A11M-0250
Emissions and Chemistry of Volatile Organic Compounds in Early Spring of Western U.S.: Interactions between Oil/Gas Emissions and Biogenic Emissions
Monday, 14 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Bin Yuan1, Abigail Koss2, Carsten Warneke1, Jessica Gilman3, Brian M Lerner1, Jeff Peischl4, Thomas B Ryerson5, Steven J Sjostedt6, Chelsea R Thompson7, Robert J Wild8, Steven S Brown1, J A Neuman7, Scott Joseph Eilerman9, Glenn M Wolfe10, Jason Michael St Clair11, Thomas F Hanisco10, Mitchell P Thayer12, Frank N Keutsch13 and Joost A De Gouw14, (1)NOAA Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (2)University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)NOAA ESRL, Boulder, CO, United States, (4)Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (5)NOAA, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)Georgia Institute of Tech, Atlanta, GA, United States, (7)CIRES, Boulder, CO, United States, (8)Colorado University/NOAA/ESRL, Boulder, CO, United States, (9)Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, Boulder, CO, United States, (10)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (11)California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, (12)University of Wisconsin Madison, Madison, WI, United States, (13)Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, United States, (14)NOAA Earth System Research Lab, Boulder, CO, United States
Abstract:
A series of research flights with the NOAA WP-3D aircraft were conducted during the SONGNEX campaign (
www.esrl.noaa.gov/csd/projects/songnex) to characterize emissions of trace gases from oil and gas basins in the western United States and their chemical transformations. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were measured by a newly developed chemical ionization mass spectrometer that uses H
3O
+ for ionization and a high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometer for detection (H
3O
+ CIMS). Results from the measurements will be presented at the meeting. Emission fluxes of VOCs can be determined both by the mass balance and eddy covariance methods. To investigate the potential for eddy covariance flux measurements, we focus on two flights conducted over the Haynesville shale basin on April 4 and April 25, 2015, respectively. Much higher concentrations of biogenic VOCs (isoprene, monoterpenes and methanol) were measured during the flight on April 25, 2015, which provides an opportunity to evaluate our instrument for the eddy covariance technique. Emissions and deposition of various hydrocarbons and oxygenated VOCs are determined and flux divergence derived from flux estimates at different altitudes is used to explore formation and loss processes of organic species in the boundary layer. Based on results from the eddy covariance technique, we will discuss some implications on distribution of emission strength in an oil/gas basin, i.e. what is the relative importance of high versus low emitters to the total emissions. We will also investigate the roles of biogenic emissions in the chemical evolution of oil and gas emissions by comparing the two flights.
