Quantification of NO2 and SO2 emissions from the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City industrial areas during the 2006 Texas Air Quality Study

In August-September 2006, as part of the Second Texas Air Quality Study, NO2 and SO2 emissions from the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City industrial areas were quantified using mobile mini-differential optical absorption spectroscopy instruments. The measured NO2 emissions from the Houston Ship Channel and Texas City industrial areas were 2542 and 452 kg h(-1), respectively, yielding NOx emissions 70% and 43%, respectively, above the reported inventory values. Quantified SO2 emissions from the Houston Ship Channel area were 1749 kg h(-1) and were found to be 34% above the values reported in the inventory. Short-term variability of NO2 and SO2 emissions was found at the Houston Ship Channel. On 31 August 2006, a plume was detected at the HSC during three consecutive measurements, yielding a HCHO flux of 481 kg h(-1). This event has been mainly attributed to photochemical production.

[1]  M. Holdren,et al.  Atmospheric chemistry and distribution of formaldehyde and several multioxygenated carbonyl compounds during the 1995 Nashville/Middle Tennessee Ozone Study , 1998 .

[2]  Robert M. Banta,et al.  Doppler Lidar Estimation of Mixing Height Using Turbulence, Shear, and Aerosol Profiles , 2009 .

[3]  D. Jacob,et al.  Origin of ozone and NOx in the tropical troposphere: A photochemical analysis of aircraft observations over the South Atlantic basin , 1996 .

[4]  A. McGonigle,et al.  A miniaturised ultraviolet spectrometer for remote sensing of SO2 fluxes: a new tool for volcano surveillance , 2003 .

[5]  Johannes Orphal,et al.  The temperature dependence (203-293 K) of the absorption cross sections of O3 in the 230-850 nm region measured by Fourier-transform spectroscopy , 2001 .

[6]  D. Fahey,et al.  Reactive nitrogen and its correlation with ozone in the lower stratosphere and upper troposphere , 1993 .

[7]  James F. Gleason,et al.  An improved retrieval of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide from GOME , 2002 .

[8]  B. Rappenglück,et al.  Mercury species measured atop the Moody Tower TRAMP site, Houston, Texas , 2010 .

[9]  M. Leuchner,et al.  VOC source–receptor relationships in Houston during TexAQS-II , 2009 .

[10]  B. Jobson,et al.  Hydrocarbon source signatures in Houston, Texas: Influence of the petrochemical industry , 2004 .

[11]  B. Jobson,et al.  Airborne measurements of isoprene, CO, and anthropogenic hydrocarbons and their implications , 2000 .

[12]  Ulrich Platt,et al.  Differential optical absorption spectroscopy , 2008 .

[13]  Yan Zhang,et al.  Quantification of total emission of air pollutants from Beijing using mobile mini-DOAS , 2008 .

[14]  J. D. de Gouw,et al.  Airborne measurements of ethene from industrial sources using laser photo-acoustic spectroscopy. , 2009, Environmental science & technology.

[15]  Yulong Xie,et al.  The use of conditional probability functions and potential source contribution functions to identify source regions and advection pathways of hydrocarbon emissions in Houston, Texas , 2007 .

[16]  E. Atlas,et al.  Signatures of terminal alkene oxidation in airborne formaldehyde measurements during TexAQS 2000 , 2003 .

[17]  Geert K. Moortgat,et al.  Temperature dependence of the absorption cross sections of formaldehyde between 223 and 323 K in the wavelength range 225–375 nm , 2000 .

[18]  Clive Oppenheimer,et al.  A simple technique for measuring power station SO2 and NO2 emissions , 2004 .

[19]  L. Kleinman,et al.  A comparative study of O3 formation in the Houston urban and industrial plumes during the 2000 Texas Air Quality Study , 2003 .

[20]  Shaibal Mukerjee,et al.  Spatial Analysis of Volatile Organic Compounds from a Community-Based Air Toxics Monitoring Network in Deer Park, Texas, USA , 2007, Environmental monitoring and assessment.

[21]  T. Wagner,et al.  Multi axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) of gas and aerosol distributions. , 2005, Faraday discussions.

[22]  Ann Carine Vandaele,et al.  Water vapor line broadening and shifting by air in the 26,000–13,000cm−1 region , 2003 .

[23]  Johannes Orphal,et al.  Measurements of molecular absorption spectra with the SCIAMACHY pre-flight model: instrument characterization and reference data for atmospheric remote-sensing in the 230–2380 nm region , 2003 .

[24]  Byeong-Uk Kim,et al.  Modeling ozone formation from industrial emission events in Houston, Texas , 2008 .

[25]  Yan Zhang,et al.  Mobile mini-DOAS measurement of the outflow of NO 2 and HCHO from Mexico City , 2009 .

[26]  M. Millán,et al.  Remote sensing of air pollutants. A study of some atmospheric scattering effects , 1980 .

