Lichens are an important part of the biota in western Oregon forests, where they perform valuable ecological roles and contribute significantly to biodiversity. Lichens in western Oregon are threatened by a number of factors including air pollution and land use practices. If we wish to maintain the persistence of lichens in future landscapes it is critical that we understand the responses of lichen communities and individual lichen species to the environment and forest structure. This dissertation explores factors that are related to differences in lichen community composition and the distributions of individual lichen species in the western Cascades of Oregon, using a large landscape scale data set. I sought to relate major gradients in lichen community composition to environmental factors, and describe differences in lichen communities with respect to forest age (Chapter 2). I found three major gradients in lichen communities at a landscape scale in the western Oregon Cascades. These gradients were related to climate as expressed by elevation and annual temperature, air quality, north-south position, the richness of epiphytic macrolichens, and forest age. I developed a rarity score, which can be used to identify hotspots of rare species diversity at a landscape scale (Chapter 3). I then built descriptive models of this rarity score to identify abiotic and biotic factors associated with the occurrence of rarity hotspots. I found that models of rarity score that used explanatory variables based on lichen community composition performed better than models that used explanatory variables based solely on environmental factors. I narrowed my focus to the level of individual species responses to the environment and forest structure by developing habitat models for 11 lichen species in the western Cascades (Chapter 4). We selected these species because they performed important ecological roles, were rare across the landscape and associated with old growth forests, or because their distributions were poorly understood. These models can be used to increase the efficiency of landscape level surveys for rare species, predict the response of these species to forest management practices, and understand factors associated with the distributions of these lichens. / Graduation date: 2006

In India, with the increase in the number of industries and vehicles the environment is getting more and more polluted. More than industries it is the rapid growth of vehicles which causes serious environmental crisis in the form of air pollution and has become alarming particularly in cities. The industrial and vehicular growth cannot be neglected, as the country’s economic and social well being is largely dependent on them. But this should not come at the cost of our health and eco system. The industrial and vehicular emissions must be controlled in order to keep our air clean. Continued efforts in this direction are being taken up across the globe to investigate an efficient and economical technique. There are many air pollutants being emitted from both natural and manmade sources. The major air pollutants identified as hazardous to human health are nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), particulate matter (PM), volatile organic compounds (VOC), and sulfur dioxides (SOx). Among these, nitrogen oxides are considered to be difficult to remove. The sources of NOx are thermal power plants, stationary and mobile diesel engines, gasturbine engine, ironore sintering plants and various other smallscale utilities. There are conventionally available technologies to remove NOx such as chemical scrubbing, catalysis etc. But these techniques are either difficult to operate or do not bring down the level of NOx to the required norms imposed by the government. The failure of conventional techniques to remove NOx to the expected limit led to the development of alternative nonconventional techniques. Prominent among these new alternative techniques is electric discharge plasma, where the gas is partially ionized and temperature of electrons is considerably higher than that of ions and background gas molecules. Diesel engines are getting popular due to their inherent merits and their number is increasing considerably. Unfortunately, the exhaust of diesel engine being complex with high oxygen content makes the existing pollution control techniques insufficient particularly with regard to removal of NOx. So there is a need for investigating better technology which can effectively abate the pollutants from diesel engine exhaust. Electric Discharge plasma is one such alternative technique which has been very successful in large volumes of flue gas cleaning and hence, its potential is being explored in the cleaning of small volumes of vehicular exhausts, in particular, diesel engine exhaust. In the present work we investigated the relative performance of different electric discharge plasma reactors, with different type of voltages like AC, DC and pulse. The reactors were evaluated for NOx removal efficiency and NO conversion. This research work is a feasibility study to find whether electric discharge plasma can be used more effectively as an alternative technology for the after treatment of diesel engine exhaust in cascade with some cheaper adsorbents, if necessary. The scope of this qualitative experimental study can briefly be summarized as below: . • To study different reactors for NO conversion and NOx removal . • To study the effect of dielectric pellets in enhancing the radical production which in turn will have a bearing on the chemical reactions . • To study the effect of different types of voltages on the cleansing process . • To propose an efficient reactor system subject to the experimental conditions studied.

No description available.

