Using measurements from the NASA Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) experiment, we show that methyl peroxy nitrate (CH₃O₂NO₂) is present in concentrations of ~5 - 15 pptv in the springtime arctic upper troposphere. We investigate the regional and global effects of CH₃O₂NO₂ by including its chemistry in the GEOS-Chem 3-D global chemical transport model. We find that at temperatures below 240 K inclusion of CH₃O₂NO₂ chemistry results in decreases of up to ~20 % in NOx, ~20 % in N2O5, ~5 % in HNO₃, ~2 % in ozone, and increases in methyl hydrogen peroxide of up to ~14 %. Larger changes are observed in biomass burning plumes lofted to high altitude. Additionally, by sequestering NOx at low temperatures, CH₃O₂NO₂ decreases the cycling of HO₃ to OH, resulting in a larger upper tropospheric HO₃ to OH ratio. These results may impact some estimates of lightning NOx; sources as well as help explain differences between models and measurements of upper tropospheric composition.
