1. Experimental intercomparison of the absorption cross-sections of nitrous acid (HONO) in the ultraviolet and mid-infrared spectral regions
- Author
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Bénédicte Picquet-Varrault, M. Lefort, Johannes Orphal, Aline Gratien, Jean-François Doussin, and Jean-Marie Flaud
- Subjects
Nitrous acid ,Radiation ,Materials science ,Infrared ,Radical ,Photodissociation ,Mid infrared ,Analytical chemistry ,medicine.disease_cause ,Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics ,Trace gas ,chemistry.chemical_compound ,chemistry ,medicine ,Absorption (electromagnetic radiation) ,Spectroscopy ,Ultraviolet - Abstract
Nitrous acid, HONO, is an important trace gas in tropospheric photochemistry, because it is a source of OH radicals. In order to obtain HONO concentrations from spectroscopic measurements, the knowledge of accurate absorption cross-sections is essential. Furthermore, the ultraviolet absorption cross-sections of HONO determine its atmospheric photolysis rates, which are still being debated. In particular, in a recent field study focusing on the photolysis frequency of HONO, the absolute values of the ultraviolet absorption cross-sections have been proposed as a potential source for systematic errors. For these reasons, we have compared the absorption cross-sections for HONO in the infrared (IR) and ultraviolet (UV) by performing simultaneous measurements in both spectral regions. Assuming that the IR cross-sections (that show good agreement between different studies) are correct, our study shows a good agreement between the consistent infrared studies and some selected accurate UV spectra published previously (about 6%) while a rather large disagreement (about 22%) is observed when using other UV data sets.
- Published
- 2009
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