Quantitative Infrared Absorption Spectra and Vibrational Assignments of Crotonaldehyde and Methyl Vinyl Ketone Using Gas-Phase Mid-Infrared, Far-Infrared, and Liquid Raman Spectra: s-cis vs s-trans Composition Confirmed via Temperature Studies and ab Initio Methods.

Methyl vinyl ketone (MVK) and crotonaldehyde are chemical isomers; both are also important species in tropospheric chemistry. We report quantitative vapor-phase infrared spectra of crotonaldehyde and MVK vapors over the 540-6500 cm range. Vibrational assignments of all fundamental modes are made for both molecules on the basis of far- and mid-infrared vapor-phase spectra, liquid Raman spectra, along with density functional theory and ab initio MP2 and high energy-accuracy compound theoretical models (W1BD).

Assignment of the Fundamental Modes of Hydroxyacetone Using Gas-Phase Infrared, Far-Infrared, Raman, and ab Initio Methods: Band Strengths for Atmospheric Measurements.

Hydroxyacetone (acetol) is a simple organic molecule of interest in both the astrophysical and atmospheric communities. It has recently been observed in biomass burning events and is a known degradation product of isoprene oxidation. However, its vibrational assignment has never been fully completed, and few quantitative data are available for its detection via infrared spectroscopy.

Multiscale observations of CO2, 13CO2, and pollutants at Four Corners for emission verification and attribution.

There is a pressing need to verify air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from anthropogenic fossil energy sources to enforce current and future regulations. We demonstrate the feasibility of using simultaneous remote sensing observations of column abundances of CO2, CO, and NO2 to inform and verify emission inventories. We report, to our knowledge, the first ever simultaneous column enhancements in CO2 (3-10 ppm) and NO2 (1-3 Dobson Units), and evidence of δ(13)CO2 depletion in an urban region with two large coal-fired power plants with distinct scrubbing technologies that have resulted in ∆NOx/∆CO2 emission ratios that differ by a factor of two.