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Tom Pugh

Thomas Pugh

Senior lecturer

Tom Pugh

The atmospheric chemistry of trace gases and particulate matter emitted by different land uses in Borneo

Author

  • A. R. MacKenzie
  • B. Langford
  • T. A.M. Pugh
  • N. Robinson
  • P. K. Misztal
  • D. E. Heard
  • J. D. Lee
  • A. C. Lewis
  • C. E. Jones
  • J. R. Hopkins
  • G. Phillips
  • P. S. Monks
  • A. Karunaharan
  • K. E. Hornsby
  • V. Nicolas-Perea
  • H. Coe
  • A. M. Gabey
  • M. W. Gallagher
  • L. K. Whalley
  • P. M. Edwards
  • M. J. Evans
  • D. Stone
  • T. Ingham
  • R. Commane
  • K. L. Furneaux
  • J. B. McQuaid
  • E. Nemitz
  • Yapkok Seng
  • D. Fowler
  • J. A. Pyle
  • C. N. Hewitt
Show all

Summary, in English

We report measurements of atmospheric composition over a tropical rainforest and over a nearby oil palm plantation in Sabah, Borneo. The primary vegetation in each of the two landscapes emits very different amounts and kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), resulting in distinctive VOC fingerprints in the atmospheric boundary layer for both landscapes. VOCs over the Borneo rainforest are dominated by isoprene and its oxidation products, with a significant additional contribution from monoterpenes. Rather than consuming the main atmospheric oxidant, OH, these high concentrations of VOCs appear to maintain OH, as has been observed previously over Amazonia. The boundary-layer characteristics andmixing ratios ofVOCs observed over theBorneo rainforest are different to those measured previously overAmazonia.Compared with the Bornean rainforest, air over the oil palm plantation contains much more isoprene, monoterpenes are relatively less important, and the flower scent, estragole, is prominent. Concentrations of nitrogen oxides are greater above the agroindustrial oil palm landscape than over the rainforest, and this leads to changes in some secondary pollutant mixing ratios (but not, currently, differences in ozone). Secondary organic aerosol over both landscapes shows a significant contribution from isoprene. Primary biological aerosol dominates the super-micrometre aerosol over the rainforest and is likely to be sensitive to land-use change, since the fungal source of the bioaerosol is closely linked to above-ground biodiversity.

Publishing year

2011-11-27

Language

English

Pages

3177-3195

Publication/Series

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences

Volume

366

Issue

1582

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Royal Society Publishing

Topic

  • Environmental Sciences

Keywords

  • Atmospheric aerosol
  • Biogenic volatile organic compounds
  • Hydroxyl radical
  • Oil palm
  • Rainforest
  • Tropospheric ozone

Status

Published

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0962-8436