Browsing by Subject "BVOC"

Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds play a major role in the atmosphere by acting as precursors in the formation of secondary organic aerosols and by also affecting the concentration of ozone. The chemical diversity of BVOCs is vast but global emissions are dominated by isoprene and monoterpenes. The emissions of BVOCs from plants are affected by environmental parameters with temperature and light having significant impacts on the emissions. The Downy birch and Norway spruce trees consist of heavy and low volatile compounds but published results are limited up to observing sesquiterpenoid emissions from these two trees. In this study, the Vocus proton-transfer-reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometer is deployed in the field to examine BVOC emissions from Downy birch and Norway spruce trees. With higher mass resolution, shorter time response and lower limits of detection than conventional PTR instruments, the Vocus can effectively measure a broader range of VOCs. For the first time, real-time emissions of diterpenes and 12 different oxygenated compounds were observed from birch and spruce trees. The emission spectrum of birch was dominated by C10H17+, while for spruce C5H9+ contributed the most. The sum emissions of oxygenated compounds contributed significantly to the observed total emissions from both the trees. The emission rates of all compounds varied dramatically throughout the period due to fluctuations in temperature and light. Due to lack of data from spruce, conclusive results for temperature and light response on terpene emissions could not be drawn. For birch, the emission rates were well explained by the temperature and temperature-light algorithms. The terpene emissions modelled using both algorithms correlated similarly with experimental data making it difficult to decisively conclude if the emissions originated from synthesis or pools.