[27]  A. Vandaele,et al.  Absorption cross-sections of atmospheric constituents: NO2, O2, and H2O , 1999, Environmental science and pollution research international.

[28]  P. Kasibhatla,et al.  The relative impact of stratospheric photochemical production on tropospheric NO y levels: A model study , 1991 .

[29]  James N. Pitts,et al.  Chemistry of the Upper and Lower Atmosphere: Theory, Experiments, and Applications , 1999 .

[30]  S. Herndon,et al.  Separation of emitted and photochemical formaldehyde in Mexico City using a statistical analysis and a new pair of gas-phase tracers , 2005 .

[31]  D. Imre,et al.  Ozone production rate and hydrocarbon reactivity in 5 urban areas: A cause of high ozone concentration in Houston , 2002 .

[32]  J. Mellqvist,et al.  Measurements of industrial emissions of alkenes in Texas using the solar occultation flux method , 2010 .

[33]  R. Grover,et al.  Texas NOx state implementation plan for houston‐galveston area , 2001 .

[34]  E. Atlas,et al.  Effect of petrochemical industrial emissions of reactive alkenes and NOx on tropospheric ozone formation in Houston, Texas , 2003 .

[35]  P. Hess,et al.  Chemical characterization of ozone formation in the Houston-Galveston area: A chemical transport model study , 2004 .

[36]  S. Ghan,et al.  Tropospheric nitrogen: A three‐dimensional study of sources, distributions, and deposition , 1991 .

[37]  Ulrich Platt,et al.  Differential optical absorption spectroscopy (DOAS) , 1994 .

[38]  L. Kleinman,et al.  a Comparative Study of o3 Formation in the Houston Urban and Industrial Plumes during the TexAQS 2000 Study , 2002 .

[39]  P. Doskey,et al.  Hydrocarbon observations and ozone production rates in Western Houston during the Texas 2000 Air Quality Study , 2005 .

[40]  Renard L. Thomas,et al.  Measurement of Volatile Organic Compounds in the Urban Atmosphere of Harris County, Texas , 2005, Journal of environmental science and health. Part A, Toxic/hazardous substances & environmental engineering.

[41]  D. Allen,et al.  Hydrocarbon emissions from industrial release events in the Houston-Galveston area and their impact on ozone formation , 2005 .

[42]  M M Millan,et al.  The applications of optical correlation techniques to the remote sensing of SO 2 plumes using sky light. , 1971, Atmospheric environment.

[43]  Shin Yoshikawa,et al.  Effect of UV scattering on SO2 emission rate measurements , 2006 .

[44]  Ann Carine Vandaele,et al.  New water vapor line parameters in the 26000-13000 cm-1 region , 2002 .

[45]  L. Kleinman,et al.  Origin and properties of plumes of high ozone observed during the Texas 2000 Air Quality Study (TexAQS 2000) , 2004 .

[46]  Ann Carine Vandaele,et al.  Measurements of the NO2 absorption cross-section from 42 000 cm−1 to 10 000 cm−1 (238–1000 nm) at 220 K and 294 K , 1998 .

[47]  G. Gangoiti,et al.  Validation of optical remote sensing measurement strategies applied to industrial gas emissions , 2009 .

[48]  U. Platt,et al.  SO2/BrO ratios studied in five volcanic plumes , 2007 .

[49]  E. Atlas,et al.  Particle growth in urban and industrial plumes in Texas , 2003 .

[50]  Paul J. Crutzen,et al.  The Role of NO and NO2 in the Chemistry of the Troposphere and Stratosphere , 1979 .

[51]  M. Fraser,et al.  Comparison of VOC emissions inventory data with source apportionment results for Houston, TX , 2008 .

[52]  D. Kley,et al.  Chemiluminescence detector for NO and NO/sub 2/ , 1980 .

[53]  M. Zahniser,et al.  Emissions of NOx, SO2, CO, and HCHO from commercial marine shipping during Texas Air Quality Study (TexAQS) 2006 , 2009 .

[54]  M. C. Dodge.  Formaldehyde production in photochemical smog as predicted by three state-of-the-science chemical oxidant mechanisms , 1990 .

[55]  U. Platt,et al.  Detection of bromine monoxide in a volcanic plume , 2003, Nature.

[56]  Seungbum Kim,et al.  Evaluation of air quality models for the simulation of a high ozone episode in the Houston metropolitan area , 2007 .

[57]  Samuel D Brody,et al.  Examining Localized Patterns of Air Quality Perception in Texas: A Spatial and Statistical Analysis , 2004, Risk analysis : an official publication of the Society for Risk Analysis.

[58]  Mark S. Zahniser,et al.  Measurements of volatile organic compounds during the 2006 TexAQS/GoMACCS campaign: Industrial influences, regional characteristics, and diurnal dependencies of the OH reactivity , 2009 .

[59]  U. Platt,et al.  Simultaneous measurement of atmospheric CH2O, O3, and NO2 by differential optical absorption , 1979 .