Hydrogen (H2), a proposed clean energy alternative, warrants detailed investigation of its global budget and future environmental impacts. The magnitudes and seasonal cycles of the major (presumably microbial) soil sink of hydrogen have been estimated from high‐frequency in situ AGAGE H2 observations and also from more geographically extensive but low‐frequency flask measurements from CSIRO and NOAA‐GMD using the Kalman filter in a two‐dimensional (2‐D) global transport model. Hydrogen mole fractions exhibit well‐defined seasonal cycles in each hemisphere with their phase difference being only about 3 months. The global production rate of H2 is estimated to be 103 ± 10 Tg yr−1 with only a small estimated interannual variation. Soil uptake (84 ± 8 Tg yr−1) represents the major loss process for H2 and accounts for 81% of the total destruction. Strong seasonal cycles are deduced for the soil uptake of H2. The soil sink is a maximum over the northern extratropics in summer and peaks only 2 to 3 months earlier in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. Oxidation by tropospheric OH (18 ± 3 Tg yr−1) accounts for 17% of the destruction, with the remainder due to destruction in the stratosphere. The calculated global burden is 191 ± 29 Tg, indicating an overall atmospheric lifetime of 1.8 ± 0.3 years. Hydrogen in the troposphere (149 ± 23 Tg burden) has a lifetime of 1.4 ± 0.2 years.

A monoclonal antibody (Mab) was produced by using the kanamycin-glutaraldehyde-bovine serum albumin (Kan-GDA-BSA) conjugate as the immunogen. The anti-Kan Mab exhibited high cross-reactivity with tobramycin (Tob) and slight or negligible cross-reactivity with other aminoglycosides. The specificity and cross-reactivity of this Mab are discussed regarding the three-dimensional, computer-generated molecular models of the aminoglycosides. Using this Mab, a rapid enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a colloidal gold-based strip test for Kan and Tob were developed. The rapid ELISA showed a 50% inhibition value (IC 50) of 0.83 ng/mL for Kan and 0.89 ng/mL for Tob with the analysis time less than 40 min, and the recoveries from spiked swine tissues at levels of 25-200 microg/kg ranged from 52% to 96% for Kan and 61% to 86% for Tob. In contrast, the strip test for Kan or Tob had a visual detection limit of 5 ng/mL in PBS, 50 microg/kg in meat or liver, and 100 microg/kg in kidney, and the results can be judged within 5-10 min. Observed positive samples judged by the strip test can be further quantitated by ELISA, hence the two assays can complement each other for rapid detection of residual Kan and Tob in swine tissues. Moreover, physical-chemical factors that affected the ELISA and strip test performance were also investigated. The effect of pH and antibody amount for gold-antibody conjugation on the strip test sensitivity was determined followed by a theoretical explanation of the effects.

Abstract. Methyl chloride (CH3Cl) is a chlorine-containing trace gas in the atmosphere contributing significantly to stratospheric ozone depletion. Large uncertainties in estimates of its source and sink magnitudes and temporal and spatial variations currently exist. GEIA inventories and other bottom-up emission estimates are used to construct a priori maps of the surface fluxes of CH3Cl. The Model of Atmospheric Transport and Chemistry (MATCH), driven by NCEP interannually varying meteorological data, is then used to simulate CH3Cl mole fractions and quantify the time series of sensitivities of the mole fractions at each measurement site to the surface fluxes of various regional and global sources and sinks. We then implement the Kalman filter (with the unit pulse response method) to estimate the surface fluxes on regional/global scales with monthly resolution from January 2000 to December 2004. High frequency observations from the AGAGE, SOGE, NIES, and NOAA/ESRL HATS in situ networks and low frequency observations from the NOAA/ESRL HATS flask network are used to constrain the source and sink magnitudes. The inversion results indicate global total emissions around 4100±470 Gg yr−1 with very large emissions of 2200±390 Gg yr−1 from tropical plants, which turn out to be the largest single source in the CH3Cl budget. Relative to their a priori annual estimates, the inversion increases global annual fungal and tropical emissions, and reduces the global oceanic source. The inversion implies greater seasonal and interannual oscillations of the natural sources and sink of CH3Cl compared to the a priori. The inversion also reflects the strong effects of the 2002/2003 globally widespread heat waves and droughts on global emissions from tropical plants, biomass burning and salt marshes, and on the soil sink.

Abstract. Inverse modeling of nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions using satellite-based NO2 observations has become more prevalent in recent years, but has rarely been applied to regulatory modeling at regional scales. In this study, OMI satellite observations of NO2 column densities are used to conduct inverse modeling of NOx emission inventories for two Texas State Implementation Plan (SIP) modeling episodes. Addition of lightning, aircraft, and soil NOx emissions to the regulatory inventory narrowed but did not close the gap between modeled and satellite-observed NO2 over rural regions. Satellite-based top-down emission inventories are created with the regional Comprehensive Air Quality Model with extensions (CAMx) using two techniques: the direct scaling method and discrete Kalman filter (DKF) with decoupled direct method (DDM) sensitivity analysis. The simulations with satellite-inverted inventories are compared to the modeling results using the a priori inventory as well as an inventory created by a ground-level NO2-based DKF inversion. The DKF inversions yield conflicting results: the satellite-based inversion scales up the a priori NOx emissions in most regions by factors of 1.02 to 1.84, leading to 3–55% increase in modeled NO2 column densities and 1–7 ppb increase in ground 8 h ozone concentrations, while the ground-based inversion indicates the a priori NOx emissions should be scaled by factors of 0.34 to 0.57 in each region. However, none of the inversions improve the model performance in simulating aircraft-observed NO2 or ground-level ozone (O3) concentrations.

[1] Photochemical modeling with high-order sensitivity analysis is applied to simulate the nonlinear responses of ozone to NO x and VOC emissions from different source regions in the Houston-Galveston-Brazoria area and their interactions. First-order responses of daytime ozone to Houston NO x emissions are typically positive but are negative in the core region, indicating a NO x -inhibited chemical regime there. Houston anthropogenic VOC emissions exert a spatially smaller impact on ozone but are important to high ozone concentrations in the core region. Highest ozone concentrations in the Houston region typically occur where the impacts of the Houston Ship Channel NO x emissions coincide with those of NO x emitted from the rest of the Houston region. Daytime ozone is found to exhibit a more nonlinear responsiveness to precursor emissions in Houston than has been reported in other regions, including a strongly concave response to local NO x emissions and strong interactions between the impacts of NO x and VOC emissions changes. Due to this intense nonlinearity, moderate perturbations (10-30%) in either NO x or VOC emissions inventories could flip whether Houston ozone is modeled to be more responsive to VOC control or NO x control. Thus the accuracy of emission inventories could strongly influence predictions of ozone response to emission reductions.