UsingEthyneandCarbonMonoxide

asaPhotochemicalClock
EricaWeathers
MurrayStateUniversity
BiologyandChemistry

withCerticationinSecondaryEducation
Faculty:Dr.DonBlake,UCI
Mentor:JulieLee,UCI

BackgroundInformation
EthynevsJTime
800

Ethyne(pptv)

700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
181.9570

181.9620

181.9670
JTime

181.9720

BackgroundInformation
CO(ppbv)vsJTime
240
220
CO(ppbv)

200
180
160
140
120
100
80
181.9550

181.9600

181.9650
JTime

181.9700

181.9750

Questions
Whatisthesourceofenhancedethyneand
COothecoastofLAX?
CantheratioofethynetoCObeusedto
determinetheageofthemassofinterest?

WhyEthyneandCO?
Ethyne(C2H2)andcarbonmonoxide(CO)are
productsofcombustion
Primarilyanthropogenic

Bromoform(CHBr3)andmethylnitrate
(MeNO2)
Oceanictracers

Etheneand134a
Urbantracer
(Smythetal.1996)

LifetimesofCompounds
Compound

Formula

Lifetime

ExpectedSlope

Ethyne

C2H2

1217days

Methylnitrate

CH3ONO2

1month

no

Bromoform

CHBr3

3days

no

Ethene

C2H2

12days

~1(fresh)

134a

CH2FCF3

13.6years

Yes(colocated)

RowlandBlakeLaboratoryAnalyticalCapibilities
http://www.physsci.uci.edu/~rowlandblake/research_lab.html

RelationshipwithOceanicIndicators
CHBr3vsEthyne

9.00
8.00
7.00
6.00
5.00
4.00
3.00
2.00
1.00
0.00

3.50
3.00
CHBr3(pptv)

MeONO2(pptv)

MeONO2vsEthyne

2.50
2.00
1.50
1.00
0.50
0.00

50

150
250
Ethyne(pptv)

350

50

150
250
Ethyne(pptv)

350

RelationshipWithUrbanIndicators
900
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0

AirMassEthynevsEthene
120
100
Ethyne(pptv)

Ethyne(pptv)

EthynevsEthene2PM

y=0.82x+98.4
R=0.70

80
60
40
y=0.26x+13.6
R=0.63

20
0

200 400 600

Ethene(pptv)

800

50

150
250
Ethene(pptv)

350

AirMassofInterest
134avsEthyne
100.0
y=0.13x+59.1
R=0.92

90.0
80.0
70.0
60.0
0

50

100

150 200 250

Ethyne(pptv)

134a(pptv)

134a(pptv)

110.0

300 350134avsJTime
400
200.0
150.0
100.0
50.0
181.9630

181.9680 181.9730
JTime

Theory
Ageairmassusingequationintroducedby
Smythetal.in1996
Combinewithmeteorologicalmodels
Aidsinthedeterminationofsource

Needbothtodetermineageandsource

)#C2 H 2
& ,
%
(
+$
CO' o .
ln+
.
#C2 H 2
&
+%
(.
CO' t *$
"t =
(kC 2 H 2 / kCO )[OH]
(C2H2/CO)o=ratioofethynetoCOinfreshlycombustedcompounds
(C2H2/CO)t=ratioofethynetoCOintheplumeofinterest
kC2H2=6.0x1013cm3/s
kco=1.95x1013cm3/s
[OH]=2x106cm3

Methods:DeterminingAge
t=[ln((C2H2/CO)o/(C2H2/CO))t]/(kc2H2kCO)[OH]=8days
EthynevsCOinPlume
Ethyne(pptv)

400
300
200
100
0
100

Smythetal,1996

y=3.24x278.98
R=0.95
120

140
160
CO(ppbv)

180

200

Meteorology

Basedonmetrologyandthemath,theplumeis8daysandcomesfromNorthernAsia

IndicatorsofAsianAir
1211vsJTime
5.50

1211(pptv)

5.00
4.50
4.00
3.50
3.00
181.9550 181.9600 181.9650 181.9700 181.9750 181.9800
JTime

Conclusion
EthyneandCOcanbeusedtoageairmasses
ageis8days

Circulationmodelscanbecombinedwith
chemicalagingtodeterminepossiblesource
regionsandsourcesofcompounds
SourceoftheairmassofinterestisNorthernAsia

FutureWork
InvestigatepossiblesourcesfromNorthern
Asia
WhateventsweregoingoninN.Asia67days
priortooursampling?

ContinuetomonitorLAforevidenceof
importedair
PossibleimplicationsforEPAstandards

Acknowledgements

Faculty:Dr.DonBlake
Mentor:JulieLee
RowlandBlakelab
team
NASA/NSERC/SARP
SARP2011AirTeam

References
Smyth,S.,J.Bradshaw,S.Sandholm,S.Liu,S.McKeen,G.Gregory,B.
Anderson,R.Talbot,D.Blake,S.Rowland,E.Browell,M.Fenn,J.Merrill,
S.Bachmeier,G.Sachse,J.Collins,D.Thorton,D.Davis,H.Singh,(1996).
Comparisonoffreetroposphericwesternpacicairmassclassication
schemesforthepemwestaexperiment.JournalOFGEOPHYSICAL
RESEARCH,101(D1),17431762.
Xiao,Y,Jacob,D,&Turquety,S.(2007).Atmosphericacetyleneandits
relationshiptocoasanindicatororairmassage.JournalOF
GEOPHYSICALRESEARCH.

Questions

EquationWorkedOut

ppt

6
ppb
ln

ppt
3.2

ppb

t =
13
3
3
3
(4.05 x10 cm / s )[2 x10 cm ]