AAAR 32nd Annual Conference
September 30 - October 4, 2013
Oregon Convention Center
Portland, Oregon, USA
Abstract View
The Effect of Ozone Stress on the Output of Volatile Organic Compounds and the Resulting Aerosol Properties Produced by Eastern White Pine
Yin Wang, Dabrina Dutcher, TIMOTHY RAYMOND, Bucknell University
Abstract Number: 679 Working Group: Aerosols, Clouds, and Climate
Abstract Small Eastern White Pine trees were placed inside a Teflon smog chamber and exposed to varying concentrations of ozone. One small branch of each tree was further enclosed in another Teflon bag with a solid-phase microextraction (SPME) needle used to collect the emitted volatile organic compounds (VOCs). A scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) was used in the main chamber to analyze the particle distribution produced from the oxidized VOCs. A cloud condensation nuclei counter (CCNC) was also used in the main chamber to study the activation diameter of the resulting aerosol using scanning mobility CCN analysis (SMCA). A gas chromatography mass spectrometer (GCMS) was used to analyze the SPME in order to identify the VOCs produced and to roughly quantify the species. Results indicate that when exposed to ozone stress, the pine trees emitted higher concentrations of most monoterpenes but lower concentrations of sesquiterpenes. The resulting particle distributions and their CCN behavior were also affected. While these results were for only one tree species and more research on additional species is necessary, implications for future climate and particulate pollution scenarios are obvious.