UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Nitrous Oxide and Molecular Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions and Aerosol Optical Properties: Experiments and Observations Relevant to Planetary Atmospheres Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5vs5n9x5 Author Croteau, Philip Louis Publication Date 2010 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Nitrous Oxide and Molecular Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions and Aerosol Optical Properties: Experiments and Observations Relevant to Planetary Atmospheres by Philip Louis Croteau A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Kristie A. Boering, Chair Professor Ronald C. Cohen Professor Imke de Pater Spring 2010 Nitrous Oxide and Molecular Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions and Aerosol Optical Properties: Experiments and Observations Relevant to Planetary Atmospheres © 2010 by Philip Louis Croteau Abstract Nitrous Oxide and Molecular Nitrogen Isotopic Compositions and Aerosol Optical Properties: Experiments and Observations Relevant to Planetary Atmospheres by Philip Louis Croteau Doctor of Philosophy in Chemistry University of California, Berkeley Professor Kristie A. Boering, Chair Nitrous oxide (N 2O) and molecular nitrogen (N 2) isotopic compositions and aerosol optical properties were investigated through experiments and observations to elucidate their roles in atmospheric radiative transfer and chemistry. In Earth’s atmosphere, the isotopic composition of N2O, a potent greenhouse gas, is a useful tool for investigating its sources and sinks. N 2 is the main component of the atmospheres of Earth and Titan, and isotope effects in its photoionization may lead to isotopic fractionation. The optical properties of aerosols, a component of most planetary atmospheres, determine how they affect radiative transfer. A polarimeter was developed to measure aerosol optical properties in situ in an existing apparatus. Three sets of measurements of N 2O isotopic composition provide new insight into its budget. First, a time-series from 1940 to 2005 from firn and archived air samples is consistent with the observed N 2O increase being largely due to isotopically light N 2O emissions from agriculture and reveals seasonal cycles due to the seasonally-varying influences of multiple N 2O sources and stratosphere-troposphere exchange. Second, measurements from the tropical free troposphere show coherent vertical variations in N 2O isotopic compositions consistent with the persistent influence of a regional surface source, most likely the ocean. Third, samples from the marine boundary layer with anomalously high N 2O mixing ratios and perturbed isotopic compositions were used to deduce a source isotopic composition that is perhaps representative of N 2O emitted from the South Atlantic Ocean. Isotope effects in the non-dissociative photoionization of N 2 — investigated by measuring the photoionization efficiency spectrum for its three isotopologues — clarify peak identities and show that these previously ignored isotope effects may be important in planetary atmospheres. The shifts in peak energy due to isotopic substitution show that the controversial peak at 15.68 14 2 + eV for N2 is most likely due to a Rydberg state converging to the v’=2 level of the A Πu N 2 14 state. A model of Titan’s atmosphere shows that isotopic self-shielding in N2 photoionization may cause isotopic fractionation between N 2 and other N-bearing molecules distinct from that caused by N 2 photodissociation, providing a possible mechanism for determining the relative importance of ion versus neutral photochemistry. 1 For Sweetie and the Plucot i Table of contents List of figures ...........................................................................................................................iv List of tables .............................................................................................................................. x 1. Introduction and overview................................................................................................... 1 References ............................................................................................................................ 5 2. Methods ................................................................................................................................. 7 2.1 Measuring the isotopic composition of atmospheric N 2O at natural abundance............ 7 2.1.1 Measurement procedures....................................................................................... 8 2.1.2 Reference standard calibration............................................................................ 10 2.1.3 Converting measurements to the Toyota Yoshida [1999] scale.......................... 11 2.1.4 Baseline issue for δ31 measurements ................................................................... 13 2.2 Box model of the isotopic composition of atmospheric N 2O....................................... 13 2.2.1 Model formulation............................................................................................... 13 2.2.2 Model optimization ............................................................................................. 16 2.3 Data analysis for photoionization of the isotopologues of N 2 ...................................... 17 2.4 Design and testing of a rotating quarter-wave plate polarimeter ................................. 24 2.4.1 Introduction to light scattering and Stokes polarimetry ...................................... 24 2.4.2 Polarimeter construction and experimental set-up .............................................. 27 2.4.3 Performance tests................................................................................................. 29 2.4.4 Steps to incorporate the polarimeter in experiments ........................................... 33 References .......................................................................................................................... 34 3. Trends, seasonal cycles and interannual variability in the isotopic composition of atmospheric nitrous oxide between 1940 and 2005 ............................................................. 37 3.1 Methods........................................................................................................................ 43 3.1.1 Firn air details: Sampling and storage................................................................. 43 3.1.2 Firn air details: Corrections and mean age.......................................................... 44 3.1.3 Archived air details: Sampling and storage......................................................... 44 3.1.4 IRMS Measurements........................................................................................... 44 3.1.5 Box model details................................................................................................ 45 3.1.6 Time series analysis details................................................................................. 45 3.1.7 Ratios of normalized seasonal amplitudes .......................................................... 45 References .......................................................................................................................... 47 Supplementary figures........................................................................................................ 52 Supplementary tables.......................................................................................................... 63 4. The effect of local and regional sources on the isotopic composition of nitrous oxide in the tropical free troposphere and tropopause layer............................................................ 65 4.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................. 65 4.2 Methods........................................................................................................................ 67 4.3 Results and discussion.................................................................................................. 71 ii 4.3.1 Averaged vertical profiles in the tropics ............................................................. 71 4.3.2 Correlations between N 2O isotopic compositions and surface tracer mixing ratios............................................................................................................................. 76 4.3.3 Isotopic composition in a combustion plume...................................................... 79 4.4 Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 80 Appendix ............................................................................................................................ 81 References .......................................................................................................................... 82 Supplementary figures........................................................................................................ 87 Supplementary tables.......................................................................................................... 90 5. The isotopic composition of nitrous oxide over the ocean on a cruise between South Africa and Chile.....................................................................................................................