Atmospheric formaldehyde (H2CO) is an intermediate product common to the degradation of many volatile organic compounds and therefore it is a central component of the tropospheric chemistry. While the global formaldehyde background is due to methane oxidation, emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) from biogenic, biomass burning and anthropogenic continental sources result in important and localised enhancements of the H2CO concentration. Recent spaceborne nadir sensors provide an opportunity to quantify the abundance of tropospheric formaldehyde at the global scale, and thereby to improve our knowledge of NMVOC emissions. This is essential for a better understanding of the processes that control the production and the evolution of tropospheric ozone, a key actor in air quality and climate change, but also of the hydroxyl radical OH, the main cleansing agent of our troposphere. For this reason, H2CO satellite observations are increasingly used in combination with tropospheric chemistry transport models to constrain NMVOC emission inventories in so-called top-down inversion approaches. Such inverse modelling applications require well characterised satellite data products consistently retrieved over long time periods.<p>This work reports on global observations of formaldehyde columns retrieved from the successive solar backscatter nadir sensors GOME, SCIAMACHY and GOME-2, respectively launched in 1995, 2002 and 2006. The retrieval procedure is based on the differential optical absorption spectroscopy technique (DOAS). Formaldehyde concentrations integrated along the mean atmospheric optical path are derived from the recorded spectra in the UV region, and further converted to vertical columns by means of calculated air mass factors. These are obtained from radiative transfer simulations, accounting for cloud coverage, surface properties and best-guess H2CO profiles, the latter being derived from the IMAGES chemistry transport model. A key task of the thesis has consisted in the optimisation of the H2CO retrieval settings from multiple sensors, taking into account the instrumental specificities of each sounder. As a result of these efforts, a homogeneous dataset of formaldehyde columns covering the period from 1996 to 2010 has been created. This comes with a comprehensive error budget that treats errors related to the spectral fit of the columns as well as those associated to the air mass factor evaluation. The time series of the GOME, SCIAMACHY and GOME-2 H2CO observations is shown to be consistent and stable over time. In addition, GOME-2 brings a significant reduction of the noise on spatiotemporally averaged observations, leading to a better identification of the emission sources. Our dataset is used to study the regional formaldehyde distribution, as well as its seasonal and interannual variations, principally related to temperature changes and fire events, but also to anthropogenic activities. Moreover, building on the quality of our 15-year time series, we present the first analysis of long-term changes in the H2CO columns. Positive trends, in the range of 1.5 to 4% yr-1, are found in Asia, more particularly in Eastern China and India, and are related to the known increase of anthropogenic NMVOC emissions in these regions. Finally, our dataset has been extensively used in several studies, in particular by the BIRA-IASB modelling team to constrain NMVOC emission fluxes. The results demonstrate the high potential of satellite data as top-down constraint for biogenic and biomass burning NMVOC emission inventories, especially in Tropical ecosystems, in Southeastern Asia, and in Southeastern US. <p><p>Le formaldéhyde (H2CO) joue un rôle central dans la chimie de la troposphère en tant que produit intermédiaire commun à la dégradation chimique de la plupart des composés organiques volatils dans l’atmosphère. L’oxydation du méthane est responsable de plus de la moitié de la concentration moyenne globale du formaldéhyde. Sur les continents en revanche, les hydrocarbures non-méthaniques (NMVOCs) émis par la végétation, les feux de biomasse et les activités humaines, augmentent de façon significative et localisée la concentration de H2CO. Les récents senseurs satellitaires à visée nadir offrent la possibilité de quantifier à l’échelle globale l’abondance du formaldéhyde dans la troposphère et de ce fait, d’améliorer notre connaissance des émissions de NMVOCs. Ceci est essentiel à la compréhension des mécanismes contrôlant la production et l’évolution de l’ozone troposphérique, élément clé pour la qualité de l’air et les changements climatiques, mais aussi du composé hydroxyle OH, le principal agent nettoyant de notre troposphère. C’est pourquoi, une méthode de plus en plus répandue pour améliorer les inventaires d’émissions des NMVOCs consiste en l’utilisation d’observations satellitaires de H2CO en combinaison avec un modèle de chimie et de transport troposphérique, dans une approche appelée modélisation inverse. Ce genre d’application demande des produits satellitaires bien caractérisés et dérivés de façon cohérente sur de longues périodes de temps.