Peroxyacetyl nitrate in eastern Scotland

Abstract

Peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN) concentrations in air were sampled hourly from 1994 to 1998 at a rural site 15 km south-west of Edinburgh, in eastern Scotland. Annual average concentrations were between 0.1 and 0.15 nl l −1, with episodes up to 3 nl l −1 in long-range transported polluted air. PAN concentrations were approximately log-normally distributed. The concentrations measured are the result of a balance between photochemical production rates and removal by thermal decomposition and dry deposition. In general, there was a poor correlation between PAN and ozone concentrations at this rural site except during episodes of photochemical pollution, when the PAN/O 3 volume ratio exceeded 0.01. The PAN/NO x volume ratio had a median value of 0.015 but ranged up to 0.25. There was a pronounced seasonal maximum in PAN concentrations in late spring, and a strong diurnal cycle only in April–June, with a maximum at 1700 h. Individual episodes, with concentrations up to 3 nl l −1, could be traced over distances of ca. 1000 km, with rapid changes in concentration as the prevailing winds advected polluted air masses across the site.