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International audience; Data from a recent field campaign in Mexico City are used to evaluate the performance of the EPA Federal Reference Method for monitoring the ambient concentrations of NO2. Measurements of NO2 from standard chemiluminescence monitors equipped with molybdenum oxide converters are compared with those from Tunable Infrared Laser Differential Absorption Spectroscopy (TILDAS) and Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) instruments. A significant interference in the chemiluminescence measurement is shown to account for up to 50% of ambient NO2 concentration during afternoon hours. As expected, this interference correlates well with non-NOx reactive nitrogen species (NOz) as well as with ambient O3 concentrations, indicating a photochemical source for the interfering species. A combination of ambient gas phase nitric acid and alkyl and multifunctional alkyl nitrates is deduced to be the primary cause of the interference. Observations at four locations at varying proximities to emission sources indicate that the percentage contribution of HNO3 to the interference decreases with time as the air parcel ages. Alkyl and multifunctional alkyl nitrate concentrations are calculated to reach concentrations as high as several ppb inside the city, on par with the highest values previously observed in other urban locations. Averaged over the MCMA-2003 field campaign, the chemiluminescence monitor interference resulted in an average measured NO2 concentration up to 22% greater than that from co-located spectroscopic measurements. Thus, this interference has the potential to initiate regulatory action in areas that are close to non-attainment and may mislead atmospheric photochemical models used to assess control strategies for photochemical oxidants.

From June to July 2009 more than thirty different in-situ and remote sensing instruments from all over the world participated in the Cabauw Intercomparison campaign for Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI). The campaign took place at KNMI's Cabauw Experimental Site for Atmospheric Research (CESAR) in the Netherlands. Its main objectives were to determine the accuracy of state-of-the-art ground-based measurement techniques for the detection of atmospheric nitrogen dioxide (both in-situ and remote sensing), and to investigate their usability in satellite data validation. The expected outcomes are recommendations regarding the operation and calibration of such instruments, retrieval settings, and observation strategies for the use in ground-based networks for air quality monitoring and satellite data validation. Twenty-four optical spectrometers participated in the campaign, of which twenty-one had the capability to scan different elevation angles consecutively, the so-called Multi-axis DOAS systems, thereby collecting vertical profile information, in particular for nitrogen dioxide and aerosol. Various in-situ samplers and lidar instruments simultaneously characterized the variability of atmospheric trace gases and the physical properties of aerosol particles. A large data set of continuous measurements of these atmospheric constituents has been collected under various meteorological conditions and air pollution levels. Together with the permanent measurement capability at the CESAR site characterizing the meteorological state of the atmosphere, the CINDI campaign provided a comprehensive observational data set of atmospheric constituents in a highly polluted region of the world during summertime. First detailed comparisons performed with the CINDI data show that slant column measurements of NO2, O4 and HCHO with MAX-DOAS agree within 5 to 15%, vertical profiles of NO2 derived from several independent instruments agree within 25% of one another, and MAX-DOAS aerosol optical thickness agrees within 20–30% with AERONET data. For the in-situ NO2 instrument using a molybdenum converter, a bias was found as large as 5 ppbv during day time, when compared to the other in-situ instruments using photolytic converters.

International audience; In June 2009, 22 spectrometers from 14 institutes measured tropospheric and stratospheric NO2 from the ground for more than 11 days during the Cabauw Intercomparison Campaign of Nitrogen Dioxide measuring Instruments (CINDI), at Cabauw, NL (51.97° N, 4.93° E). All visible instruments used a common wavelength range and set of cross sections for the spectral analysis. Most of the instruments were of the multi-axis design with analysis by differential spectroscopy software (MAX-DOAS), whose non-zenith slant columns were compared by examining slopes of their least-squares straight line fits to mean values of a selection of instruments, after taking 30-min averages. Zenith slant columns near twilight were compared by fits to interpolated values of a reference instrument, then normalised by the mean of the slopes of the best instruments. For visible MAX-DOAS instruments, the means of the fitted slopes for NO2 and O4 of all except one instrument were within 10% of unity at almost all non-zenith elevations, and most were within 5%. Values for UV MAX-DOAS instruments were almost as good, being 12% and 7%, respectively. For visible instruments at zenith near twilight, the means of the fitted slopes of all instruments were within 5% of unity. This level of agreement is as good as that of previous intercomparisons, despite the site not being ideal for zenith twilight measurements. It bodes well for the future of measurements of tropospheric NO2, as previous intercomparisons were only for zenith instruments focussing on stratospheric NO2, with their longer heritage.

