Nitrate and nitric acid on aerosol and boundary layer surfaces are temporary sinks in the cycling of nitrogen oxides in the atmosphere that represent a potentially important reservoir for sustained nitrogen oxide emissions over prolonged periods of time.  Despite a number of mechanistic studies over the years, there remain unresolved questions about how species such as nitrous acid can be formed from nitrate on surfaces. In this presentation we show how cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy and differential optical absorption spectroscopy techniques are used to obtain insights into the mechanism of nitrous acid fluxes from aqueous nitrate solutions irradiated in the actinic range.  The results are expected to improve the ability of models to capture ground-to-air or aerosol-to-air emissions of reactive nitrogen species to the atmosphere.

Mechanisms of nitrate photochemistry as probed by cavity-enhanced absorption spectroscopy

248th National Meeting (2014)

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