Collaborative Research: Mercury Oxidation Pathways in a Continental Atmosphere: High Temporal Resolution Measurements of Mercury and Oxidants at Storm Peak Laboratory

这个项目的重点是大气汞的研究。大气中的汞以气相元素形式存在，作为气相氧化的汞化合物，并与颗粒结合。这项研究的主要工作将是在遥远的大陆大气中控制氧化反应的过程和机制。汞是一种影响人类神经健康和发育的毒素。更彻底地了解大气浓度和氧化汞的化学途径是全面决定其命运的关键。该项目有三个目标：(1)在美国大陆的一个偏远山顶站点生成一个高质量的数据集，其中包含元素和氧化汞、卤素氧化自由基、气溶胶大小分布和其他氧化剂的准确浓度；(2)查明影响自由对流层和行星边界层气团中元素汞和氧化汞的化学机制和物理过程；(3)加强风暴峰实验室现有的长期测量（例如，告知新粒子形成的来源），并通过分享数据分析工具和从高海拔地面平台取样氧化汞、纳米粒子和卤素的最佳实践的专业知识，促进与其他山区天文台的研究人员的对话。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project focuses on the study of atmospheric mercury. Mercury in the atmosphere exists in the gas-phase elemental form, as gas-phase oxidized mercury compounds, and bound to particles. The primary effort of this research will be on processes and mechanisms that govern oxidation reactions in the remote continental atmosphere. Mercury is a toxin that impacts neurological health and development in humans. A more thorough understanding of the atmospheric concentrations and chemical pathways of oxidized mercury is central to fully determining its fate. There are three objectives to this project: (1) Generate a high-quality dataset with accurate concentrations of elemental and oxidized mercury, halogen oxide radicals, aerosol size distribution, and other oxidants at a remote mountaintop site over the continental U.S.; (2) Identify the chemical mechanisms and physical processes that influence elemental and oxidized mercury in the free troposphere and the planetary boundary layer air masses; and (3) Bolster existing long-term measurements at Storm Peak Laboratory (e.g., to inform sources of new particle formation) and facilitate dialogue with researchers at other mountain observatories by sharing data analysis tools and expertise on best practices for sampling oxidized mercury, nanoparticles, and halogens from high elevation ground-based platforms.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.