THE DISTRIBUTION OF NITROGEN OXIDES OFF THE EAST COAST OF NORTH AMERICA

Measurements of NO and NOx' (as measured by a chemiluminescent analyzer equipped with a FeSO4 converter) were made from an aircraft off the east coast of North America in January and February 1986. These measurements show the mixing ratios of the nitrogen oxides to be higher than encountered in remote continental or marine environments. Both the free troposphere and boundary layer mixing ratio distributions are skewed toward high mixing ratios and are best described by a gamma probability distribution. The mean mixing ratios observed were 2.9 parts per billion by volume (ppbv) in the boundary layer and 0.55 ppbv in the free tropospheere NOx', and 0.56 ppbv in the boundary layer and 0.18 in the free troposphere for NO.