A large source of atomic chlorine from ClNO2 photolysis at a UK landfill site

Thomas Bannan; Anwar Khan; Michael Le Breton; Michael Priestley; Stephen Worrall; Asan Bacak; Nicholas Marsden; Douglas Lowe; Joe Pitt; Grant Allen; David Topping; Hugh Coe; Gordon McFiggans; Dudley Shallcross; Carl Percival

doi:10.1029/2019GL083764

A large source of atomic chlorine from ClNO2 photolysis at a UK landfill site

Thomas Bannan, Anwar Khan, Michael Le Breton, Michael Priestley, Stephen Worrall, Asan Bacak, Nicholas Marsden, Douglas Lowe, Joe Pitt, Grant Allen, David Topping, Hugh Coe, Gordon McFiggans, Dudley Shallcross, Carl Percival

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Abstract

Nitryl Chloride (ClNO2) acts as a source of highly reactive chlorine atoms as well as an important NOx reservoir. Measurements of ClNO2 at an operational UK landfill site are reported here for the first time. A peak concentration of 4 ppb of ClNO2 was found with a peak mean night time maximum of 0.9 ppb. Using models based upon the photolysis of observed ClNO2 and atmospheric chlorine chemistry, chlorine atom concentrations reaching in excess of 1.20 x 105 molecules cm-3 in the early morning following sunrise are calculated. These concentrations are approximately 10 times higher than previously reported in the UK, suggesting a significant impact on the oxidising capacity around such sites. Given the ubiquity of landfill sites regionally and globally, and the large abundances of Cl atoms from the photolysis of ClNO2, chlorine chemistry has a significant impact on ozone formation and VOCs oxidation as shown by WRF-Chem modelling.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	8508-8516
Number of pages	9
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	46
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2019GL083764
Publication status	Published - 29 Jul 2019

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Professor Dudley E Shallcross
- D.E.Shallcrossbristol.acuk
- School of Chemistry - Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry
- Cabot Institute for the Environment
- Spectroscopy and Dynamics
- Atmospheric and Global Change Chemistry
- Computational and Theoretical Chemistry
- Atmospheric Chemistry
Person: Academic , Member

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title = "A large source of atomic chlorine from ClNO2 photolysis at a UK landfill site",

abstract = "Nitryl Chloride (ClNO2) acts as a source of highly reactive chlorine atoms as well as an important NOx reservoir. Measurements of ClNO2 at an operational UK landfill site are reported here for the first time. A peak concentration of 4 ppb of ClNO2 was found with a peak mean night time maximum of 0.9 ppb. Using models based upon the photolysis of observed ClNO2 and atmospheric chlorine chemistry, chlorine atom concentrations reaching in excess of 1.20 x 105 molecules cm-3 in the early morning following sunrise are calculated. These concentrations are approximately 10 times higher than previously reported in the UK, suggesting a significant impact on the oxidising capacity around such sites. Given the ubiquity of landfill sites regionally and globally, and the large abundances of Cl atoms from the photolysis of ClNO2, chlorine chemistry has a significant impact on ozone formation and VOCs oxidation as shown by WRF-Chem modelling.",

author = "Thomas Bannan and Anwar Khan and {Le Breton}, Michael and Michael Priestley and Stephen Worrall and Asan Bacak and Nicholas Marsden and Douglas Lowe and Joe Pitt and Grant Allen and David Topping and Hugh Coe and Gordon McFiggans and Dudley Shallcross and Carl Percival",

year = "2019",

month = jul,

day = "29",

doi = "10.1029/2019GL083764",

language = "English",

volume = "46",

pages = "8508--8516",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

issn = "0094-8276",

publisher = "American Geophysical Union",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - A large source of atomic chlorine from ClNO2 photolysis at a UK landfill site

AU - Bannan, Thomas

AU - Khan, Anwar

AU - Le Breton, Michael

AU - Priestley, Michael

AU - Worrall, Stephen

AU - Bacak, Asan

AU - Marsden, Nicholas

AU - Lowe, Douglas

AU - Pitt, Joe

AU - Allen, Grant

AU - Topping, David

AU - Coe, Hugh

AU - McFiggans, Gordon

AU - Shallcross, Dudley

AU - Percival, Carl

PY - 2019/7/29

Y1 - 2019/7/29

N2 - Nitryl Chloride (ClNO2) acts as a source of highly reactive chlorine atoms as well as an important NOx reservoir. Measurements of ClNO2 at an operational UK landfill site are reported here for the first time. A peak concentration of 4 ppb of ClNO2 was found with a peak mean night time maximum of 0.9 ppb. Using models based upon the photolysis of observed ClNO2 and atmospheric chlorine chemistry, chlorine atom concentrations reaching in excess of 1.20 x 105 molecules cm-3 in the early morning following sunrise are calculated. These concentrations are approximately 10 times higher than previously reported in the UK, suggesting a significant impact on the oxidising capacity around such sites. Given the ubiquity of landfill sites regionally and globally, and the large abundances of Cl atoms from the photolysis of ClNO2, chlorine chemistry has a significant impact on ozone formation and VOCs oxidation as shown by WRF-Chem modelling.

AB - Nitryl Chloride (ClNO2) acts as a source of highly reactive chlorine atoms as well as an important NOx reservoir. Measurements of ClNO2 at an operational UK landfill site are reported here for the first time. A peak concentration of 4 ppb of ClNO2 was found with a peak mean night time maximum of 0.9 ppb. Using models based upon the photolysis of observed ClNO2 and atmospheric chlorine chemistry, chlorine atom concentrations reaching in excess of 1.20 x 105 molecules cm-3 in the early morning following sunrise are calculated. These concentrations are approximately 10 times higher than previously reported in the UK, suggesting a significant impact on the oxidising capacity around such sites. Given the ubiquity of landfill sites regionally and globally, and the large abundances of Cl atoms from the photolysis of ClNO2, chlorine chemistry has a significant impact on ozone formation and VOCs oxidation as shown by WRF-Chem modelling.

U2 - 10.1029/2019GL083764

DO - 10.1029/2019GL083764

M3 - Article (Academic Journal)

VL - 46

SP - 8508

EP - 8516

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

SN - 0094-8276

ER -

A large source of atomic chlorine from ClNO2 photolysis at a UK landfill site

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