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The Measurement of NOx in the Non-Urban Troposphere

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Tropospheric Ozone

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 227))

Abstract

The measurements of NOx that have been made in the non-urban troposphere are reviewed. The NOx levels in the clean remote troposphere are very low: 0.01 ppbv at the surface in the Mid-Pacific, but increasing with altitude to approximately 0.2 ppbv in the upper troposphere. The upper tropospheric NOx levels are maintained by lightning, stratospheric injection, high flying aircraft and convective transport of surface pollution. Surface NOx mixing ratios over large regions of the industrial Northern Hemisphere exceed 1 ppbv. At the surface in more isolated continental areas the NOx mixing ratio will be intermediate between those found in industrial regions and remote maritime locations. The NOx mixing ratio in the clean troposphere may be strongly influenced by other reactive nitrogen oxides such as PAN. PAN and PAN-like compounds may be the dominate reactive nitrogen oxide species in many regions of the troposphere. This complicates the estimation of the tropospheric NOx distribution and presents substantial difficulties in the measurement of tropospheric NOx levels.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Aeronomy Laboratory, Environmental Research Laboratories, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, 325 Broadway, Boulder, CO, 80303, USA

    F. C. Fehsenfeld, D. D. Parrish & D. W. Fahey

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  1. F. C. Fehsenfeld
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  2. D. D. Parrish
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  3. D. W. Fahey
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geophysics, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

    I. S. A. Isaksen

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© 1988 D. Reidel Publishing Company

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Fehsenfeld, F.C., Parrish, D.D., Fahey, D.W. (1988). The Measurement of NOx in the Non-Urban Troposphere. In: Isaksen, I.S.A. (eds) Tropospheric Ozone. NATO ASI Series, vol 227. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2913-5_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-2913-5_13

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-7811-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-2913-5

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