Volatile organic compounds and ozone in Rocky Mountain National Park during FRAPPÉ
2018
Abstract. The 2014 Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry
Experiment (FRAPPE) aimed to better characterize summertime air
quality in the Northern Front Range Metropolitan Area (NFRMA) and its impact
on surrounding areas. As part of this study, measurements of
gas- and particle-phase species were collected in Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO), located
in the mountains west of the urban northern Front Range corridor from
July to October 2014. We report on measurements of ozone from two locations in
the park and a suite of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) measured using a
continuous real-time gas chromatography (GC) system and a quadrupole
proton-transfer-reaction mass spectrometer (PRT-MS) at the ROMO Longs Peak (ROMO-LP) air quality
site. We also measured VOCs using canister samples collected along transects
connecting the NFRMA and ROMO. These datasets show that ROMO is impacted by
NFRMA emission sources, and high observed mixing ratios of VOCs associated
with oil and gas extraction (e.g. ethane) and urban sources (e.g. ethene and
C 2 Cl 4 ) occur during periods of upslope transport. Hourly ozone
mixing ratios exceeded 70 ppb during six events. Two of the six events were
largely associated with VOCs from the oil and gas sector, three high ozone
events were associated with a mixture of VOCs from urban and oil and gas
sources, and one high ozone event was driven by a stratospheric intrusion.
For the high ozone events most associated with emissions from oil and gas
activities, we estimate that VOCs and NO x from sources along
the Front Range contributed ∼20 ppbv of additional ozone.
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