TEMPORAL AND SPATIAL AVERAGING EFFECTS IN LOCAL TROPOSPHERIC HYDROXYL DETERMINATION

Though the theory of the fast tropospheric photochemistry is well established its verification by experimental measurements e.g. of OH in the troposphere - including the simultaneous determination of all input parameters controlling the local chemistry - has not yet been achieved. The main reasons for this deficit are severe problems in realizing proper experimental procedures. The only accepted results in the past evolved from long path absorption measurements. But this method contains severe temporal and spatial averaging. In this paper we will discuss how to design a suitable experiment (based on model calculations) considering the temporal and spatial fluctuations of tropospheric trace gases and the resulting averaging problems.