Coarse Particles Compensate for Missing Daytime Sources of Nitrous Acid and Enhance Atmospheric Oxidation Capacity in a Coastal Atmosphere

Abstract

Large missing sources of daytime atmospheric nitrous acid (HONO), a vital source of hydroxyl radicals (OH) through its photolysis, frequently exist in global coastal regions. In this study, ambient HONO and relevant species were measured at a coastal site in the Pearl River Delta (PRD), China, during October 2019. Relatively high concentrations (0.32±0.19 ppbv) and daytime peaks at approximately 13:00 of HONO were observed, and HONO photolysis was found to be the dominant (55.5%) source of the primary OH production. A budget analysis of HONO based on traditional sources suggested large unknown sources during the daytime (66.4%), which had a significant correlation with the mass of coarse particles (PM2.5-10) and photolysis frequency (J(NO2)). When incorporating photolysis of the abundant nitrate measured in coarse particles with a reasonable enhancement factor relative to fine particles due to favorable aerosol conditions, the missing daytime sources of HONO could be fully compensated by coarse particles serving as the largest source at this coastal site. Our study revealed great potential of coarse particles as a strong daytime HONO source, which has been ignored before but can efficiently promote NOx recycling and thus significantly enhance atmospheric oxidation capacity.

Keywords: Nitrous acid, Budget analysis, Particulate nitrate, Coarse particles, Atmospheric oxidation capacity