air quality - exam I (ch 3)

ideal gas law

PV=nRT or NKbT (Kb = R/A)

know graph of altitude vs air pressure and air density

-99.9% of the atmosphere lies below an altitude of 48 km

NAAQS Top 6 Pollutants

-CO -lead -NO2 -O3 -PM -SO2

according to the equation of state, if temperature increases with increasing height and pressure decreases with increasing height in the stratosphere, how much density change with increasing height?

-air density decreases exponentially with increasing altitude because most of the atmosphere is closest to the surface -there's less pressure the higher the altitude so air particles and move freely and stretch apart, therefore becoming less dense

explain temperature in stratosphere

-at top: ozone absorbs short wavelengths which results in greatest heating

what are the two parts of the troposphere?

-boundary layer -background troposphere

nitrogen dioxide (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-brown gas with strong odor -sources: atm chemical reactions, photolysis, biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion -sinks: atm chemical reactions, photolysis, dissolution into water and soil -mixing ratios: 20-50 pptv clean air; 0.1-0.25 ppmv in pollution -jealth effects: > 80 ppbv --> sore throat, colds 300-800 ppbv --> reduce lung capacity 150 ppmv --> death

why does the lower part of the daytime convective mixed layer lose its buoyancy at night? how does the loss of buoyancy in this region affect concentrations of pollutants emitted at night?

-buoyancy is lost because the cooling from the ground decreases the mixing (and therefore buoyancy) at the base of the mixed layer -since the layer is not as buoyant at night, pollutants are trapped under the dense air and therefore increased

nitric oxide (sources, sinks, mixing ratio)

-colorless gas, free radical -sources: denitrification, lightning, biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion -sinks: atm chemical reaction, photolysis, dissolution into water and soil -mixing ratio: 5 pptv in clean air and .1 ppmv in polluted air

carbon dioxide (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-colorless, odorless, greenhouse gas -sources: fermentation, respiration, evaporation from oceans, volcanoes, biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion -sinks: photosynthesis, respiration, dissolution into water and soil, chem weather -mixing ratio: 412 ppmv -health effects: respiration under 15000 and above 30000 headaches and dizziness

sulfur dioxide (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-colorless, taste above .3 ppmv, odor above .5 ppmv -sources: oxidation of DMS in oceans, volcanos, fossil -fuel combustion, mineral ore processing, chem manufacturing -sins: atm chemical reaction, dissolution into water and clouds -mixing ratio: 10 pptv - 1 ppbv in clean air and 1-30 ppbv in pollution -health effects: absorbs in respiratory tract and above 1.5 ppmv it can cause bronchitis symptoms

what are the processes affecting temperature in the atmposhere

-conduction -convection -advection -radiation

boundary layer

-from surface to 500-3000 m (troposphere) -changes during day or night because it responds to changes in surface temperature -cooling at night creates an extra nocturnal boundary layer (inversion layer)

lead (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-gray-white solid heavy metal -sources: crustal physical weathering, leaded fuel combustion, lead-acid battery manufacturing, lead ore crushing and smelting, dust from soils contaminated with lead-based paint, solid waste disposal -sinks: deposition to water and soils, inhalation -concentrations: decreased from 0.17 to 0.06 μg m-3 from 1988-1997 -health effects: lead poisoning: mental retardation, neurological impairment, plumbism: abdominal pains, black line in gums, paralysis, blindness, deafness, coma, death

water vapor (sources, sinks, mixing ratio)

-greenhouse gas -sources: evaporation, sublimation, transpiration, atm chemical reaction -sinks: condensation, ice deposition, transfer to oceans, atm chemical reaction -mixing ration: 0-4% of air -no health effects

methane (sources, sinks, mixing ratio)

-greenhouse gas with a lifetime of 8-12 years -sources: methanogenic bacteria, natural gas leaks, biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion -sinks: methanotrophic bacteria, atm chemical reaction, dissolution into water and soil -mixing rations: 1.8 ppmv (2005)

know graph of temp vs altitude

-lots of fluctuation in each layer -know what causes the fluctuation in troposphere and stratosphere

do convection, conduction, or advection occur in the moon's atmosphere? why or why not?

-only radiation can occur on the moon because it does not require a medium -the moon doesn't have an atmosphere so convection and conduction can't work to heat it -conduction esp can't work because there aren't enough molecules in the moon's atmosphere to transfer energy away from its surface (same reasoning for advection)

ozone (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-smells like photocopy above .02 ppmv but is clear unless it's at high concentrations, then it's purple -sources: atm chemical reactions -sinks: atm chemical reactions, photolysis, dissolution into water and soil -mixing ratio: 20-40 ppbv in clean air but 40-500 in polluted air -health effects: above .25 ppmb it causes asthma symptoms and can affect vegetation and textiles

carbon monoxide (sources, sinks, mixing ratio, health effects)

-tasteless, colorless, odorless gas that produces tropospheric ozone -sources: biomass burning, fossil-fuel combustion, photolysis, bio activity in oceans -sinks: atmospheric oxidation to carbon dioxide, dissolution into water and soil -mixing ratio: 2-10 ppmv in urban air and .004-.2 ppmv in free trop. -health effects: anything over 700 ppmv causes death because it replaces O in hemoglobin

how does temperature change in the free troposphere?

-temperature decreases w altitude because there's less capacity to absorb sun's radiation

when the carbon dioxide mixing ratio in the atmosphere increases, what happens to the concentration of dissolved carbon dioxide in the ocean?

-there is too much carbon entering the ocean so the healthy levels in the ocean are being thrown off because the ocean will hold as much as it can -ocean acidification

if carbon dioxide were not removed from the oceans by shell production and sedimentation, what would happen to its atmosphere mixing ratios?

-there would be more CO2 in the atmosphere because less would be in the sinks in the ocean -therefore there would be a higher mixing ratio

if O, N, and O3 did not absorb UV radiation, what would you expect the temp profile in the atmosphere to look like between the surface and top of the thermosphere?

-these compounds absorb UV light so it doesn't harm the organisms on the surface -the atmosphere would be a lot cooler if UV light wasn't kept by these compounds?

inversion layer

-top of mixed layer is often bounded by this -inhibits the rise of thermals originating from the surface -temp inversion: increase in temp w/increasing height -what happens in the winter in production cities

radiation

-transfer of energy through photons and waves -does not require a medium therefore it could happen on the moon

surface layer

comprises the bottom 10% of the boundary layer -region of strong change of wind speed with height

advection

horizontal mass movement of mc's

convective mixed layer

region of air just above the surface layer -turbulence driven by convection heat transfer from solar heating of the ground to the atmosphere -area where there's convection therefore vertical mixing

conduction

transfer of energy from molecule to molecule -important only near the ground because it's a lot more relevant at surface

convection

transfer of energy, gases, and particles by mass movement of air -energy is transferred as mc's move -forced convection: upward/downward movement by mechanical means; when horizontal winds meet and are forced up -free convection: thermal turbulence occurring when the sun heats different areas of the ground differently -turbulence is the effect of groups of eddies of different size