Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) play a vital role in tropospheric ozone formation that controls the oxidative capacity of the troposphere. A total of 31 potential ozone precursor VOCs have been measured at a tropical rural site, Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCOVID-19 lockdown has given us an opportunity to investigate the pollutant concentrations in response to the restricted anthropogenic activities. The atmospheric concentration levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O) have been analysed for the periods during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdown in 2020 (25th March-31st May 2020) and during the partial lockdowns due to second wave in 2021 (25th March-15th June 2021) across India. The trace gas measurements from Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) and Atmosphere InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) satellites have been used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has led to the significant reductions in the pollutant levels across the globe. Several studies have been carried out for examining and quantifying the improvement in the air quality due to the reduction of the pollution at the surface. Unlike most of the studies carried out earlier on COVID-19 lockdown, this study investigates the role of the dynamics on the vertical distribution of the trace gases (Carbonmonoxide (CO), Water Vapor (WV) and Ozone (O)) over India in the Boundary Layer (BL), Middle Troposphere (MT) and Upper Troposphere (UT) during COVID-19 lockdown using satellite observations and re-analysis data products obtained during 2010-2020.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAccurate renditions of country-scale methane (CH) emissions are critical in understanding the regional CH budget and essential for adapting national climate mitigation policies to curtail the atmospheric build-up of this greenhouse gas with high warming potential. India housing 30% of the Asian population is currently appraised as a region of CH source based on the inventories. To date, there have not been many reported efforts to estimate the regional CH emissions using direct measurements of boundary layer CH concentrations at multiple locations over India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPhase-wise variations in different aerosol (BC, AOD, PM, PM and PM), radiation (direct and diffused) and trace gases (NO, NO, CO, O, SO, CO and CH) and their associated chemistry during the COVID-19 lockdown have been investigated over a tropical rural site Gadanki (13.5° N, 79.2° E), India.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEfforts to understand the chemical composition of Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL) in the Upper Troposphere Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) region have revealed the dominance of nitrates in the samples collected from ATAL layer during the recent balloon campaigns. Potential sources have been thought to be in-situ formation, convective uplift and long-range transport. Rainwater chemical composition consists water-soluble chemical ions that are wet scavenged during rain events and gives an indirect indication of lower atmospheric pollutants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFor the first time quantitative measurements of the hydroperoxyl radical (HO2) in a jet-stirred reactor were performed thanks to a new experimental setup involving fast sampling and near-infrared cavity ring-down spectroscopy at low pressure. The experiments were performed at atmospheric pressure and over a range of temperatures (550-900 K) with n-butane, the simplest hydrocarbon fuel exhibiting cool flame oxidation chemistry which represents a key process for the auto-ignition in internal combustion engines. The same technique was also used to measure H2O2, H2O, CH2O, and C2H4 under the same conditions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe excitation energy dependence of HO(2) radical formation from the 248 nm irradiation of four different aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, toluene, o-xylene, and mesitylene) in the presence of O(2) has been studied. HO(2) has been monitored at 6638.20 cm(-1) by cw-CRDS, and the formation of a short-lived, unidentified species, showing broad-band absorption around the HO(2) absorption line, has been observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAbsolute absorption cross sections for selected lines of the OH stretch overtone 2ν(1) of the cis-isomer of nitrous acid HONO have been measured in the range 6623.6-6645.6 cm(-1) using the continuous wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) technique.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe energy dependence of HO(2) radical formation from the irradiation of benzene (C(6)H(6)) in the presence of oxygen (O(2)) at 248 nm is studied. We investigate the origin of the HO(2) radicals, that is, whether they originate from the reaction of O(2) with products obtained by one- or two-photon excitation of C(6)H(6). The concentration-time profiles of HO(2) radicals are monitored by continuous-wave cavity ring-down spectroscopy (cw-CRDS) coupled to a laser photolysis reactor.
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