<p>Le travail présenté dans ce manuscrit porte sur l’inversion des colonnes de formaldéhyde à partir de spectres de la radiation solaire rétrodiffusée par l’atmosphère terrestre, mesurés par les senseurs GOME, SCIAMACHY et GOME-2, lancés successivement en 1995, 2002 et 2006. La méthode d’inversion est basée sur la spectroscopie d’absorption optique différentielle (DOAS). Les concentrations de formaldéhyde intégrées le long du chemin optique moyen dans l’atmosphère sont dérivées à partir des spectres mesurés, et ensuite transformées en colonnes verticales par le biais de facteurs de conversion appelés facteurs de masse d’air. Ces derniers sont calculés à l’aide d’un modèle de transfert radiatif, en tenant compte de la présence de nuages, des propriétés de la surface terrestre et la distribution verticale supposée du formaldéhyde, fournie par le modèle IMAGES. Un des objectifs principaux de la thèse a été d’optimiser les paramètres d’inversion pour H2CO, et ceci pour les trois senseurs, tout en tenant compte des spécificités de chaque instrument. Ces efforts ont conduit à la création d’un jeu de données homogène, couvrant la période de 1996 à 2010. Les colonnes sont fournies avec un bilan d’erreur complet, incluant les erreurs liées à l’inversion des concentrations dans les spectres, ainsi que celles provenant de l’évaluation des facteurs de masse d’air. La série temporelle des observations de GOME, SCIAMACHY et GOME-2 présente une bonne cohérence et stabilité sur toute la période. Nous montrons aussi que la meilleure couverture terrestre de GOME-2 entraîne une réduction significative du bruit sur les observations moyennées, permettant une meilleure identification des sources d’émission. Notre jeu de données est exploité pour étudier la distribution régionale du formaldéhyde, ainsi que ses variations saisonnières et interannuelles, principalement liées aux variations de température et aux feux de végétation, mais aussi aux activités anthropiques. De plus, en s’appuyant sur la qualité de la série temporelle de 15 ans, nous présentons la première analyse des variations à long terme des concentrations de H2CO. Des tendances positives, de l’ordre de 1.5 à 4% par an, sont observées en Asie, en particulier dans l’est de la Chine et en Inde, liées à l’augmentation des émissions anthropiques d’hydrocarbures dans ces régions. Finalement, nos données ont été largement exploitées par le groupe de modélisation de l’IASB pour faire des études de modélisation inverse des émissions de NMVOCs. Les résultats démontrent le haut potentiel des données satellitaires pour contraindre les inventaires d’émissions dues à la végétation et aux feux de biomasse, particulièrement dans les écosystèmes tropicaux, en Asie du sud-est, et dans le sud-est des Etats-Unis. / Doctorat en Sciences de l'ingénieur / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

La catalyse hétérogène influe sur la cinétique des réactions chimiques pour favoriser la formation de produits souhaités. Appliquée à la dépollution atmosphérique, elle permet de réduire considérablement l'émission de polluants. Son plus grand succès public est d'ailleurs sans conteste le pot catalytique pour les moteurs à essence. Malgré ce succès, beaucoup reste à faire pour améliorer la dépollution à basse température et pour des conditions d'utilisations très différentes telles que celles imposées par les moteurs Diesel et "lean burn".<p><p>Lors de ce travail nous nous sommes intéressés à ces sujets. Tout d'abord, nous avons étudié l'effet du SO2 sur la réduction catalytique sélective des NOx sur des catalyseurs Ag/Al2O3 dans les conditions des moteurs Diesel. Le dioxyde de soufre est reconnu comme un poison de catalyseurs. Dans cette thèse, nous avons étudié un effet promoteur du SO2. Les catalyseurs qui ont fait l’objet de ce travail ont été préparés au laboratoire. Nous avons fait varier différents paramètres tels que la température, la nature de l'hydrocarbure ou encore la concentration de SO2 afin de mieux cerner cet effet promoteur. Nous avons mis en évidence que cet effet promoteur est observable lorsque le propène est utilisé comme réducteur, alors qu'avec le propane il s'agit plutôt d'un effet négatif du SO2.<p><p>Le deuxième sujet étudié dans ce travail est l'oxydation du CO sur des catalyseurs Au/TiO2, soit préparés au laboratoire, soit fournis comme référence du World Gold Council. Ces catalyseurs offrent l’avantage de pouvoir oxyder le CO à basse température, ce qui pourrait résoudre le problème de la pollution liée au démarrage à froid des automobiles. Ces catalyseurs subissent une désactivation que nous avons analysée par spectroscopie infrarouge (DRIFT et FTIR). Une étude XPS-SIMS de catalyseurs ayant des activités différentes nous a permis de mettre en évidence des concentrations de sodium différentes sur ces catalyseurs. Dans cette thèse, nous nous sommes plus particulièrement intéressés à l'influence du potassium. Pour mettre en évidence l'influence de celui-ci sur l'activité catalytique, des catalyseurs Au/TiO2 furent préparés en absence stricte d'alcalins et d'alcalino-terreux pour ajouter par après, de manière contrôlée, les quantités souhaitées de potassium. La composition des catalyseurs préparés fut contrôlée par XPS-SIMS. Il s'avère que la présence de potassium permet d'accroître l'activité catalytique, néanmoins il semble y avoir une concentration optimale de potassium qui varie en fonction de la composition/morphologie du catalyseur Au/TiO2 au départ, c'est-à-dire sans modification par ajout de potassium.