Observation and modeling of the evolution of Texas power plant plumes

During the second Texas Air Quality Study 2006 (TexAQS II), a full range of pollutants was measured by aircraft in eastern Texas during successive transects of power plant plumes (PPPs). A regional photochemical model is applied to simulate the physical and chemical evolution of the plumes. The observations reveal that SO ₂ and NO _y were rapidly removed from PPPs on a cloudy day but not on the cloud-free days, indicating efficient aqueous processing of these compounds in clouds. The model reasonably represents observed NO _x oxidation and PAN formation in the plumes, but fails to capture the rapid loss of SO ₂ (0.37 h ^-1) and NO _y (0.24 h ^-1) in some plumes on the cloudy day. Adjustments to the cloud liquid water content (QC) and the default metal concentrations in the cloud module could explain some of the SO ₂ loss. However, NO _y in the model was insensitive to QC. These findings highlight cloud processing as a major challenge to atmospheric models. Model-based estimates of ozone production efficiency (OPE) in PPPs are 20-50% lower than observation-based estimates for the cloudy day.