Direct observations of NOx emissions over the San Joaquin Valley using airborne flux measurements during RECAP-CA 2021 field campaign

Q. Zhu; Q. Zhu; B. Place; B. Place; E. Y. Pfannerstill; S. Tong; S. Tong; H. Zhang; J. Wang; C. M. Nussbaumer; C. M. Nussbaumer; P. Wooldridge; B. C. Schulze; C. Arata; A. Bucholtz; J. H. Seinfeld; A. H. Goldstein; A. H. Goldstein; R. C. Cohen; R. C. Cohen

doi:10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Aug 2023)

Direct observations of NOx emissions over the San Joaquin Valley using airborne flux measurements during RECAP-CA 2021 field campaign

Q. Zhu,
Q. Zhu,
B. Place,
B. Place,
E. Y. Pfannerstill,
S. Tong,
S. Tong,
H. Zhang,
J. Wang,
C. M. Nussbaumer,
C. M. Nussbaumer,
P. Wooldridge,
B. C. Schulze,
C. Arata,
A. Bucholtz,
J. H. Seinfeld,
A. H. Goldstein,
A. H. Goldstein,
R. C. Cohen,
R. C. Cohen

Affiliations

Q. Zhu: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Q. Zhu: now at: Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States
B. Place: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
B. Place: now at: Office of Research and Development, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC 27711, USA
E. Y. Pfannerstill: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
S. Tong: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and Iowa Technology Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
S. Tong: Collaborative Innovation Center on Forecast and Evaluation of Meteorological Disasters (CIC-FEMD), Key Laboratory for Aerosol-Cloud-Precipitation of China Meteorological Administration, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing 210044, People’s Republic of China
H. Zhang: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and Iowa Technology Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
J. Wang: Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, and Iowa Technology Institute, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA
C. M. Nussbaumer: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
C. M. Nussbaumer: Department of Atmospheric Chemistry, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz 55128, Germany
P. Wooldridge: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
B. C. Schulze: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
C. Arata: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
A. Bucholtz: Department of Meteorology, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA 93943, USA
J. H. Seinfeld: Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA
A. H. Goldstein: Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
A. H. Goldstein: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
R. C. Cohen: Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
R. C. Cohen: Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9669-2023
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 23
pp. 9669 – 9683

Abstract

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Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are principle components of air pollution and serve as important ozone precursors. As the San Joaquin Valley (SJV) experiences some of the worst air quality in the United States, reducing NOx emissions is a pressing need, yet quantifying current emissions is complicated due to a mixture of mobile and agriculture sources. We performed airborne eddy covariance flux measurements during the Re-Evaluating the Chemistry of Air Pollutants in California (RECAP-CA) field campaign in June 2021. Combining footprint calculations and land cover statistics, we disaggregate the observed fluxes into component fluxes characterized by three different land cover types. On average, we find emissions of 0.95 mg N m−2 h−1 over highways, 0.43 mg N m−2 h−1 over urban areas, and 0.30 mg N m−2 h−1 over croplands. The calculated NOx emissions using flux observations are utilized to evaluate anthropogenic emissions inventories and soil NOx emissions schemes. We show that two anthropogenic inventories for mobile sources, EMFAC (EMission FACtors) and FIVE (Fuel-based Inventory for Vehicle Emissions), yield strong agreement with emissions derived from measured fluxes over urban regions. Three soil NOx schemes, including the MEGAN v3 (Model of Emissions of Gases and Aerosols from Nature), BEIS v3.14 (Biogenic Emission Inventory System), and BDISNP (Berkeley–Dalhousie–Iowa Soil NO Parameterization), show substantial underestimates over the study domain. Compared to the cultivated soil NOx emissions derived from measured fluxes, MEGAN and BEIS are lower by more than 1 order of magnitude, and BDISNP is lower by a factor of 2.2. Despite the low bias, observed soil NOx emissions and BDISNP present a similar spatial pattern and temperature dependence. We conclude that soil NOx is a key feature of the NOx emissions in the SJV and that a biogeochemical-process-based model of these emissions is needed to simulate emissions for modeling air quality in the region.

Published in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics

ISSN: 1680-7316 (Print); 1680-7324 (Online)
Publisher: Copernicus Publications
Country of publisher: Germany
LCC subjects: Science: Physics; Science: Chemistry
Website: http://www.atmospheric-chemistry-and-physics.net/

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