Peer-reviewedCC BY 4.0Environmental Science and Technology
Toward Recreating the Breath of Cities in the Atmospheric Simulation Chamber SAPHIR
15 affiliations
- 1Institute of Climate and Energy Systems: Troposphere (ICE-3), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, Jülich 52428, Germany
- 2Institute of Geophysics and Meteorology, University of Cologne, 50969 Cologne, Germany
- 3NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory, Boulder, Colorado 80305, United States
- 4Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
- 5Aerosol Physics Laboratory, Physics Unit, Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences, Tampere University, 33720 Tampere, Finland
- 6Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, U.K.
- 7Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309, United States
- 8PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences, Paul Scherrer Institute, 5232 Villigen PSI, Switzerland
- 9Department of Technical Physics, University of Eastern Finland, 70211 Kuopio, Finland
- 10National Centre for Atmospheric Sciences, The University of Manchester, M13 9PL Manchester, U.K.
- 11Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, 6708 PB Wageningen, Netherlands
- 12Department of Physics, University of Cologne, 50923 Cologne, Germany
- 13IONICON Analytik GmbH, Eduard-Bodem-Gasse 3, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
- 14Univ. Lyon, Universite Claude Bernard Lyon1, CNRS, IRCELYON, 69626 Villeurbanne, France
- 15Department of Chemistry, University of Helsinki, 00560 Helsinki, Finland
Abstract
Atmospheric simulation chambers are essential for studying oxidation processes, yet many experiments rely on single-precursor systems at concentrations that limit their representativeness for the chemical complexity of urban air. Here, we present a framework linking emission inventories, chamber experiments, and field observations by constructing emission fingerprints of major urban sources, including vegetation, volatile chemical products, cooking emissions, and gasoline and diesel exhaust. Applied during the CHANEL campaign in the SAPHIR outdoor chamber, these fingerprints advanced toward reproducing gas-phase mixtures representative of Los Angeles (gasoline-dominated traffic), a diesel-dominated city, and a future low-vehicle-emission scenario. The resulting mixtures generated peroxy-to-hydroperoxy radical ratios (RO2/HO2) close to unity, bimolecular RO2 lifetimes comparable with urban atmospheric observations, although lower NO levels favored RO2 + HO2 over RO2 + NO reactions. Comparison with aircraft measurements over Los Angeles using ammonium (NH4+) chemical ionization mass spectrometry showed reasonable agreement, with 465 organic product ions detected in both data sets, representing 78% of the product ions observed in the ambient air. Furthermore, 87% of common product ions agreed within a factor of 3 of the linear correlation, demonstrating that chamber experiments can capture key aspects of both atmospherically relevant radical chemistry and the oxidation product diversity of urban air.
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BibTeX
@article{wu2026toward,
title = {{Toward Recreating the Breath of Cities in the Atmospheric Simulation Chamber SAPHIR}},
author = {Yizhen Wu and Ralf Tillmann and Eva Y. Pfannerstill and Peeyush Khare and Andrea Carolina Marcillo Lara and Achim Grasse and Franz Rohrer and Milan Roska and Clémence Depp and Max Gerrit Adam and Sarah Albertin and Rabbia Asgher and Thomas J. Bannan and Shawon Barua and Kelvin H. Bates and David M. Bell and Birger Bohn and Steven Brown and Angela Buchholz and Yanfang Chen and Changmin Cho and Hugh Coe and Matthew M. Coggon and Michelle Färber and Sana Farhoudian and Juliane L. Fry and Hendrik Fuchs and Martin Graus and Imad El Haddad and Quanfu He and Thorsten Hohaus and