Affiliation:
1. Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093–0314, USA.
Abstract
Hydroxyl radicals are often called the “detergent” of the atmosphere because they control the atmosphere's capacity to cleanse itself of pollutants. Here, we show that the reaction of electronically excited nitrogen dioxide with water can be an important source of tropospheric hydroxyl radicals. Using measured rate data, along with available solar flux and atmospheric mixing ratios, we demonstrate that the tropospheric hydroxyl contribution from this source can be a substantial fraction (50%) of that from the traditional O(
1
D) + H
2
O reaction in the boundary-layer region for high solar zenith angles. Inclusion of this chemistry is expected to affect modeling of urban air quality, where the interactions of sunlight with emitted NO
x
species, volatile organic compounds, and hydroxyl radicals are central in determining the rate of ozone formation.
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Cited by
243 articles.
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