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We report airborne measurements of acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) during the first and second deployments of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Atmospheric Tomography Mission (ATom). The budget of CH3CHO is examined using the Community Atmospheric Model with chemistry (CAM-chem), with a newly-developed online air-sea exchange module. The upper limit of the global ocean net emission of CH3CHO is estimated to be 34 Tg a-1 (42 Tg a-1 if considering bubble-mediated transfer), and the ocean impacts on tropospheric CH3CHO are mostly confined to the marine boundary layer. Our analysis suggests that there is an unaccounted CH3CHO source in the remote troposphere and that organic aerosols can only provide a fraction of this missing source. We propose that peroxyacetic acid (PAA) is an ideal indicator of the rapid CH3CHO production in the remote troposphere. The higher-than-expected CH3CHO measurements represent a missing sink of hydroxyl radicals (and halogen radical) in current chemistry-climate models.

We present a new method for analyzing the [delta][sup.13]C isotopic composition of several oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) from direct sources and ambient atmospheric samples. Guided by the requirements for analysis of trace components in air, a gas chromatograph isotope ratio mass spectrometer (GC-IRMS) system was developed with the goal of increasing sensitivity, reducing dead-volume and peak band broadening, optimizing combustion and water removal, and decreasing the split ratio to the isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS). The technique relies on a two-stage preconcentration system, a low-volume capillary reactor and water trap, and a balanced reference gas delivery system. The instrument's measurement precision is 0.6 to 2.9[per thousand] (1[sigma]), and results indicate that negligible sample fractionation occurs during gas sampiing. Measured [delta][sup.13]C values have a minor dependence on sample size; linearity for acetone was 0.06[per thousand] ng [C.sup.-1] and was best over 1 - 10 ng C. Sensitivity is ~10 times greater than similar instrumentation designs, incorporates the use of a diluted working reference gas (0.1% C[O.sub.2]), and requires collection of >0.7 ng C to produce accurate and precise results. With this detection limit, a 1.0 L sample of ambient air provides sufficient carbon for isotopic analysis. Emissions from vegetation and vehicle exhaust are compared and show clear differences in isotopic signatures. Ambient samples collected in metropolitan Miami and the Everglades National Park can be differentiated and reflect multiple sources and sinks affecting a single sampling location. Vehicle exhaust emissions of ethanol, and those collected in metropolitan Miami, have anomalously enriched [delta][sup.13]C values ranging from -5.0 to -17.2[per thousand]; we attribute this result to ethanol's origin from corn and use as an additive in automotive fuels. 10.1021/ac1007442

An integrated method for near-continuous profiling of non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC) and other volatile organic compounds was developed as a means of measuring NMHCs, which are precursor compounds for the formation of tropospheric ozone. The study is important for the enforcement of the EPA's control measures for ozone levels under the Clean Air Act. The method involved sampling ambient air up to 55 minutes/hour. Time-integrated samples are analyzed using cryotapping and cryofocusing steps to yield chromatograms via flame ionization or mass selective detection. Use of the method in a semi-urban site demonstrated its ability to detect predominant NMHCs.

Summary [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethanol is currently receiving increased attention because of its use as a biofuel or fuel additive and because of its influence on air quality. We used stable isotopic ratio measurements of (13)C/(12)C in ethanol emitted from vehicles and a small group of tropical plants to establish ethanol's δ(13)C end-member signatures. Ethanol emitted in exhaust is distinctly different from that emitted by tropical plants and can serve as a unique stable isotopic tracer for transportation-related inputs to the atmosphere. Ethanol's unique isotopic signature in fuel is related to corn, a C4 plant and the primary source of ethanol in the U.S. We estimated a kinetic isotope effect (KIE) for ethanol's oxidative loss in the atmosphere and used previous assumptions with respect to the fractionation that may occur during wet and dry deposition. A small number of interpretive model calculations were used for source apportionment of ethanol and to understand the associated effects resulting from atmospheric removal. The models incorporated our end-member signatures and ambient measurements of ethanol, known or estimated source strengths and removal magnitudes, and estimated KIEs associated with atmospheric removal processes for ethanol. We compared transportation-related ethanol signatures to those from biogenic sources and used a set of ambient measurements to apportion each source contribution in Miami, Florida-a moderately polluted, but well ventilated urban location.