HR: 08:30h
AN: A21B-03    [PDF]
TI: Biomass Burning versus Fossil Fuel Combustion Signatures of Air Masses Transported from Asia to the U.S. West Coast during ITCT2k2
AU: * de Gouw, J
EM: jdegouw@al.noaa.gov
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Cooper, O
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Warneke, C
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Hudson, P
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Brock, C
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Fehsenfeld, F
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Holloway, J
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Huebler, G
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Murphy, D
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Nowak, J
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory and CIRES, University of Colorado, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Parrish, D
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Ryerson, T
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Trainer, M
AF: NOAA Aeronomy Laboratory, 325 Broadway R/AL7, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Atlas, E
AF: NCAR, PO Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AB: The goal of the Intercontinental Transport and Chemical Transformation experiment in 2002 (ITCT2k2) was to study the transport of air pollution from Asia across the Pacific Ocean, and the implications for the background atmospheric composition at the surface in North America. During research flights of the NOAA WP-3 research aircraft on May 5 and 17, strong enhancements of carbon monoxide (CO) and other species were observed in air masses that had been transported from Asia in the free troposphere to North America. The hydrocarbon composition of the air masses indicated that the highest CO levels were related to fossil fuel use. During the flights on May 5, 17 and other days, the levels of several biomass-burning indicators increased with altitude. This was true for acetonitrile (CH$_3$CN), methyl chloride (CH$_3$Cl), the ratio of acetylene (C$_2$H$_2$) versus propane (C$_3$H$_8$), and the percentage of particles measured by the PALMS (particle analysis by laser mass spectrometry) instrument that were attributed to biomass burning based on their carbon and potassium content. An ensemble of back-trajectories, calculated from the U.S. west coast at various latitudes and pressures during the entire ITCT2k2 period, showed that air masses from South-East Asia and China were generally transported at higher altitudes than air from Japan and Korea. Emission inventories estimate the contribution of biomass burning to the total emissions to be low for Japan and Korea, higher for China, and the highest for South-East Asia. Combined with the origin of the air masses versus altitude determined by the back-trajectories, this explains the measured altitude profiles of the biomass burning indicators.
DE: 0345 Pollution--urban and regional (0305)
DE: 0365 Troposphere--composition and chemistry
DE: 0368 Troposphere--constituent transport and chemistry
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting