Adaptation of an In Situ Ground-Based Tropospheric OH/HO2 Instrument for Aircraft Use

Abstract

In-situ HO(x) (OH and HO2) measurements are an essential part of understanding the photochemistry of aircraft exhaust in the atmosphere. HO(x) affects the partitioning of nitrogen species in the NO(y) family. Its reactions are important sources and sinks for tropospheric ozone, thus providing a link between the NO(x) in aircraft exhaust and tropospheric ozone. OH mixing ratios are enhanced in aircraft wakes due to the photolysis of the HONO that is made close to the engine. Measurements of HO(x) in aircraft wakes, along with NO(x) measurements, thus provides a constraint on chemical models of the engine combustion and exhaust. The development of the Airborne Tropospheric Hydrogen Oxides Sensor (ATHOS) is reported. We designed, developed, and successfully flew this instrument. It was part of the instrument complement on board the NASA DC-8 during SUCCESS, which took place in Kansas in April and May, 1996. ATHOS has a limit-of-detection for OH (S/N = 2) of 10(exp 5) OH molecules cm(exp -3) in less than 150 seconds. While this sensitivity is about 2-3 times less than the initial projections in the proposal, it is more than adequate for good measurements of OH and HO2 from the planetary boundary layer to the stratosphere. Our participation in SUCCESS was to be engineering test flights for ATHOS; however, the high-quality measurements we obtained are being used to study HO(x) photochemistry in contrails, clouds, and the clear air