Efficient atmospheric cleansing of oxidized organic trace gases by vegetation

The biosphere is the major source and sink of nonmethane volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in the atmosphere. Gas-phase chemical reactions initiate the removal of these compounds from the atmosphere, which ultimately proceeds via deposition at the surface or direct oxidation to carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide. We performed ecosystem-scale flux measurements that show that the removal of oxygenated VOC via dry deposition is substantially larger than is currently assumed for deciduous ecosystems. Laboratory experiments indicate efficient enzymatic conversion and potential up-regulation of various stress-related genes, leading to enhanced uptake rates as a response to ozone and methyl vinyl ketone exposure or mechanical wounding. A revised scheme for the uptake of oxygenated VOCs, incorporated into a global chemistry-transport model, predicts appreciable regional changes in annual dry deposition fluxes.     

Freon consumption: implications for atmospheric ozone

Freons are a potential source of stratospheric chlorine and may indirectly cause serious reductions in the concentration of ozone. The reduction could be as large as 3 percent by 1980, or 16 percent by 2000, if Freon consumption were to grow at 10 percent per year. Even if Freon use were terminated as early as 1990, it could leave a significant effect which might endure for several hundred years.     

A new laboratory source of ozone and its potential atmospheric implications

Although 248-nanometer radiation falls 0.12 electron volt short of the energy needed to dissociate O(2) large densities of ozone (O(3)) can be produced from unfocused 248-nanometer KrF excimer laser irradiation of pure O(2). The process is initiated in some undefined manner, possibly through weak two-photon O(2) dissociation, which results in a small amount of O(3) being generated. As soon as any O(3) is present, it strongly absorbs the 248-nanometer radiation and dissociates to vibrationally excited ground state O(2) (among other products), with a quantum yield of 0.1 to 0.15. During the laser pulse, a portion of these molecules absorb a photon and dissociate, which results in the production of three oxygen atoms for one O(3) molecule destroyed. Recombination then converts these atoms to O(3), and thus O(3) production in the system is autocatalytic. A deficiency exists in current models of O(3) photochemistry in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere, in that more O(3) iS found than can be explained. A detailed analysis of the system as it applies to the upper atmosphere is not yet possible, but with reasonable assumptions about O(2) vibrational distributions resulting from O(3) photodissociation and about relaxation rates of vibrationally excited O(2) a case can be made for the importance of incuding this mechanism in the models.     

Tropospheric halogen gases: inorganic and organic components

Inorganic and organic components of the gaseous tropospheric halogens chlorine, bromine, and iodine have been simultaneously measured. At four diverse remote locations the organic component contained the bulk of the halogen mass, varied less than the inorganic component, and was comparable in concentration to the independently measured halocarbon component.     

Mechanical stress and reactivity in organic solids

Organic single crystals provide an ideal model for studying the factors that influence chemical processes in structured media. Reaction trajectories are well defined and reveal the influence of spontaneous mechanical stresses equivalent to tens of thousands of atmospheres. Analysis of molecular and crystal structures helps to explain both local mechanical properties, which influence reactions, and bulk properties such as melting point, compressibility, and surface energy.     

Observations of ozone formation in power plant plumes and implications for ozone control strategies

Data taken in aircraft transects of emissions plumes from rural U.S. coal-fired power plants were used to confirm and quantify the nonlinear dependence of tropospheric ozone formation on plume NO(x) (NO plus NO(2)) concentration, which is determined by plant NO(x) emission rate and atmospheric dispersion. The ambient availability of reactive volatile organic compounds, principally biogenic isoprene, was also found to modulate ozone production rate and yield in these rural plumes. Differences of a factor of 2 or greater in plume ozone formation rates and yields as a function of NO(x) and volatile organic compound concentrations were consistently observed. These large differences suggest that consideration of power plant NO(x) emission rates and geographic locations in current and future U.S. ozone control strategies could substantially enhance the efficacy of NO(x) reductions from these sources.     

Identification of polymers as major components of atmospheric organic aerosols

Results from photooxidation of aromatic compounds in a reaction chamber show that a substantial fraction of the organic aerosol mass is composed of polymers. This polymerization results from reactions of carbonyls and their hydrates. After aging for more than 20 hours, about 50% of the particle mass consists of polymers with a molecular mass up to 1000 daltons. This results in a lower volatility of this secondary organic aerosol and a higher aerosol yield than a model using vapor pressures of individual organic species would predict.     

