Isoprene oxidation and OH recycling

从极地到赤道，地球表面的温度变化很大。引起这种温度变化的因素有很多，但主要的是；能量到达表面的热量从太阳两极(小于赤道),地球的反射率(称为反照率)决定了太阳的能量仅仅是反射回太空(包括云层和冰表面),冷却表面和大气中温室气体的数量作为一个环绕地球的毯子(防止热量从地球逃往空间)和温暖的表面。植物在地球系统中扮演着至关重要的角色，在光合作用中将二氧化碳和水转化为糖和氧气（生命所必需的）。它们还能在表面吸收一系列污染物，并在城市地区种植，部分原因是为了减少颗粒物的水平。然而，植物也会出于各种原因释放一种化学混合物，例如吸引传粉者、防御捕食者和防止臭氧等各种污染物。羟基自由基（OH）是一种在大气中产生的物质，它的作用就像一种化学清洁剂，可以清除污染物，清洁大气。人们认为，植物释放的这些化学物质抑制了羟基自由基，因此会增加温室气体的水平。然而，最近对热带地区OH水平的测量表明，这种想法是错误的，这些化学物质实际上导致了OH的再循环。如果这是正确的，那么植物，特别是热带地区的植物，将在抵消气候变化方面发挥重要作用。如果氢氧根的循环利用是正确的，那么这些工厂的排放将导致大气中温室气体的减少。此外，据信，这些排放物也可能导致气溶胶物种，这将有助于形成云，进一步冷却地球。因此，这种综合效应对我们了解地球气候（过去、现在和未来）可能是极其重要的。当然，它也将对森林生态系统、热带地区森林砍伐的负面影响和一般土地利用战略产生重要影响。各种各样的科学家推测这些化学物质是如何导致OH循环的，有些是基于实验室实验。然而，那些似乎具有最大潜在影响并可能解决（至少部分解决）测量和计算机模拟之间的差异的方法，是基于计算机计算本身的。因此，在实验室中验证这些理论研究是至关重要的。这些反应很难研究，因此我们建议在我们希望研究的一些化学物质上添加标签（将氢换成氘），这样我们就可以更容易地跟踪反应途径。我们将在流动系统和静态反应室中使用一系列检测器。这两种体系都能使我们研究化学体系的不同方面。我们将使用的检测器包括质谱法（我们通过它们的重量来识别化合物）和光谱学（我们通过它们吸收的特定颜色的光的量来识别化合物）。这些仪器是在两所大学（布里斯托尔和曼彻斯特）开发的，使他们成为世界上为数不多的能够进行这些研究的团队之一。

The surface temperature of the Earth varies dramatically from polar regions through to equatorial ones. There are many factors that give rise to this temperature variation but the main ones are; the amount of heat energy arriving at the surface from the sun (which is smaller at the poles than the equator), the reflectivity of the Earth (called the albedo) which determines how much of the sun's energy is simply reflected back to space (and includes clouds and ice at the surface) which cool the surface and the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere which act as a blanket around the Earth (preventing heat from the Earth from escaping to space) and warm the surface up. Plants play a vital role in the Earth system, converting carbon dioxide and water into sugars and oxygen (essential for life) during photosynthesis. They also absorb a range of pollutants on their surfaces and are planted in urban areas in part to reduce the levels of particulate matter. However, plants also release a cocktail of chemicals for a variety of reasons, e.g. attracting pollinators, defence against predators and protection against a variety of pollutants such as ozone. The hydroxyl radical (OH) is a species produced in the atmosphere that acts like a chemical detergent, mopping up pollutants and cleansing the atmosphere. It was believed that these chemicals released by plants suppressed the hydroxyl radical and therefore would increase the level of greenhouse gases. However, recent measurements of the level of OH in the tropics suggest that this idea is wrong and that these chemicals actually lead to OH recycling. If this is correct then plants and in particular those in tropical regions, will be playing a significant role in off-setting climate change. If the recycling of OH is correct then these plant emissions are leading to a reduction in the amount of greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere.In addition, it is believed that these emissions may also lead to aerosol species that will help to form cloud and further cool the planet. Therefore, this combination of effects could be extremely important to our understanding of the Earth's climate (past, present and future). It will also of course have important implications for forest ecosystems, the enhanced negative impact of deforestation in tropical regions and land-use strategies in general. A variety of scientists have speculated about how these chemicals may be leading to a recycling of OH, some based on laboratory experiments. However, the ones that appear to have the biggest potential impact and may resolve, at least in part, the discrepancy between measurements and computer simulations, are based on computer based calculations themselves. Therefore, it is vital that these theoretical studies be verified in the laboratory. These reactions are difficult to study and so we propose to add tags (swapping hydrogen for deuterium)to some of the chemicals we wish to study so that we can follow the reaction pathway more easily. We will use a range of detectors in concert with both a flow system and a static reaction chamber. Both systems will allow us to stufy different aspects of the chemical system. The detectors we will use include mass spectrometry (where we identify compounds by their weight) and spectroscopy (where we identify compounds by the amount of a specific colour of light that they absorb). These instruments have been developed at the two Universities involved (Bristol and Manchester) and allow them to be uniquely placed to be one of the few teams in the world able to carry out these studies.