<p> / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Elemental carbon (EC), a product of incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass, contributes to climate warming and poor air quality. In urban areas, diesel fuel trucks are the main source of EC emissions from mobile sources. After emission, EC is deposited to receptor surfaces via two main pathways: precipitation (wet deposition) and directly as particles (dry deposition). Urban trees may play an important role in removing EC from the atmosphere by intercepting and delivering it directly to the soil. The goal of this research was to quantify the magnitude of EC retention in leaf waxes (in-wax EC) and EC fluxes to the soil via leaf litterfall in the City of Denton, Texas. Denton is a rapidly growing urban location in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. A foliar extraction technique was used to determine EC retention in leaf waxes. Foliar samples were collected monthly, from April through July, from pairs of Quercus stellata (post oak, n=10) and Quercus virginiana (live oak, n = 10) trees. Samples were rinsed with water and chloroform in a two-step process to determine EC retained in leaf waxes. A Sunset OC/EC aerosol analyzer was utilized to analyze the EC content of extracts filtered onto quartz-fiber filters. From April through July, leaf litter was collected bi-weekly under 35 trees (20 post oak, 15 live oak), and oven dried to determine dry weight. EC retained by tree canopies was estimated by multiplying in-wax EC by canopy leaf area index, while EC flux to soil was estimated by multiplying in-wax EC by leaf litterfall mass. This study shows that through retention of EC in leaf waxes, urban tree canopies represent important short-term sinks for soot in urban areas.

<p>  </p> <p>Globally, communities are embracing the cured-in-place-pipe (CIPP) process due to the need to address damaged buried water and sewer pipes. CIPP involves the chemical manufacture of a new plastic pipe inside an existing buried water and sewer pipe, without the need for excavation. The process is popular because it can be 80% less costly than alternative methods and construction workers can be present for hours to not days to weeks. However, as CIPP use has grown, so have the number of hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents caused by using this practice. Evacuations of daycare centers, schools, homes, healthcare, institutional, and other buildings have been caused. In some cases, chemical exposure victims have required medical assistance and hospital admission. For decades, organizations within the CIPP industry and municipalities have encouraged chemical waste discharge into ambient air, resulting in preventable exposures. Recent work has indicated tons of volatile organic compounds (VOC) may be released during a single CIPP project into the air. Chemicals released include hazardous air pollutants (HAP), carcinogens (CAR), endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDR), and other compounds with little toxicological information. While polymer composites have been manufactured for other applications for more than 50 years, little information exists about what chemicals and materials are used to manufacture CIPPs. As CIPP use has grown along with the number of bystander chemical exposures, concerns about the type, magnitude, and toxicity of chemical emissions from CIPP projects have markedly increased. To reduce the potential for human harm and environmental degradation, a better understanding of CIPP composite chemistry and manufacturing is needed. This dissertation aimed to elucidate the processes that control the composition of waste generated during plastic CIPP manufacture and ascertain how to modify the manufacturing practice to minimize impacts on composite integrity and emission toxicity. </p> <p>Chapter 1 focused on indoor VOC exposure simulation and styrene contamination/ decontamination to evaluate the risk of occupant exposure during CIPP installation. Styrene is a common monomer used in many CIPP resins and can be discharged into the air at CIPP worksites. A review of prior incidents revealed that CIPP waste (liquid, organic chemicals, etc.) could enter nearby buildings through multiple routes including windows, doors, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning outdoor air intakes. When CIPP is manufactured inside a sanitary sewer pipe, waste can enter buildings through sewer laterals of nearby buildings and through foundation cracks. Study results showed that plumbing seal backflows in bathrooms caused by sewer repair work are hydraulically possible: the minimum pressure required to displace water in the plumbing trap was estimated to be 0.995 kPa and 8.85 kPa for a sink and toilet, separately. These pressures