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Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Absorption cross sections

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Full-Text Articles in Meteorology

Ace-Fts Observations Of Acetonitrile In The Lower Stratosphere, J. J. Harrison, P. F. Bernath Jan 2013

Ace-Fts Observations Of Acetonitrile In The Lower Stratosphere, J. J. Harrison, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

This work reports the first infrared satellite remote-sensing measurements of acetonitrile (CH3CN) in the Earth's atmosphere using solar occultation measurements made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) between 2004 and 2011. The retrieval scheme uses new quantitative laboratory spectroscopic measurements of acetonitrile (Harrison and Bernath, 2012). Although individual ACE-FTS profile measurements are dominated by measurement noise, median profiles in 10 degrees latitude bins show a steady decline in volume mixing ratio from similar to 150 ppt (parts per trillion) at 11.5 km to < 40 ppt at 25.5-29.5 km. These new measurements agree well with the scant available air-and balloon-borne data in the lower stratosphere. An acetonitrile stratospheric lifetime of 73 ± 20 yr has been determined.


Ace-Fts Measurements Of Trace Species In The Characterization Of Biomass Burning Plumes, K. A. Tereszchuk, G. González Abad, C. Clerbaux, D. Hurtmans, P.-F. Coheur, P. F. Bernath Jan 2011

Ace-Fts Measurements Of Trace Species In The Characterization Of Biomass Burning Plumes, K. A. Tereszchuk, G. González Abad, C. Clerbaux, D. Hurtmans, P.-F. Coheur, P. F. Bernath

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

To further our understanding of the effects of biomass burning emissions on atmospheric composition, we report measurements of trace species in biomass burning plumes made by the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) instrument on the SCISAT-1 satellite. An extensive set of 15 molecules, C2H2, C2H6, CH3OH, CH4, CO, H2CO, HCN, HCOOH, HNO3, NO, NO2, N2O5, O-3, OCS and SF6 are used in our analysis. Even though most biomass burning smoke is typically confined to the …