International audience; Exploratory field measurements in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) in February 2002 set the stage for a major air quality field measurement campaign in the spring of 2003 (MCMA-2003). Involving over 100 scientists from more than 30 institutions in Mexico, the United States and Europe, MCMA-2003 revealed important new insights into the meteorology, primary pollutant emissions, ambient secondary pollutant precursor concentrations, photochemical oxidant production and secondary aerosol particle formation in North America's most populated and polluted megacity. A description of meteorological and atmospheric chemistry and aerosol microphysics measurements performed during MCMA-2003 is presented. More than 40 published or submitted MCMA-2003 research papers are reviewed and key discoveries pertinent to understanding and improving air quality in Mexico City and similar megacities in the developing world are summarized.

A wide array of volatile organic compound (VOC) measurements was conducted in the Valley of Mexico during the MCMA-2002 and 2003 field campaigns. Study sites included locations in the urban core, in a heavily industrial area and at boundary sites in rural landscapes. In addition, a novel mobile-laboratory-based conditional sampling method was used to collect samples dominated by fresh on-road vehicle exhaust to identify those VOCs whose ambient concentrations were primarily due to vehicle emissions. Five distinct analytical techniques were used: whole air canister samples with Gas Chromatography/Flame Ionization Detection (GC-FID), on-line chemical ionization using a Proton Transfer Reaction Mass Spectrometer (PTR-MS), continuous real-time detection of olefins using a Fast Olefin Sensor (FOS), and long path measurements using UV Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometers (DOAS). The simultaneous use of these techniques provided a wide range of individual VOC measurements with different spatial and temporal scales. The VOC data were analyzed to understand concentration and spatial distributions, diurnal patterns, origin and reactivity in the atmosphere of Mexico City. The VOC burden (in ppbC) was dominated by alkanes (60%), followed by aromatics (15%) and olefins (5%). The remaining 20% was a mix of alkynes, halogenated hydrocarbons, oxygenated species (esters, ethers, etc.) and other unidentified VOCs. However, in terms of ozone production, olefins were the most relevant hydrocarbons. Elevated levels of toxic hydrocarbons, such as 1,3-butadiene, benzene, toluene and xylenes were also observed. Results from these various analytical techniques showed that vehicle exhaust is the main source of VOCs in Mexico City and that diurnal patterns depend on vehicular traffic. Finally, examination of the VOC data in terms of lumped modeling VOC classes and its comparison to the VOC lumped emissions reported in other photochemical air quality modeling studies suggests that some, but not all, VOC classes are underestimated in the emissions inventory by factors of 1.1 to 3.

International audience; The performance of the EPA Federal Equivalent Method (FEM) technique for monitoring ambient concentrations of O3 via ultraviolet absorption (UV) has been evaluated using data from the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA-2003) field campaign. Comparisons of UV O3 monitors with open path Differential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) and open path Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy instruments in two locations revealed average discrepancies in the measured concentrations of +13% to ?10%. Excellent agreement of two separate open path DOAS measurements at one location indicated that spatial and temporal inhomogeneities were not substantially influencing comparisons of the point sampling and open path instruments. The poor agreement between the UV O3 monitors and the open path instruments was attributed to incorrect calibration factors for the UV monitors, although interferences could not be completely ruled out. Applying a linear correction to these calibration factors results in excellent agreement of the UV O3 monitors with the co-located open path measurements; regression slopes were 0.94 to 1.04 and associated R2 values were >0.89. A third UV O3 monitor suffered from large spurious interferences, which were attributed to extinction of UV radiation within the monitor by fine particles (3 monitors and recommendations for future testing are made.

We review the standard nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data product (Version 1.0.), which is based on measurements made in the spectral region 415–465 nm by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on the NASA Earth Observing System-Aura satellite. A number of ground- and aircraft-based measurements have been used to validate the data product's three principal quantities: stratospheric, tropospheric, and total NO2 column densities under nearly or completely cloud-free conditions. The validation of OMI NO2 is complicated by a number of factors, the greatest of which is that the OMI observations effectively average the NO2 over its field of view (minimum 340 km2), while a ground-based instrument samples at a single point. The tropospheric NO2 field is often very inhomogeneous, varying significantly over tens to hundreds of meters, and ranges from 1016 cm−2 over urban and industrial areas. Because of OMI's areal averaging, when validation measurements are made near NO2 sources the OMI measurements are expected to underestimate the ground-based, and this is indeed seen. Further, we use several different instruments, both new and mature, which might give inconsistent NO2 amounts; the correlations between nearby instruments is 0.8–0.9. Finally, many of the validation data sets are quite small and span a very short length of time; this limits the statistical conclusions that can be drawn from them. Despite these factors, good agreement is generally seen between the OMI and ground-based measurements, with OMI stratospheric NO2 underestimated by about 14% and total and tropospheric columns underestimated by 15–30%. Typical correlations between OMI NO2 and ground-based measurements are generally >0.6.