are much lower than those applied by the contractor during the sewer lining (up to 193.05 kPa). Based on the indoor exposure events, the dissipation potential of vapors, as well as the hydraulic calculations, indoor air chemical contamination and decontamination profiles were also examined. A mass balance model of chemical vapor dispersion was developed. Modeling results revealed that bathroom exhaust fan operation during a CIPP project can increase the indoor styrene concentration by enhancing the inflow of styrene-containing air from the sink and toilet. However, the styrene concentration decreased as air leaked across the bathroom door due to reduced suction in the plumbing. Based on incident reviews, chemical magnitudes, and modeling results it was concluded that CIPP waste discharge should be treated as hazardous material discharge, because of its threat to human health. Actions are needed to reduce waste generation and contain the waste, so it does not leave the worksite. Chapter 2 aimed to determine the manufacturing conditions that most influence chemical residual left in the thermally manufactured CIPP. Bench-scale testing of multiple styrene- and non-styrene composites revealed the manufacturing conditions (curing time, temperature, initiator loading) necessary to produce a high integrity composite while minimizing chemical residual and air emissions. Even though the VOC loading of the non-styrene resin (4 wt.%) was much less than that of styrene resin (39 wt.%), the non-styrene resin did contain HAP, EDR, CAR compounds including ethylbenzene, 2-ethylhexanoic acid, methacrylic acid, styrene, toluene, and <em>m</em>-xylene. Study results also revealed that by changing initiator loading a drastic reduction in the amount of styrene (-42 wt.%) and styrene oxide (-33 wt.%) residual left in the newly manufactured composite was achieved. Discoveries prompted a new hypothesis that this decreased residual also prompted a decreased amount of VOCs emitted into the air. The explanation is that this occurs because that a greater amount of the monomer styrene was incorporated into the resin during polymerization and not permitted to enter the air. Despite decades of polymer composite use, this study provides a new fundamental understanding of composite chemicals and techniques for reducing air pollutant emissions during plastic composite manufacture. In Chapter 3, the complexity of organic vapor chemicals found in the air during thermal heating of CIPP composites was explored and quantified. The emission rate of a popular monomer, styrene, was quantified from the materials before, during, and after composite manufacture. Scaling up bench-scale results, 1.9 to 14 US tons and 0.18 to 1.35 US tons of VOCs (0.05 to 0.36 US tons and 0.001 to 0.007 US tons of styrene) were estimated to be emitted during curing of styrene- and non-styrene CIPPs (i.e., typically 1-3 m of diameter pipes). By modifying standard air sampling methods, previously undetectable chemicals associated with CIPP manufacture were found in the styrene-laden air. These include acetophenone, benzaldehyde, phenol, and 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene. Results have immediate relevance to improved air monitoring for public and worker safety. Further, results can be used to examine the cumulative health and environmental risks of the CIPP pollutant mixtures. Chapter 4 focused on identifying CIPP technology/knowledge gaps and feedback from health officials from multiple state and federal agencies. Through this study, a public health workgroup was assembled to include disciplinary experts and 13 federal, state, and city health agencies and public health associations. Building on dialogue with U.S. health officials, the state of knowledge pertaining to CIPP chemical exposures, mitigation, and response actions was reviewed. Topics included 1) CIPP manufacturing process and waste; 2) sewers and buildings; 3) chemical exposure and health; 4) chemical risk assessment; 5) risk communication. This study helped establish relationships among federal, state, and city officials to improve public health response. Additionally, a primer for CIPP chemical fate and transport, as well as assisting in identifying and prioritizing public health information needs was developed. Identification and prioritization of current public health knowledge gaps and proposed practices for reducing exposures to the public and workers were reported. CIPP-related bench and research results throughout the dissertation can serve as an important basis for environmental policy and public health guidelines on the prevention and mitigation aspects of environmental and human health impacts resulting from CIPP manufacturing practices.</p>

