Clean air: Fewer sources for self-cleaning

Thursday, April 17, 2014 - 13:12 in Earth & Climate

Up to now, HONO, also known as nitrous acid, was considered one of the most important sources of hydroxyl radicals (OH), which are regarded as the detergent of the atmosphere, allowing the air to clean itself. A research group from Jülich has put an end to this conception. The new hypothesis is based on air measurements recorded by a Zeppelin NT within the framework of the EU PEGASOS project. The prevailing assumption about the role of HONO in atmospheric chemistry as a pure source of radicals now has to be completely overhauled. The results have appeared in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

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