Tropospheric ozone

QSAR prediction of ozone tropospheric degradation. Quant. Struct.-Act. Relat. 2003, 22, 364-373. 

The Photochemical Activity and solar Ultraviolet Radiation (PAUR I) and Photochemical Activity and solar Ultraviolet Radiation Modulation Factors (PAUR II) projects had the aim of studying various aspects of ultraviolet radiation and photochemistry interrelationships. PAUR I aimed at studying the interrelationships between total ozone, UV-B radiation, aerosol load, air pollutants, photodissociation rates of N02 and 03 and tropospheric ozone. PAUR II has the aim of studying the interactions between UV-B, total ozone, tropospheric ozone and photochemical activity in the presence of alternating maritime and Saharan aerosols. The present paper presents the main concepts underlying the two projects, the approach followed and a brief overview of some of the results obtained so far. Further, the main results of PAUR I that are relevant to tropospheric ozone chemistry over the Eastern Mediterranean are presented. 

At this point it is worth distinguishing between good and bad ozone. Tropospheric ozone occurs from 0 to 10 miles above the earth s surface, and is harmful. Stratospheric ozone, located about 30 miles above the earth s surface, is responsible for filtering out incoming UV radiation and thus is beneficial. It is the decrease in the stratospheric ozone layer that has been of much concern recently. It is estimated that a 1% decrease in stratospheric ozone will increase the amount of UV radiation reaching the earth s... 

Butane, Environmental Chamber, Mechanisms, Modelling, Ozone, Troposphere... 

The primary purpose of NO, controls under Title I is to reduce ambient concentrations of ozone. Tropospheric ozone pollution occurs at ground level and is the major component of urban smog. Ozone is a secondary pollutant formed in the atmosphere by reactions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and NO, in the presence of sunlight. The EPA established a national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for ozone in order to protect the public health and welfare. After two decades of efforts to reduce ozone concentrations, primarily through reductions in emissions of VOCs, tropospheric ozone remains a widespread and important problem. A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences and EPA concludes that NO. control is necessary for effective reduction of ozone in many areas. 

Example of an analysis of exhaust gas by gas phase chromatography and j relative reactivity of effluents with respect to tropospheric ozone formation. I... 

R is hydrogen, alkenyl, or alkyne. In remote tropospheric air where NO concentrations ate sometimes quite low, HO2 radicals can react with ozone (HO2 + O3 — HO + 2 O2) and result in net ozone destmction rather than formation. The ambient ozone concentration depends on cloud cover, time of day and year, and geographical location. 

Ait Quality Criteria for Ozone and Related Photochemical Oxidants. Volume 1.3. Tropospheric Ozone and Its Precursors. Research Triangle Park, NC F.PA (1996). http //www.epa.gov.ncc.i/ ozone.htm. 

About 51 percent of solar energy incident at the top of the atmosphere reaches Earth s surface. Energetic solar ultraviolet radiation affects the chemistry of the atmosphere, especially the stratosphere where, through a series of photochemical reactions, it is responsible for the creation of ozone (O,). Ozone in the stratosphere absorbs most of the short-wave solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, and some long-wave infrared radiation. Water vapor and carbon dioxide in the troposphere also absorb infrared radiation. 

A representation of the stratospheric system that shields terrestrial life from excessive solar ultraviolet radiation is presented in Figure 4. Our primary concern is the decrease of stratospheric ozone, most striking in the Antarctic, which has been linked to increases in CFCs from the troposphere, and the possible increased transport of these compounds between the stratosphere and the troposphere by increased temperature driven circulation. 

This process does not lead to net ozone depletion because it is rapidly followed by reaction 2, which regenerates the ozone. Reactions 2 and 3 have, however, another important function, namely the absorption of solar energy as a result, the temperature increases with altitude, and this inverted temperature profile gives rise to the stratosphere (see Figure 1). In the lower layer, the troposphere, the temperature decreases with altitude and vertical mixing occurs on a relatively short time scale. In contrast, the stratosphere is very stable towards vertical mixing because of its inverted temperature profile. 

In addition to reactions with HO, tropospheric organic compounds may be oxidized by ozone (via ozonation of non-aromatic carbon/carbon double bonds, Atkinson 1990) and in some cases by reaction with nitrate radical, described below. Table I gives representative trace-gas removal rates for these three processes. In spite of these competing reactions, HO largely serves as... 

Existence of the PSS was predicted theoretically by Leighton (61), and experimental studies of this relationship date back almost 20 years. These experiments have been accomplished in smog chambers (62), polluted urban air (63,64,65), rural environments (66), and in the free troposphere (67). The goal of these experiments has been to verify that our understanding of NOjj chemistry is fundamentally correct, and to ver the role of H02 and R02 in ozone formation. Studies in polluted air seem to confirm the dominance... 

Oxidant Formation. The role of HO. in controlling the time-scale and severity of tropospheric oxidant pollution may be seen from the parameterization of O Brien and co-workers (75,76). The simplest possible mechanism for oxidant (Le. ozone, PAN, H2O2, etc.) formation consists simply of the reaction of an individual NNlHCj with HO. to convert the NMHCj to a generic product(s) PRODj, followed by removal of the product by HO. (PROD photolysis may be important, but is ignored here)... 

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