Flux measurements of volatile organic compounds from an urban landscape

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Read Full Article (file size: 223954 bytes) Cited by GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 32, L20802, doi:10.1029/2005GL023356, 2005 Flux measurements of volatile organic compounds from an urban landscape E. Velasco Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA B. Lamb Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA S. Pressley Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA E. Allwine Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA H. Westberg Laboratory for Atmospheric Research, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, USA B. T. Jobson Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA M. Alexander Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA P. Prazeller Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington, USA L. Molina Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA M. Molina Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA Abstract Direct measurements of volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions that include all sources in urban areas are a missing requirement to evaluate emission inventories and constrain current photochemical modelling practices. Here we demonstrate the use of micrometeorological techniques coupled with fast-response sensors to measure urban VOC fluxes from a neighbourhood of Mexico City, where the spatial variability of surface cover and roughness is high. Fluxes of olefins, methanol, acetone, toluene and C₂-benzenes were measured and compared with the local gridded emissions inventory. VOC fluxes exhibited a clear diurnal pattern with a strong relationship to vehicular traffic. Recent photochemical modelling results suggest that VOC emissions are significantly underestimated in Mexico City, but for the olefin class, toluene, C2-benzenes, and acetone fluxes measured in this work, the results show general agreement with the gridded emissions inventory. While these measurements do not address the full suite of VOC emissions, the comparison with the inventory suggests that other explanations may be needed to explain the photochemical modelling results. Received 27 April 2005; accepted 1 August 2005; published 19 October 2005. Index Terms: 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 0345 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251); 3307 Atmospheric Processes: Boundary layer processes; 3394 Atmospheric Processes: Instruments and techniques. Read Full Article (file size: 223954 bytes) Cited by Citation: Velasco, E., B. Lamb, S. Pressley, E. Allwine, H. Westberg, B. T. Jobson, M. Alexander, P. Prazeller, L. Molina, and M. Molina (2005), Flux measurements of volatile organic compounds from an urban landscape, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L20802, doi:10.1029/2005GL023356. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.

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