Shipboard measurements of atmospheric and seawater DMS were made at 12°S, 135°W for 6 days during March 1992. The mean seawater DMS concentration during this period was 4.1 ± 0.45 nM (1σ, n = 260) and the mean atmospheric DMS mole fraction was 453 ± 93 pmol mol−1 (1σ, n = 843). Consistent atmospheric diel cycles were observed, with a nighttime maximum and daytime minimum and an amplitude of approximately 85 pmol mol−1. Photochemical box model calculations were made to test the sensitivity of atmospheric DMS concentrations to the following parameters: 1) sea-to-air flux, 2) boundary layer height, 3) oxidation rate, and 4) vertical entrainment velocities. The observed relationship between the mean oceanic and atmospheric DMS levels require the use of an air-sea exchange coefficient which is at the upper limit end of the range of commonly used parameterizations. The amplitude of the diel cycle in atmospheric DMS is significantly larger than that predicted by a photochemical model. This suggests that the sea-to-air DMS flux is higher than was previously thought, and the rate of daytime oxidation of DMS is substantially underestimated by current photochemical models of DMS oxidation.
Simultaneous measurements are reported of the nitrate radical (NO3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), and dimethylsulfide (DMS) in the nighttime marine boundary layer over Biscayne Bay in South Florida. These field observations are analyzed and used to initialize a boundary layer box model which examines the relative importance of the various sinks for NOx in the marine boundary layer. The results show that the observed lifetime of NO3 (≤6 min.) is probably controlled both by the loss of nitrogen pentoxide (N2O5) to reaction with water vapor and aerosols and by the reaction between NO3 and DMS. The model is then extended to investigate the loss of nitrogen oxides from an air parcel that remains in the boundary layer with a constant sea-to-air DMS flux for several days. The principal conclusions are (1) that DMS is a much more important sink for NO3 at lower NO2 levels and (2) that the reaction between NO3 and DMS is an important sink for DMS in the marine boundary layer and could exceed that of the daytime removal by OH.
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