Acyl peroxy nitrates link oil and natural gas emissions to high ozone abundances in the Colorado Front Range during summer 2015

We employ an empirical analysis of the APNs and a previously described positive matrix factorization of the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to investigate the contribution of different VOC sources to high O-3 abundances at Boulder Atmospheric Observatory.

Based on the ratio of peroxypropionyl nitrate (PPN) to peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), we find that anthropogenic VOC precursors dominate APN production when O-3 is most elevated. Propane and larger alkanes, primarily from oil and natural gas emissions in the Colorado Front Range, drive these elevated PPN to PAN ratios during high O-3 events. The percentage of OH reactivity associated with oil and gas emissions is also positively correlated with O-3 and PPN/PAN.