Simultaneous measurements of formaldehyde and nitrous acid in dews and gas phase in the atmosphere of Santiago, Chile

Authors

Maria A. Rubio
G. Villena
Yasin F. Elshorbany, University of South Florida St. PetersburgFollow
J. Kleffmann
R. Kurtenbach
P. Wiesen

SelectedWorks Author Profiles:

Yasin F. Elshorbany

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2009

ISSN

1352-2310

Abstract

The amounts of formaldehyde and nitrous acid (HONO) in gas phase and dews of Santiago de Chile were simultaneously measured. Formaldehyde concentrations values in the liquid phase (dews) correlate fairly well with those in the gaseous phase and are even higher than those expected from gas-dew equilibrium. On the other hand, nitrite concentrations in dews were considerably smaller (ca. 15 times) than those expected from the gas-phase concentrations. This under-saturation is attributed to diffusion limitations due to the relatively large HONO solubility. In agreement with this, under-saturation increases with the rate of dew formation and the pH of the collected waters, factors that should increase the rate of gas to liquid HONO transfer required to reach equilibrium.

Publisher

Elsevier

Recommended Citation

Rubio, M. A., Lissi, E., Villena, G., Elshorbany, Y. F., Kleffmann, J., Kurtenbach, R., & Wiesen, P. (2009). Simultaneous measurements of formaldehyde and nitrous acid in dews and gas phase in the atmosphere of Santiago, Chile. Atmospheric Environment, 43(38), 6106–6109. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.09.017