On the Impact of HO2-H2O Complexes in the Marine Boundary Layer: A Possible Sink for HO2

• Main Authors: Alexander Thomas Archibald, Kenichi Tonokura, Masahiro Kawasaki, Carl John Percival, Dudley Edmund Shallcross
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chinese Geoscience Union 2011-01-01
• Series: Terrestrial, Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences
• Subjects: HO2-H2O complexes; Master chemical mechanism; CRI mechanism; Marine boundary layer; Criegee biradicals
• Online Access: http://tao.cgu.org.tw/images/attachments/v221p049.pdf

The impact of the formation of HO2-H2O adducts following reaction between H2O and HO2 and subsequent reaction of this adduct on HOx, H2O2 and O3 as a function of relative humidity in the marine boundary layer has been investigated using a zero-dimensional box model. The results of simulations with different product yields for the reaction of HO2-H2O with HO2 were compared with base case data derived from current recommendations for tropospheric modelling. It is suggested that inclusion of reactions of the HO2-H2O adduct may provide a significant sink for HO2 which has so far not been considered in models of tropospheric chemistry and depending on reaction products may have a significant impact on H2O2 and O3.