Vertical distributions of atmospheric HONO and the corresponding OH radical production by photolysis at the suburb area of Shanghai, China

Nitrous acid (HONO) is considered as one of the main sources of the hydroxyl radical (OH), the most relevant oxidant in the atmosphere. Multi-AXis-Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) measurements were conducted to obtain the vertical profiles of aerosol and HONO from November 1, 2020 to January 31, 2021 at a suburb site of Shanghai, China. HONO was mainly distributed near the surface, but high values HONO occasionally occurred around 0.7 km, indicating an unaccounted source of daytime HONO at high altitudes. The positive correlation between HONO and aerosols suggested that the photo-enhanced heterogeneous reactions on the aerosol surface were an important source of daytime HONO at high altitudes. To obtain the vertical distribution of OH production by HONO photolysis (P(OH)_HONO), the vertical profiles of photolysis rate of HONO (J_HONO) were calculated by establishing a method of combining observations with empirical relationship based on heterogeneous atmospheric and radiative transfer models. The J_HONO increased approximately linearly with increasing altitudes and the noontime averages value of J_HONO near the ground were 6.68 × 10^-4 s^-1, which was strongly negatively affected by aerosols in the morning and afternoon. The P(OH)_HONO profile varied in different months (November, December, January) that the changes were mainly affected by HONO and J_HONO. P(OH)_HONO was more positively affected by J_HONO at high altitude and noon but greatly influenced by HONO concentrations in the morning and afternoon.

Emission, transport, deposition, chemical and radiative impacts of mineral dust during severe dust storm periods in March 2021 over East Asia

A Regional Air Quality Model System (named RAQMS) coupled with a developed dust model driven by WRF was applied to synthetically investigate the emission, transport, deposition, budget, and chemical and radiative effects of mineral dust during the severe dust storm periods of 10-31 March 2021. Model results were validated against a variety of ground, vertical and satellite observations, which demonstrated a generally good model ability in reproducing meteorological variables, particulate matter and compositions, and aerosol optical properties. The first dust storm (DS1), which was the severest one since 2010 was originated from the Gobi Desert in southern Mongolia on 14 March, with the dust emission flux reaching 2785 μg m^-2 s^-1 and the maximum dust concentration exceeding 18,000 μg m^-3 in the dust deflation region. This dust storm resulted in remarkably high hourly PM₁₀ observations up to 7506 μg m^-3, 1887 μg m^-3, and 2704 μg m^-3 in Beijing, Tianjin, and Shijiazhuang on 15 March, respectively, and led to a maximum decrease in surface shortwave radiation up to 313.4 W m^-2 (72 %) in Beijing. The second dust storm (DS2) broke out in the deserts of eastern Mongolia, with lower dust emission than the first one. The extinction of shortwave radiation by dust aerosols led to a reduction in photolysis rate and consequently decreases in O₃ and secondary aerosol concentrations over the North China Plain (NCP), whereas total sulfate and nitrate concentrations consistently increased due to heterogeneous reactions on dust surfaces over the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the NCP region during DS1. Sulfate and nitrate formation through heterogeneous reactions were enhanced in the dust backflow on 16-17 March by approximately 18 % and 24 % on average in the NCP. Heterogeneous reactions and photolysis rate reduction by mineral dust jointly led to average changes in sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) concentrations by 13.0 %, 13.5 %, -12.3 %, and -4.4 %, respectively, in the NCP region during DS1, larger than the changes in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). The maximum dry deposition settled in the 7-11 μm size range in downwind land and ocean areas, while wet deposition peaked in the 4.7-7 μm size range in the entire domain. Wet deposition was approximately twice the dry deposition over mainland China except for dust source regions. During 10-31 March, the total dust emission, dry and wet depositions were estimated to be 31.4 Tg, 13.78 Tg and 4.75 Tg, respectively, with remaining 12.87 Tg of dust aerosols (41 % of the dust emission) suspending in the atmosphere or transporting to other continents and oceans.

The formation and evolution of secondary organic aerosol during haze events in Beijing in wintertime

A regional air quality model system (RAQMS) with a volatility basis set approach for secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation and an emission inventory of semi-volatile (SVOC) and intermediate volatile organic compounds (IVOC) are applied to investigate the distribution and evolution of organic aerosols over the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region in winter 2014, with focus on Beijing. Model validation demonstrates the model is capable of reproducing meteorological variables and major aerosol components, and the model significantly improves SOA and organic aerosol (OA) simulations by taking S/IVOCs (SVOC + IVOC) and relevant aging processes into account. SVOC and IVOC emissions in the BTH region are estimated to be 0.47 Tg and in a range of 0.09-0.36 Tg, respectively, which are about 18% and 4-14% of the emission amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The distribution of mean organic aerosols is characterized by a high concentration belt oriented southwest-northeast from southern Hebei to Beijing, with the maximum concentration up to 50 μg m^-3 in Beijing and Shijiazhuang. The simulated SOA concentration is comparable in magnitude to primary organic aerosol (POA) concentration, and the SOA/OA ratio is around 50% in most areas of the BTH region. In terms of domain average, the percentage contributions to SOA mass concentration from anthropogenic volatile organic compounds (AVOCs), SVOCs, IVOCs and biogenic VOCs are estimated to be 46.1%, 40.1%, 9.4% and 4.4%, respectively, in the BTH region during the study period, which indicates an important role of S/IVOCs in SOA formation. From clean to haze periods, both POA and SOA concentrations apparently increase, with an increasing (decreasing) trend of the SOA/OA (POA/OA) ratio. SOA dominates over POA in fine organic aerosols during the haze periods. The increase of POA in hazy days is mainly due to the weakened vertical diffusion and accumulation near the surface, whereas the increase of SOA is likely attributed to both the reduced diffusivity and a series of competing chemical processes, in which the decreased photolysis rate by aerosol attenuation tends to decrease SOA concentration by about 6% during the most severe haze day, whereas the lower surface air temperature and higher POA and S/IVOC concentrations in haze days both enhance gas to particle partition, and consequently lead to higher SOA concentration.