Chemical characteristics and ozone production in the Northern Colorado Front Range

We use the extensive set of aircraft and ground-based observations from the NSF/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) and State of Colorado Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry experiment and the NASA DISCOVER-AQ experiments in summer 2014 together with the regional chemical transport model Weather Research and Forecast Model with Chemistry (WRF-Chem) to study the ozone production and chemical regimes in the Northern Colorado Front Range (NFR). We apply the model's Integrated Reaction Rate capability and chemical tendencies diagnostics and present results from an in-depth analysis of the ozone formation in various NFR regions for a case study of 12 August 2014. We further apply these diagnostics along a WRF online trajectory to assess the chemical evolution of an airmass during transport. The results show efficient ozone production within the NFR driven by the availability of NOx and an abundance of highly reactive volatile organic compound and also continued ozone production during the transport into the mountains. We identify CO, formaldehyde, higher alkanes, acetaldehyde, and isoprene among the volatile organic compound species with the highest efficiency in ozone production. Formaldehyde and acetaldehyde concentrations in the NFR have a significant contribution from photochemical production, which in turn is linked back to methane oxidation and to emissions of higher alkanes, isoprene, ethane, and propane. This study provides valuable policy information into the chemical fingerprint of surface ozone in the NFR, an area that is in nonattainment of the U.S. EPA ozone health standards and demonstrates the capability of the newly added diagnostic tool in WRF-Chem to address the drivers behind secondary production of pollutants in greater detail.