Journal
ATMOSPHERIC ENVIRONMENT
Volume 41, Issue 38, Pages 8409-8423Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2007.07.026
Keywords
OVOCs; ozone precursors; combustion; source-ratio-tracer method; urban emissions
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Twenty-one oxygenated volatile organic compounds (OVOCs) were measured in four seasonal campaigns at an urban background site in Zurich (Switzerland) with a newly developed double adsorbent sampling unit coupled to a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). In addition, selected non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHCs) were measured, as well as formaldehyde in the summer and winter campaign. The most abundant compound measured in all seasons was ethanol, with peak values of more than 60 ppb. Its seasonal variation with a lower mean value in summer compared to that in winter implied mostly anthropogenic sources. In contrast, compounds with additional biogenic sources, or compounds known to be produced in the troposphere by oxidation processes, had seasonal maxima in summer (e.g. methanol, acetone, formaldehyde, methacrolein and 2-butenone (methyl vinyl ketone, MVK)). For the OVOCs it was estimated that local sources contributed 40% and 49% to the mixing ratios of the measured compounds in summer and in winter, respectively. Combustion was estimated to contribute 75% to these local sources independent of the season. About 50% of both the OVOC and NMHC levels in Zurich could be explained by the regional background, which included regional biogenic and anthropogenic sources in addition to secondary production. Industrial sources were identified for acetone, butanone (methyl ethyl ketone, MEK), n-propanol, iso-propanol, n-butanol, ethyl acetate and butyl acetate. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available