Air Chemistry and Terrestrial Gas Emissions: A Global Perspective [and Discussion]

The troposphere is that atmospheric region which occupies the lowest 8-13 km or so, between the Earth's surface and the tropopause, the boundary with the stratosphere. It contains the bulk of the trace gas burden of the atmosphere and has an active chemistry which removes many of the trace gase...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, physical, and engineering sciences physical, and engineering sciences, 1995-05, Vol.351 (1696), p.205-217
Main Authors: Derwent, R. G., Powlson, D. S., Conrad, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric chemistry
Boundary layers
Environmental pollution
Free radicals
Gas emissions
Gases
Hydroxyl radicals
Methane
Ozone
Troposphere
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Summary:The troposphere is that atmospheric region which occupies the lowest 8-13 km or so, between the Earth's surface and the tropopause, the boundary with the stratosphere. It contains the bulk of the trace gas burden of the atmosphere and has an active chemistry which removes many of the trace gases and pollutants emitted by both terrestrial processes and by human activities. The hydroxyl radical, OH, plays an important role in cleansing the troposphere by oxidizing trace gases to harmless products or to those more readily removed from the atmospheric circulation. The distribution of hydroxyl radicals defines the oxidizing capacity of the troposphere and is itself controlled by the trace gas composition and hence by terrestrial gas emissions. This review identifies the important roles played by the terrestrial source gases: methane, carbon monoxide, oxides of nitrogen and isoprene in controlling the fast photochemical balance and oxidizing capacity of the troposphere.
ISSN:1364-503X
0962-8428
1471-2962
2054-0299
DOI:10.1098/rsta.1995.0029