HR: 09:00h
AN: A41F-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Airborne Formaldehyde Measurements Onboard the NCAR C-130 Aircraft During the 2006 MIRAGE Campaign Using a Difference Frequency Spectrometer
AU: * Weibring, P
EM: weibring@ucar.edu
AF: Earth Observing Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3450 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301, United States
AU: Walega, J G
EM: walega@ucar.edu
AF: Earth Observing Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3450 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301, United States
AU: Richter, D
EM: dr@ucar.edu
AF: Earth Observing Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3450 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301, United States
AU: Fried, A
EM: fried@ucar.edu
AF: Earth Observing Laboratory, National Center for Atmospheric Research, 3450 Mitchell Lane, Boulder, CO 80301, United States
AB: The 2006 MIRAGE-Mex (Megacity Impacts on Regional and Global Environments – Mexico City case study) campaign was designed to improve our understanding of chemical transformations involving photo-oxidation intermediates produced in aging plumes downwind of major tropical megacities such as Mexico City. Formaldehyde (CH2O) is one such key intermediate involved in a number of important atmospheric processes. Despite extensive air quality measurements of this and other gases in Mexico City, there is very little information about CH2O distributions and formation downwind in the surrounding areas. This talk will present CH2O mixing ratios, acquired by a newly developed airborne infrared absorption spectrometer operated onboard NCAR's C- 130 aircraft during the MIRAGE-Mex campaign. This spectrometer employed an infrared difference frequency generation laser source. Airborne CH2O distributions and correlations with other reactive intermediates over a wide geographic range over Mexico will be presented. Comparisons and contrasts with results from other major metropolitan areas will also be discussed.
DE: 0365 Troposphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0368 Troposphere: constituent transport and chemistry
DE: 0394 Instruments and techniques
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting