An observational study of the HONO–NO2 coupling at an urban site in Guangzhou City, South China

The temporal behavior of HONO and NO2 was investigated at an urban site in Guangzhou city, China, by means of a DOAS system during the Pearl River Delta 2006 intensive campaign from 10 to 24 July 2006. Within the whole measurement period, unexpected high HONO mixing ratios up to 2 ppb were observed even during the day. A nocturnal maximum concentration of about 8.43 ± 0.4 ppb was detected on the night of 24 July 2006. Combining the data simultaneously observed by different instruments, the coupling of HONO–NO2 and the possible formation sources of HONO are discussed. During the measurement period, concentration ratios of HONO to NO2 ranged from (0.03 ± 0.1) to (0.37 ± 0.09), which is significantly higher than previously reported values (0.01–0.1). Surprisingly, in most cases a strong daytime correlation between HONO and NO2 was found, contrary to previous observations in China. Aerosol was found to have a minor impact on HONO formation during the whole measurement period. Using a pseudo steady state approach for interpreting the nocturnal conversion of NO2 to HONO suggests a non-negligible role of the relative humidity for the heterogeneous HONO formation from NO2.