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Science 27 April 2001:
Vol. 292. no. 5517, pp. 719 - 723
DOI: 10.1126/science.1058113
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Reports

Observations of Ozone Formation in Power Plant Plumes and Implications for Ozone Control Strategies

T. B. Ryerson,1*dagger M. Trainer,1* J. S. Holloway,12 D. D. Parrish,1 L. G. Huey,3 D. T. Sueper,12 G. J. Frost,12 S. G. Donnelly,4 S. Schauffler,4 E. L. Atlas,4 W. C. Kuster,1 P. D. Goldan,1 G. Hübler,12 J. F. Meagher,1 F. C. Fehsenfeld12

Data taken in aircraft transects of emissions plumes from rural U.S. coal-fired power plants were used to confirm and quantify the nonlinear dependence of tropospheric ozone formation on plume NOx (NO plus NO2) concentration, which is determined by plant NOx emission rate and atmospheric dispersion. The ambient availability of reactive volatile organic compounds, principally biogenic isoprene, was also found to modulate ozone production rate and yield in these rural plumes. Differences of a factor of 2 or greater in plume ozone formation rates and yields as a function of NOx and volatile organic compound concentrations were consistently observed. These large differences suggest that consideration of power plant NOx emission rates and geographic locations in current and future U.S. ozone control strategies could substantially enhance the efficacy of NOx reductions from these sources.

1 Aeronomy Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO 80305, USA.
2 Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309, USA.
3 School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
4 Atmospheric Chemistry Division, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO 80307, USA.
*   These authors contributed equally to this report.

dagger    To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: tryerson{at}al.noaa.gov

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