Background

The atmosphere is a complex photochemical reactor which contains a gas-particles mixture of natural and anthropogenic compounds with diverse properties, producing adverse effects on human health, ecology, ozone depletion, and climate (Finlayson-Pitts and Pitts, 2000). Since the industrial revolution, a strong anthropogenic influence on the tropospheric composition has taken place.

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) are the dominant organics emitted in the atmosphere with an estimated annual emission from the biosphere of ~ 1200 Tg year-1 (Guenther et al., 1995). Their further oxidation influence concentration of radicals, directly related to methane lifetimes, and production of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) (Ng et al., 2007; Donahue et al., 2011; Robinson et al., 2011) with impact on air quality and climate change.

Sesquiterpenes (SQT) play an important role in the carbonyls atmospheric budget and SOA formation (*Kourtchev et al., 2009; 2012; van Eijck et al., 2013; Jaoui et al., 2016). 

References: (* PI co-authorship)

Donahue, N.M., et al., Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 13, 10848-10857 (2011).

Finlayson-Pitts, B.J., and Pitts, J.N. Jr., Chemistry of the Upper and Lower Atmosphere: Theory, Experiments and Applications, Academic Press, San Diego, CA; London, 2000,

Guenther, A., et al., J. Geophys. Res, 100, 8873–8892 (1995).

*Kourtchev, I., et al., Atmos. Environ. 43, 3182-3190 (2009).

*Kourtchev, I., et al., Atmos. Environ. 46, 338-345 (2012).

Jaoui, M., et al., Atmos. Environ., 130, 190-201 (2016).

Ng, N. L. et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 5159−5174, (2007).

Robinson, N.H., et al., Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 1039-1050 (2011).

Van Eijck, A., et al., Atmos. Environ., 80, 122-130 (2013).