Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: We present global airborne observations of acetyl peroxynitrate (CH 3 C(O)OONO 2 , PAN) in the remote troposphere from the Atmospheric Tomography (ATom) campaign. These observations show that biomass burning is the dominant source of PAN in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). In the Northern Hemisphere, anthropogenic emissions from Asia and Europe also contribute significantly to PAN over the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Model simulations underestimate PAN in the lower troposphere, in part, due to the underestimation of local production driven by acetaldehyde oxidation and (the ratio of acetyl peroxy radicals reacting with NO 2 relative to other pathways). The significant impacts of biomass burning evident in the ATom PAN observations suggest that improving model treatment of plume transport and the conversion of NO x to PAN in biomass burning plumes is a viable focus for better simulating PAN. Global observations of PAN provide a benchmark for the evaluation of satellite observations and model simulations of PAN.
Source: Geophysical Research Letters
DOI: 10.1029/2025gl115001
Authors: Young Ro Lee, L. Gregory Huey, David J. Tanner, James M. Roberts, Yuhang Wang, Paul O. Wennberg, John D. Crounse, Hannah Allen, Eric C. Apel, Alan J. Hills, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, James W. Elkins, Eric Hintsa, Fred Moore, Samuel R. Hall, Kirk Ullmann, Kathryn McKain, Colm Sweeney, Thomas B. Ryerson, Jeff Peischl, Chelsea R. Tompson, Ilann Bourgeois, Eric Ray, Paul A. Newman, Sarah Strode
Institutions: Georgia Institute of Technology, NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, NSF National Center for Atmospheric Research, NSF NCAR Atmospheric Chemistry Observations & Modeling, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Goddard Space Flight Center, Morgan State University
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,190
OpenAlex ID: W4413301155