1. Atmospheric formaldehyde, glyoxal and their relations to ozone pollution under low- and high-NOx regimes in summertime Shanghai, China.
- Author
-
Guo, Yanlin, Wang, Shanshan, Zhu, Jian, Zhang, Ruifeng, Gao, Song, Saiz-Lopez, Alfonso, and Zhou, Bin
- Subjects
- *
OZONE , *TROPOSPHERIC ozone , *TRACE gases , *FORMALDEHYDE , *SUMMER , *VOLATILE organic compounds , *POLLUTION , *GLYOXAL - Abstract
With the increasing concerns on summertime atmospheric photochemical pollution, the diagnosis and prevention of ozone pollution have been paid close attention. Both formaldehyde (HCHO) and glyoxal (CHOCHO) are ubiquitous oxidation intermediates of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The ratio of glyoxal to formaldehyde (R GF) is used as a metric for VOCs emission sources. In this study, the mixing ratios of HCHO and CHOCHO have been measured by the active differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) method in the urban area of Shanghai during summertime in 2018, as well as other trace gases. The average levels of HCHO and CHOCHO are 3.31 ± 1.43 ppbv and 0.164 ± 0.073 ppbv, respectively. The similar diurnal patterns and high correlation between HCHO, CHOCHO and ozone levels implied that daytime photochemical processes are the dominant formation pathway for these trace gases. We find that with increased NO x levels, HCHO shows higher ozone formation potential relative to glyoxal. The R GF ratio increases with temperature and decreases with NO 2 levels. By investigating the coupling of typical VOCs species such as acetylene, toluene and isoprene with HCHO and CHOCHO, R GF is found to be strongly impacted by the ambient VOCs profiles, suggesting that R GF should be used with caution when linking it to a given VOC precursor source. Finally, the R GF variations with ozone pollution episodes and weather processes are also discussed. • Ambient HCHO and CHOCHO were observed by active DOAS technique. • HCHO and CHOCHO show the dominant pathway of photochemical formation during daytime. • With increased NOx levels, ozone formation potential of HCHO higher than CHOCHO. • CHOCHO to HCHO Ratio (R GF) increases with temperature and decreases with NO 2 levels. • R GF is strongly impacted by the VOCs profiles and should be used with caution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2021
- Full Text
- View/download PDF