HR: 17:15h
AN: A54C-06    [Abstracts]
TI: Vertical Profiles of Carbonyl Sulfide, Halocarbons, and Benzene Over North America
AU: * Montzka, S A
EM: Stephen.A.Montzka@noaa.gov
AF: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway ms: R/CMDL1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Calvert, P
EM: Paul.Calvert@noaa.gov
AF: CIRES, University of Colorado Campus Box 216, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Hall, B
EM: Bradley.Hall@noaa.gov
AF: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway ms: R/CMDL1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Elkins, J W
EM: James.W.Elkins@noaa.gov
AF: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway ms: R/CMDL1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AU: Miller, L
EM: Lloyd.Miller@noaa.gov
AF: Science Technology Corporation, 10 Basil Sawyer Drive, Hampton, VA 23666 United States
AU: Watson, A
EM: Aaron.Watson@noaa.gov
AF: CIRES, University of Colorado Campus Box 216, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Sweeney, C
EM: Colm.Sweeney@noaa.gov
AF: CIRES, University of Colorado Campus Box 216, Boulder, CO 80309 United States
AU: Tans, P
EM: Pieter.Tans@noaa.gov
AF: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway ms: R/CMDL1, Boulder, CO 80305 United States
AB: A NOAA sampling program to measure vertical profiles of CO{_2}, CH{_4}, N{_2}O, and other gases within the lower atmosphere has been expanded to allow measurements of carbonyl sulfide (COS), CFCs, HCFCs, HFCs, chlorocarbons, bromocarbons, methyl iodide, and benzene. Bimonthly to monthly profiles for these gases have been obtained since September 2004 from flasks collected onboard aircraft at altitudes up to 8 km above sea level at 10 continental and 2 coastal sites in North America. The wide range of gases being measured aid in identifying many different influences on sampled air, such as combustion, input from the oceans, urban emissions, non-urban terrestrial emissions, uptake by vegetation and soils, and vertical mixing. Based upon co-elevated mixing ratios of halocarbons and carbon monoxide or halocarbons and C{_2}Cl{_4}, we anticipate that this sampling program has the potential to provide continental-scale emissions estimates for non-CO{_2} gases that are currently regulated, for example by the Clean Air Act and the Montreal Protocol of Substance that Deplete the Ozone Layer, and for gases listed in the Kyoto Protocol that may be regulated in the future. In addition to the observation of urban pollution and burning plumes, strong and persistent vertical gradients have been observed that vary with season for COS, methyl halides, and chloroform. The results for COS are particularly dramatic, as they show substantially reduced mixing ratios in the continental boundary layer during the growing season. The spatial patterns and seasonality are qualitatively consistent with uptake of COS by photosynthetically active vegetation, though the relative importance of COS loss to soils is poorly constrained. These results will be compared to NOAA ground-based measurements that show strong seasonal variations for COS that are closely tied to those observed for CO{_2}, and the implications of these results on the hypothesis that COS could provide a proxy for gross vegetative carbon assimilation will be discussed.
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0426 Biosphere/atmosphere interactions (0315)
DE: 0488 Sulfur cycling
DE: 0490 Trace gases
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005