adduct formation

Substituted phenols are known to readily react with the hydroxyl radical (OH˙), which is the most powerful atmospheric oxidant and is also most often used in advanced oxidation processes (AOP) for wastewater treatment. We report temperature-dependent (278.15-318.15 K) second order kinetic rate constants for the aqueous-phase reactions of OH˙ with phenol and four substituted phenols: catechol, phloroglucinol, pyrogallol and 3-methylcatechol, with the last two measured for the first time. The constructed Hammett plots for mono- and di-substituted phenols have the potential to be further applied for predicting the reaction rate constants of other substituted phenols at 298.15 K. This will significantly facilitate the optimization of AOP and improve the predictive capabilities of atmospheric multiphase models in the future. Moreover, an advancement in the understanding of the underlying mechanism, i.e. OH˙ addition to the aromatic ring is made by theoretical calculations at the M06-2X level. We demonstrate that the position of substituents on the aromatic ring is important for the [OH-phenol]˙ adduct formation, which is supported by the experiment and theoretical calculations. Adjacent and nonadjacent electron donor/acceptor substituents differently impact the interplay between the activation energy and entropy. We also show that explicit solvation has to be accounted for in theoretical models in order to explicitly describe the formation of the transition state.

Aerosol optical properties and direct radiative forcing at Taihu

Ground-based characteristics (optical, type, size, and radiative properties) of aerosols measured between 2005 and 2012 were investigated over the Taihu rim region, which encompasses the cities of Shanghai, Suzhou, Wuxi, and Changzhou. The aerosol optical depth (AOD) showed a distinct seasonal variation with the highest value in summer and the lowest AOD in winter. There was broadest frequency distribution with a multimodal structure in summer. The Ångström exponent (AE) showed high values during spring; the relative frequency of AE in the range of 0-0.8 was 5-10 times greater than that of other seasons. The samples with high AOD₄₄₀ and low AE_440-870 were mainly observed in spring, which is attributed to the relative abundance of coarse particles. The monthly aerosol volume size distributions presented a bimodal structure (fine and coarse modes). The coarse mode was dominant during spring, while the fine mode was predominant in other seasons. The main aerosol type over Taihu during all the seasons was the mixed small-particle category, followed by the urban/industrial category. The minimum single scattering albedo (SSA) occurred in winter, suggesting that atmosphere aerosol had a higher absorption. All monthly averaged asymmetry factors (ASY) had positive values and no distinct seasonal variation. Both high real (Re) and imaginary (Im) parts of the refractive index occurred in winter. The atmospheric warming effect of aerosol was more significant in winter compared with other seasons, with the averaged atmosphere aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) and the corresponding atmospheric heating rate up to +69.46  W·m^-2 and 1.95  K·day^-1, respectively. There existed a significant positive correlation between AOD and ARF (absolute value), and the correlation coefficients (r) exceeded 0.86 in each season with maximum r in summer. Along with the increasing of the SSA, the aerosol radiative forcing efficiency (absolute value) showed a decreasing trend at the bottom of the atmosphere and an increasing trend at the top of the atmosphere.

Retrieval of phytoplankton and colored detrital matter absorption coefficients with remote sensing reflectance in an ultraviolet band

The light absorption of phytoplankton and colored detrital matter (CDM), which includes contribution of gelbstoff and detrital matters, has distinctive yet overlapping features in the ultraviolet (UV) and visible domain. The CDM absorption (a(dg)) increases exponentially with decreasing wavelength while the absorption coefficient of phytoplankton (a(ph)) generally decreases toward the shorter bands for the range of 350-450 nm. It has long been envisioned that including ocean color measurements in the UV range may help the separation of these two components from the remotely sensed ocean color spectrum. An attempt is made in this study to provide an analytical assessment of this expectation. We started with the development of an absorption decomposition model [quasi-analytical algorithm (QAA)-UV], analogous to the QAA, that partitions the total absorption coefficient using information at bands 380 and 440 nm. Compared to the retrieval results relying on the absorption information at 410 and 440 nm of the original QAA, our analyses indicate that QAA-UV can improve the retrieval of a(ph) and a(dg), although the improvement in accuracy is not significant for values at 440 nm. The performance of the UV-based algorithm is further evaluated with in situ measurements. The limited improvement observed with the field measurements highlights that the separation of a(dg) and a(ph) is highly dependent on the accuracy of the ocean color measurements and the estimated total absorption coefficient.

On the non-closure of particle backscattering coefficient in oligotrophic oceans

Many studies have consistently found that the particle backscattering coefficient (bbp) in oligotrophic oceans estimated from remote-sensing reflectance (Rrs) using semi-analytical algorithms is higher than that from in situ measurements. This overestimation can be as high as ~300% for some oligotrophic ocean regions. Various sources potentially responsible for this discrepancy are examined. Further, after applying an empirical algorithm to correct the impact from Raman scattering, it is found that bbp from analytical inversion of Rrs is in good agreement with that from in situ measurements, and that a closure is achieved.

Diurnal remote sensing of coastal/oceanic waters: a radiometric analysis for Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events

Optical remote sensing systems aboard geostationary platforms can provide high-frequency observations of bio-optical properties in dynamical coastal/oceanic waters. From the end-user standpoint, it is recognized that the fidelity of daily science products relies heavily on the radiometric sensitivity/performance of the imaging system. This study aims to determine the theoretical detection limits for bio-optical properties observed diurnally from a geostationary orbit. The analysis is based upon coupled radiative transfer simulations and the minimum radiometric requirements defined for the GEOstationary Coastal and Air Pollution Events (GEO-CAPE) mission. The diurnal detection limits are found for the optically active constituents of water, including near-surface concentrations of chlorophyll-a (CHL) and total suspended solids (TSS), and the absorption of colored dissolved organic matter (aCDOM). The diurnal top-of-atmosphere radiance (Lt) is modeled for several locations across the field of regard (FOR) to investigate the radiometric sensitivity at different imaging geometries. It is found that, in oceanic waters (CHL=0.07  mg/m3), detecting changes smaller than 0.01  mg/m3 in CHL is feasible for all locations and hours except for late afternoon observations on the edge of the FOR. For more trophic/turbid waters (0.6<CHL<4.5), the proposed system is found sensitive to changes (in CHL) smaller than 0.1  mg/m3 when the air mass fraction (AMF) is less than 5. For aCDOM(440), detecting the changes larger than 0.02  m(-1) (0.08<aCDOM(440)<0.36) is found feasible for most of the imaging geometries. This is equivalent to AMF<5. For TSS, changes on the order of ΔTSS=0.1  g/m3 (0.5<TSS<4.5) are detectable from early morning to late afternoon across the entire FOR. This study gives insights into the radiometric sensitivity of the GEO-CAPE mission in identifying the changes in bio-optical properties at top-of-atmosphere (TOA), which aids in a more lucid understanding of the uncertainties associated with the surface products.

Modeling study on seasonal variation in aerosol extinction properties over China

To investigate the seasonal variation of aerosol optical depth (AOD), extinction coefficient (EXT), single scattering albedo (SSA) and the decomposed impacts from sulfate (SO4(2-)) and black carbon (BC) over China, numerical experiments are conducted from November 2007 to December 2008 by using WRF-Chem. Comparison of model results with measurements shows that model can reproduce the spatial distribution and seasonal variation of AOD and SSA. Over south China, AOD is largest in spring (0.6-1.2) and lowest in summer (0.2-0.6). Over north, northeast and east China, AOD is highest in summer while lowest in winter. The high value of EXT under 850 hPa which is the reflection of low visibility ranges from 0.4-0.8 km(-1) and the high value area shifts to north during winter, spring and summer, then back to south in autumn. SSA is 0.92-0.94 in winter and 0.94-0.96 for the other three seasons because of highest BC concentration in winter over south China. Over east China, SSA is highest (0.92-0.96) in summer, and 0.88-0.92 during winter, spring and autumn as the concentration of scattering aerosol is highest while BC concentration is lowest in summer over this region. Over north China, SSA is highest (0.9-0.94) in summer and lowest (0.82-0.86) in winter due to the significant variation of aerosol concentration. The SO4(2-) induced EXT increases about 5%-55% and the impacts of BC on EXT is much smaller (2%-10%). The SO4(2-)-induced increase in SSA is 0.01-0.08 and the BC-induced SSA decreases 0.02-0.18.

Retrieving marine inherent optical properties from satellites using temperature and salinity-dependent backscattering by seawater

Time-series of marine inherent optical properties (IOPs) from ocean color satellite instruments provide valuable data records for studying long-term time changes in ocean ecosystems. Semi-analytical algorithms (SAAs) provide a common method for estimating IOPs from radiometric measurements of the marine light field. Most SAAs assign constant spectral values for seawater absorption and backscattering, assume spectral shape functions of the remaining constituent absorption and scattering components (e.g., phytoplankton, non-algal particles, and colored dissolved organic matter), and retrieve the magnitudes of each remaining constituent required to match the spectral distribution of measured radiances. Here, we explore the use of temperature- and salinity-dependent values for seawater backscattering in lieu of the constant spectrum currently employed by most SAAs. Our results suggest that use of temperature- and salinity-dependent seawater spectra elevate the SAA-derived particle backscattering, reduce the non-algal particles plus colored dissolved organic matter absorption, and leave the derived absorption by phytoplankton unchanged.

Influence of Raman scattering on ocean color inversion models

Raman scattering can be a significant contributor to the emergent radiance spectrum from the surface ocean. Here, we present an analytical approach to directly estimate the Raman contribution to remote sensing reflectance, and evaluate its effects on optical properties estimated from two common semianalytical inversion models. For application of the method to ocean color remote sensing, spectral irradiance products in the ultraviolet from the OMI instrument are merged with MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data in the visible. The resulting global fields of Raman-corrected optical properties show significant differences from standard retrievals, particularly for the particulate backscattering coefficient, b(bp), where average errors in clear ocean waters are ~50%. Given the interest in transforming b(bp) into biogeochemical quantities, Raman scattering must be accounted for in semianalytical inversion schemes.