Total OH reactivity measurements in ambient air in a southern Rocky mountain ponderosa pine forest during BEACHON-SRM08 summer campaign

Total OH reactivity was measured during the Bio-hydro-atmosphere interactions of Energy, Aerosols, Carbon, H2O, Organics and Nitrogen-Southern Rocky Mountain 2008 field campaign (BEACHON-SRM08) held at Manitou Experimental Forest (MEF) in Colorado USA in August, 2008. The averaged total OH reactivity was 6.7 s−1, smaller than that measured in urban (33.4 s−1, Yoshino et al., 2012) and suburban (27.7 s−1, Yoshino et al., 2006) areas in Tokyo in the same season, while sporadically high OH reactivity was also observed during some evenings. The total OH reactivity measurements were accompanied by observations of traces species such as CO, NO, NOy, O3 and SO2 and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). From the calculation of OH reactivity based on the analysis of these trace species, 46.3% of OH reactivity for VOCs came from biogenic species that are dominated by 2-methyl-3-buten-2-ol (MBO), and monoterpenes. MBO was the most prominent contribution to OH reactivity of all trace species. A comparison of observed and calculated OH reactivity shows that the calculated OH reactivity is 29.5% less than the observed value, implying the existence of missing OH sinks. One of the candidates of missing OH is thought to be the oxidation products of biogenic species.