Nitrate radicals and biogenic volatile organic compounds: oxidation, mechanisms, and organic aerosol

Oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) by the nitrate radical (NO3) represents one of the important interactions between anthropogenic emissions related to combustion and natural emissions from the biosphere. This interaction has been recognized for more than 3 decades, during which time a large body of research has emerged from laboratory, field, and modeling studies. NO3-BVOC reactions influence air quality, climate and visibility through regional and global budgets for reactive nitrogen (particularly organic nitrates), ozone, and organic aerosol. Despite its long history of research and the significance of this topic in atmospheric chemistry, a number of important uncertainties remain. These include an incomplete understanding of the rates, mechanisms, and organic aerosol yields for NO3-BVOC reactions, lack of constraints on the role of heterogeneous oxidative processes associated with the NO3 radical, the difficulty of characterizing the spatial distributions of BVOC and NO3 within the poorly mixed nocturnal atmosphere, and the challenge of constructing appropriate boundary layer schemes and non-photochemical mechanisms for use in state-of-the-art chemical transport and chemistry-climate models.

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Author Ng, N. L.
Brown, S. S.
Archibald, A. T.
Atlas, E.
Cohen, R. C.
Crowley, J. N.
Day, D. A.
Donahue, N. M.
Fry, J. L.
Fuchs, H.
Griffin, R. J.
Guzman, M. I.
Herrmann, H.
Hodzic, Alma
Iinuma, Y.
Jimenez, J. L.
Kiendler-Scharr, A.
Lee, B. H.
Luecken, D. J.
Mao, J.
McLaren, R.
Mutzel, A.
Osthoff, H. D.
Ouyang, B.
Picquet-Varrault, B.
Platt, U.
Pye, H. O. T.
Rudich, Y.
Schwantes, R. H.
Shiraiwa, M.
Stutz, J.
Thornton, J. A.
Tilgner, A.
Williams, B. J.
Zaveri, R. A.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2017-02-13T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
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Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2025-07-11T19:51:25.249914
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:19610
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Ng, N. L., Brown, S. S., Archibald, A. T., Atlas, E., Cohen, R. C., Crowley, J. N., Day, D. A., Donahue, N. M., Fry, J. L., Fuchs, H., Griffin, R. J., Guzman, M. I., Herrmann, H., Hodzic, Alma, Iinuma, Y., Jimenez, J. L., Kiendler-Scharr, A., Lee, B. H., Luecken, D. J., Mao, J., McLaren, R., Mutzel, A., Osthoff, H. D., Ouyang, B., Picquet-Varrault, B., Platt, U., Pye, H. O. T., Rudich, Y., Schwantes, R. H., Shiraiwa, M., Stutz, J., Thornton, J. A., Tilgner, A., Williams, B. J., Zaveri, R. A.. (2017). Nitrate radicals and biogenic volatile organic compounds: oxidation, mechanisms, and organic aerosol. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7d220f4. Accessed 24 August 2025.

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