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

本项目致力于大气汞的研究。大气中的汞以气相元素形式存在，以气相氧化汞化合物的形式存在，并与颗粒结合。这项研究的主要工作将是研究在遥远的大陆大气中控制氧化反应的过程和机制。汞是一种毒素，会影响人类的神经健康和发育。更透彻地了解大气中氧化汞的浓度和化学途径是充分确定其命运的关键。这个项目有三个目标：(1)生成一个高质量的数据集，其中包含美国大陆偏远山顶地区元素汞和氧化汞、卤素氧化物自由基、气溶胶尺寸分布和其他氧化剂的准确浓度；(2)确定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；以及(3)支持风暴峰实验室现有的长期测量(例如，告知新颗粒形成的来源)，并通过共享数据分析工具和从高海拔地面平台采样氧化汞、纳米颗粒和卤素的最佳实践的专业知识，促进与其他山区观测站的研究人员的对话。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.