Abstract
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) play several key roles in the lower atmosphere: they influence the oxidative potential of the atmosphere, they are precursors to ozone, and they impact global climate change through their impact on atmospheric aerosols. To better understand atmospheric chemistry on a global scale, this study estimated surface fluxes for VOCs using regional scale measurement technique to validate estimated surface fluxes obtained using ecosystem scale measurement technique to infer fluxes over a larger footprint. This experiment focused on several biogenic VOCs collected at Blodgett Forest research site using the tethered balloon measurement technique to estimate the surface flux. This site, which is located on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada mountains, was chosen for its unique combination of urban and rural air properties. The samples were collected between August 18th to 23rd, 2007 and analyzed by GC/MS coupled with flame ionization detector. The data were used to calculate surface fluxes of the VOCs using the mixed box method. The flux values were compared to previous results and showed that surface fluxes estimated using ecosystem scale measurement technique accurately estimate surface fluxes of larger footprints.