Direct observation of changing NO x lifetime in North American cities

Joshua L Laughner; Ronald C Cohen

doi:10.1126/science.aax6832

Direct observation of changing NO _x lifetime in North American cities

Science. 2019 Nov 8;366(6466):723-727. doi: 10.1126/science.aax6832.

Authors

Joshua L Laughner¹, Ronald C Cohen^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. rccohen@berkeley.edu.
³ Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.

Abstract

NO _x lifetime relates nonlinearly to its own concentration; therefore, by observing how NO _x lifetime changes with changes in its concentration, inferences can be made about the dominant chemistry occurring in an urban plume. We used satellite observations of NO₂ from a new high-resolution product to show that NO _x lifetime in approximately 30 North American cities has changed between 2005 and 2014 in a manner consistent with our understanding of NO _x chemistry.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants / analysis*
Air Pollution / analysis*
Cities
Environmental Monitoring
Nitric Oxide / analysis*
North America

Substances

Air Pollutants
Nitric Oxide

Grants and funding

NNX14AK89H/NASA/NASA/United States