Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

Analytical Chemistry Seminar: Ronald C. Cohen

Monday April 11 2016 @ 12:00 pm
to 1:00 pm

April

11

Mon

2016

12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Event Type
Seminar
Availability

Open to Public

Audience
  • CIRES employees
  • CU Boulder employees
  • General Public
  • NOAA employees
  • Science collaborators
  • Host
    CIRES, CU Boulder

    Analytical & Environmental Chemistry Division and Atmospheric Chemistry Program Seminar

    Jointly sponsored by the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, CIRES, and the Environmental Program

    On the Lifetime of Nitrogen Oxides in the Continental Boundary Layer

    by Ronald C. Cohen - Miller Professor 2015-2016; Professor, Department of Chemistry; Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Science; University of California, Berkeley

    Nitrogen oxides drive the chemistry of the troposphere, catalyzing production of oxidants, ozone and aerosol. Textbooks describe this chemistry as starting with emission of NO and terminating with the gas phase reaction of OH with NO2 to produce HNO3. Here, I will describe approaches to observing and characterizing the lifetime of nitrogen oxides using in situ and space based observations. In contrast to the textbook story we find the lifetime of nitrogen oxides on the continents are primarily controlled by organic nitrate formation.