The early faint sun paradox: organic shielding of ultraviolet-labile greenhouse gases

Atmospheric mixing ratios of approximately 10(-5 +/- 1) for ammonia on the early Earth would have been sufficient, through the resulting greenhouse warming, to counteract the temperature effects of the faint early sun. One argument against such model atmospheres has been the short time scale for ammonia photodissociation by solar ultraviolet light. Here it is shown that ultraviolet absorption by steady-state amounts of high-altitude organic solids produced from methane photolysis may have shielded ammonia sufficiently that ammonia resupply rates were able to maintain surface temperatures above freezing.     

Survival of mammals breathing organic liquids equilibrated with oxygen at atmospheric pressure

Because oxygen and carbon dioxide are very soluble in certain silicone oils and fluorocarbon liquids, these liquids will support respiration of mammals. Mice and cats respiring silicone oil die shortly after return to air breathing, while those breathing fluorocarbon survive for weeks. The respiration of mice is optimally supported by these organic liquids at about 20 degrees C. In cats, arterial oxygenation is excellent, but there is some impairment of carbon dioxide elimination. All animals have suffered some pulmonary damage from breathing fluorocarbon liquids. Continued investigation of organic fluid respiration may lead to development of a safe method to support the respiration of man by liquids equilibrated with gases at atmospheric pressure.     

Gaseous nitrate radical: possible nighttime atmospheric sink for biogenic organic compounds

The gaseous nitrate (NO(3)) radical, which has recently been measured in nighttime ambient atmospheres over the United States and Europe at concentrations up to approximately 350 parts per trillion, has now been shown to react rapidly with the biogenically emitted organic compounds dimethyl sulfide (DMS), isoprene, and several monoterpenes. Computer simulations demonstrate that these reactions can dominate the atmospheric behavior of these organic compounds at night. Thus reaction with NO(3) radicals may be the unknown, nonphotochemical removal process for DMS recently invoked by Andreae and Raemdonck to explain the absence of a diurnal profile for DMS in maritime air influenced by continental air masses. Similarly, the nighttime reaction of NO(3) radicals with monoterpenes can be a dominant removal process, leading to very low monoterpene concentrations in ambient atmospheres during the early morning.     

自控施药常温烟雾机的研制

针对国内外常温烟雾机结构笨重、价格高、机具利用率低及扬程短等缺点,研制出自控施药常温烟雾机.分析了其机具结构、喷嘴结构与雾化原理、及其控制系统等.该机集电机、风机、喷头体一体化,集吸气机、喷嘴于一体,结构紧凑;成本仅为国外同类产品的1/20-1/10;可双向反复喷雾,扬程可达20-100 m;自控喷药,减轻了劳动强度,避免药液对人身危害等特点;且有病害虫防治、消毒等功能,有广泛应用前景.     

绿色植物在城市环境污染及其治理中的作用

论述了城市环境污染的主要类型,污染对植物生长发育及适应性的影响,以及不同植物种类在环境污染的治理过程中所起到的作用.     

Equilibration of atmospheric carbon dioxide with sea water: possible enzymatic control of the rate

Surface and subsurface ocean water differ in exchange characteristics with atmospheric carbon dioxide. The possibility of control by an enzyme like carbonic anhydrase has been experimentally explored.     

大气CO_2浓度升高对繁茂膜海绵阻留海水中有机碳功能的影响

在实验室条件下,研究了大气CO2浓度升高对最低等多细胞动物海绵过滤功能影响。在模拟大气CO2浓度升高的生态系统中,考察了CO2浓度为387、500、750、1000mg/L的环境下,繁茂膜海绵Hymeniacidon perlevis阻留灭菌海水中总有机碳(TOC)的能力。结果表明:在模拟CO2浓度为387、500、750、1000mg/L的条件下,繁茂膜海绵在16 h内清除海水中TOC的效率分别为55.8%、67.6%、50.0%和15.4%,在24h对TOC的平均阻留率分别为(1.90±0.20)、(2.13±0.06)、(1.69±0.08)、(0.43±0.11)mg/(h·g海绵),平均清除率分别为(0.025±0.002)、(0.033±0.001)、(0.019±0.001)、(0.004±0.001)mL/(h·g海绵),由此可见,大气CO2浓度从约387mg/L升高至500mg/L时,促进了繁茂膜海绵阻留海水中TOC的能力,当浓度升高至750 mg/L时,抑制了繁茂膜海绵阻留TOC的能力,当浓度进一步升高至1000mg/L时,导致繁茂膜海绵几乎丧失了阻留海水中TOC的能力。本研究结果可为大气CO2浓度升高对潮间带海绵过滤功能影响及其由此可能导致的近岸海域生态问题提供了参考。