The photolysis of nitrous acid (HONO) below a wavelength of about 400 nm produces OH radicals. Previously, because of the limited sensitivity of the measuring technique, the formation of HONO could be detected only in the night and in the early morning hours; during the day the fast photolysis of HONO reduced the concentration below the detection limit. With new analytical instruments also daytime concentration can now be measured. These measurements show that the photolysis of HONO contributes significantly to the OH source strength during the day. The photolysis of HONO might become the strongest OH source in air masses near the surface. Several mechanisms for the photolytic formation of HONO during the day and heterogeneous conversion of NO2 to HONO during the night are discussed, however, mechanistic details are not yet understood. Even without knowing mechanistic details the photolysis of HONO as a major OH source, not only in the early morning hours, has to be considered in models describing tropospheric processes.
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Becker, K.H. (2008). New Atmospheric Sources Of Radicals: A Challenge For Modelers. In: Barnes, I., Kharytonov, M.M. (eds) Simulation and Assessment of Chemical Processes in a Multiphase Environment. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series C: Environmental Security. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8846-9_2
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