Siddharth Iyer and Vlassis A. Karydis and Avinash Kumar and Markus Leiminger and Lu Liu and Emily Matthews and Gordon McFiggans and Ann M. Middlebrook and Markus Müller and Aki Nissinen and Anke C. Nölscher and Anna Novelli and Farhan R. Nursanto and Sebastien Perrier and André S. H. Prévôt and Iida Pullinen and Eka Dian Pusfitasari and Tobias Reinecke and Matti Rissanen and Matthieu Riva and Michael A. Robinson and Siegfried Schobesberger and Chelsea E. Stockwell and Jens Top and Alexandra P. Tsimpidi and Netta Vinkvist and Aristeidis Voliotis and Andreas Wahner and Yuantao Wang},
journal = {Environmental Science and Technology},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1021/acs.est.6c05767},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05838786v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Toward Recreating the Breath of Cities in the Atmospheric Simulation Chamber SAPHIR
AU - Yizhen Wu
AU - Ralf Tillmann
AU - Eva Y. Pfannerstill
AU - Peeyush Khare
AU - Andrea Carolina Marcillo Lara
AU - Achim Grasse
AU - Franz Rohrer
AU - Milan Roska
AU - Clémence Depp
AU - Max Gerrit Adam
AU - Sarah Albertin
AU - Rabbia Asgher
AU - Thomas J. Bannan
AU - Shawon Barua
AU - Kelvin H. Bates
AU - David M. Bell
AU - Birger Bohn
AU - Steven Brown
AU - Angela Buchholz
AU - Yanfang Chen
AU - Changmin Cho
AU - Hugh Coe
AU - Matthew M. Coggon
AU - Michelle Färber
AU - Sana Farhoudian
AU - Juliane L. Fry
AU - Hendrik Fuchs
AU - Martin Graus
AU - Imad El Haddad
AU - Quanfu He
AU - Thorsten Hohaus
AU - Siddharth Iyer
AU - Vlassis A. Karydis
AU - Avinash Kumar
AU - Markus Leiminger
AU - Lu Liu
AU - Emily Matthews
AU - Gordon McFiggans
AU - Ann M. Middlebrook
AU - Markus Müller
AU - Aki Nissinen
AU - Anke C. Nölscher
AU - Anna Novelli
AU - Farhan R. Nursanto
AU - Sebastien Perrier
AU - André S. H. Prévôt
AU - Iida Pullinen
AU - Eka Dian Pusfitasari
AU - Tobias Reinecke
AU - Matti Rissanen
AU - Matthieu Riva
AU - Michael A. Robinson
AU - Siegfried Schobesberger
AU - Chelsea E. Stockwell
AU - Jens Top
AU - Alexandra P. Tsimpidi
AU - Netta Vinkvist
AU - Aristeidis Voliotis
AU - Andreas Wahner
AU - Yuantao Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/14
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.6c05767
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05838786v1
AB - Atmospheric simulation chambers are essential for studying oxidation processes, yet many experiments rely on single-precursor systems at concentrations that limit their representativeness for the chemical complexity of urban air. Here, we present a framework linking emission inventories, chamber experiments, and field observations by constructing emission fingerprints of major urban sources, including vegetation, volatile chemical products, cooking emissions, and gasoline and diesel exhaust. Applied during the CHANEL campaign in the SAPHIR outdoor chamber, these fingerprints advanced toward reproducing gas-phase mixtures representative of Los Angeles (gasoline-dominated traffic), a diesel-dominated city, and a future low-vehicle-emission scenario. The resulting mixtures generated peroxy-to-hydroperoxy radical ratios (RO2/HO2) close to unity, bimolecular RO2 lifetimes comparable with urban atmospheric observations, although lower NO levels favored RO2 + HO2 over RO2 + NO reactions. Comparison with aircraft measurements over Los Angeles using ammonium (NH4+) chemical ionization mass spectrometry showed reasonable agreement, with 465 organic product ions detected in both data sets, representing 78% of the product ions observed in the ambient air. Furthermore, 87% of common product ions agreed within a factor of 3 of the linear correlation, demonstrating that chamber experiments can capture key aspects of both atmospherically relevant radical chemistry and the oxidation product diversity of urban air.
SN - 0013-936X
SN - 1520-5851
ER -