Shipborne measurements of ClNO<sub>2</sub> in the Mediterranean Sea and around the Arabian Peninsula during summer

Abstract

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> Shipborne measurements of nitryl chloride (ClNO<sub>2</sub>), hydrogen chloride (HCl) and sulphur dioxide (SO<sub>2</sub>) were made during the AQABA (Air Quality and climate change in the Arabian BAsin) ship campaign in summer 2017. The dataset includes measurements over the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Gulf (also known as Persian Gulf) with observed ClNO<sub>2</sub> mixing ratios ranging from the limit of detection to ≈ 600 pptv. We examined the regional variability in the generation of ClNO<sub>2</sub> via the uptake of dinitrogen pentoxide (N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>) to Cl-containing aerosol and its importance for Cl-atom generation in a marine boundary layer under the (variable) influence of emissions from shipping and oil industry. The yield of ClNO<sub>2</sub> formation per NO<sub>3</sub> radical generated was generally low (median of ≈ 1–5 % depending on the region), mainly as a result of gas-phase loss of NO<sub>3</sub> dominating over heterogeneous loss of N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>, the latter being disfavoured by the high temperatures found throughout the campaign. The contributions of ClNO<sub>2</sub> photolysis and OH-induced HCl oxidation to Cl-radical formation were derived and their relative contributions over the diel cycle compared. The results indicate that over the northern Red Sea, the Gulf of Suez and the Gulf of Oman the formation of Cl-atoms will enhance the oxidation rates of some VOCs, especially in the early morning.</p>

N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> uptake onto saline mineral dust: a potential missing source of tropospheric ClNO<sub>2</sub> in inland China

“…For example, ClNO2 concentrations reached 4 ppbv in the summer of North China Plain (Tham et al, 2016). These observations imply the importance of other sources for aerosol chloride, such as coal combustion (Eger et al, 2019), biomass burning (Ahern et al, 2017), waste incineration (Bannan et al, 2019), and snow-melting agent application (Mielke et al, 2016;McNamara et al, 2020).…”