Simultaneous airborne nitric acid and formic acid measurements using a chemical ionization mass spectrometer around the UK: Analysis of primary and secondary production pathways

Abstract

The first simultaneous measurements of formic and nitric acid mixing ratios around the United Kingdom were measured on the FAAM BAe-146 research aircraft with a chemical ionization mass spectrometer using I− reagent ions at 0.8 Hz. Analysis of the whole dataset shows that formic acid and nitric acid are positively correlated as illustrated by other studies (e.g. Veres et al., 2011). However, initial evidence indicates a prominent direct source of formic acid and also a significant source when O3 levels are high, suggesting the importance of the ozonolysis of 1-alkenes. A trajectory model was able to reproduce the formic acid concentrations by both the inclusion of a primary vehicle source and production via ozonolysis of propene equivalent 1-alkene levels. Inspection of data archives implies these levels of 1-alkene are possible after 11 am, but formic acid and nitric acid plumes early in the flight are too high for the model to replicate. These data show the relationship between nitric acid and formic acid cannot solely be attributed to related photochemical production. The simultaneous measurement of HCOOH and HNO3 has been implemented to estimate OH levels along the flight track assuming a relationship between formic and nitric acid in photochemical plumes and a constant source of 1-alkene.