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LABORATORY AND COMPUTATIONAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY OF KEY OXIDATION PRODUCTS CONTROLLING TROPOSPHERIC OZONE FORMATION
Impact/Purpose:
The objective of this project is to improve the accuracy of chemical mechanisms used in air quality models to calculate the concentrations of ozone and other oxidants, and to improve connections between ozone formation, PM2.5 formation, and secondary air toxics production. The research will address critical chemicals and processes identified in the recent NARSTO State of Science Reports.
Description:
Major uncertainties remain in our ability to identify the key reactions and primary oxidation products of volatile hydrocarbons that contribute to ozone formation in the troposphere. To reduce these uncertainties, computational chemistry, mechanistic and process analysis techniques and laboratory kinetic investigations will be carried out to establish chemical mechanisms for key oxidation products including aldehydes, ketones, and multifunctional oxygenates that affect tropospheric ozone levels. This work will result in complex chemical mechanisms that can be used to describe the production of these compounds, including the components of the gas-phase chemistry that forms crucial linkages with the chemistry of secondary formation of fine particulates and air toxics. The chemical mechanisms developed under this task will improve the chemistry in the air quality models used by EPA and the States to evaluate control strategies for reducing tropospheric ozone concentrations and investigating pollutant control options from a "one atmosphere" viewpoint.