The deteriorating air quality in Cape Town (CT) is a threat to the social and economic development of the city. Although previous studies have shown that most of the pollutants are emitted in the city, it is not clear how the transport of pollutants from neighbouring cities may contribute to the pollution. This thesis studies the transport of atmospheric nitrogen oxides (NOx) and nitric acid (HNO3) pollutants over South Africa and examines the role of pollutant transport from the Mpumalanga Highveld on pollution in CT. The study analysed observation data (2001 - 2008) from the CT air quality network and from regional climate model simulation (2001 - 2004) over South Africa. The model simulations account for the influences of complex topography, atmospheric conditions, and atmospheric chemistry on transport of the pollutants over South Africa. Flux budget analysis was used to examine whether the city is a net source or sink for NOx and HNO3. The results show that north-easterly flow transports pollutants (NOx and HNO3) at low level (i.e., surface to 850 hPa) from the Mpumalanga Highveld towards CT. In April, a tongue of high concentration of HNO3 extends from the Mpumalanga Highveld to CT, along the southern coast. The flux budget analysis shows that CT can be a net sink for NOx and HNO3 during extreme pollution events. The study infers that, apart from the local emission of the pollutants in CT, the accumulation of pollutants transported from other areas may contribute to pollution in the city. / Environmental Sciences / M. Sc. (Environmental Science)

The State of Kuwait has three large refineries, namely, Mina Al Ahmadi Refinery, Mina Abdullah Refinery and Shuaiba Refinery. These refineries process and refine Kuwait Crude Oil through different process units. There are many heaters, boilers and flares that form a part of the complicated equipment which enhance the different petroleum processes. Fuel gas is used as a firing fuel for those heaters and boilers. As a result, stack emissions like SO2, NOx, CO are predominantly present in the flue gases and this study focuses on those emissions and their impact on the surrounding residential area. The area of interest will be Umm Al-Hyman residential area. This study accumulates emission inventories from the three refineries and the respective ground level concentration of the pollutants in the neighboring residential area. It also focuses on the impact of emissions from the refinery operations on the ground level concentrations in the surrounding areas by using the inventory model and latest emission factors to provide accurate emission estimates. The models were developed and the results were verified with the actual data from the area of impact. As a result of the findings of the major pollutants, namely SO2, NOx & CO, it is found that SO2 and CO are not exceeding Kuwait EPA Ambient Air Quality Standards for Residential Areas normally. However, NOx is observed to exceed occasionally. Even though, NOx emissions from refineries sources represented by plume models were much less, there is a consistent increase in the measured NOx. Furthermore, in 2007, the measured hourly, daily and annual NOx concentration exceeded the international standard many times. The increasing trend in NOx is attributed to continuous increase in population and the number of motor vehicles. The study will go further step in recommending engineering solutions and best practices to reduce the pollutants concentrations which will help in the reduction of human health risks and protect the environment.

We improved the assimilated daily inversion method by conducting model simulation, satellite retrieval, and inverse modeling sequentially on a daily basis. The improved procedure was applied to GOME-2 and OMI NO₂ measurements over China in 2011, respectively. The new daily retrieval-inversion method significantly reduced the systematic bias in inverse modeling of NOₓ emission between using GOME-2 and OMI measurements, and detected more clear seasonal and weekly variations. OMI instrument observed NO₂ columns over China from 2005 to 2010 were analyzed in order to estimate the top-down anthropogenic NOₓ emission trends. The estimated average emission trend is slower than the trend reported for previous years. We find large regional, seasonal, and urban-rural variations in emission trends. These results appear to suggest that a number of factors have significantly reduced or even reversed the increasing trend of NOₓ emissions in more economically developed megacities and southern coastal regions, but their effects are not as significant in other major cities or less economically developed regions. A 1-D chemical transport model was applied to analyze OH and HO₂ radical observations during the Pacific Atmospheric Sulfur Experiment (PASE) near Christmas Island (Kiritimati, 1.52°N 157.24°W) from Aug. 2 through Sep. 10, 2007. In two of fourteen research flights, significantly higher HO₂/OH ratios in the buffer layer than the other flights were found. Model simulations indicated that fast-reacting oxygenated volatile organic compounds, which can react rapidly with OH and provide additional primary radical sources through photolysis, were necessary to explain the observations. During or right before these two flights, the WRF model simulated two strongest shallow convective events during this experiment, suggesting a transport pathway of ocean organics into the buffer layer. Ocean upwelling driven by atmospheric pressure depression during convection may expedite the release of ocean organics.