The impacts of reactive terpene emissions from plants on air quality in Las Vegas, Nevada

A three-part study was conducted to quantify the impact of landscaped vegetation on air quality in a rapidly expanding urban area in the arid southeastern United States. The study combines in situ, plant-level measurements, a spatial emissions inventory, and a photochemical box model. Maximum plant-level basal emission rates were moderate: 18.1 μgC gdw−1 h−1 (Washingtonia spp., palms) for isoprene and 9.56 μgC gdw−1 h−1 (Fraxinus velutina, Arizona ash) for monoterpenes. Sesquiterpene emission rates were low for plant species selected in this study, with no measurement exceeding 0.1 μgC gdw−1 h−1. The high ambient temperatures combined with moderate plant-level emission factors resulted in landscape emission factors that were low (250–640 μgC m−2 h−1) compared to more mesic environments (e.g., the southeastern United States). The Regional Atmospheric Chemistry Mechanism (RACM) was modified to include a new reaction pathway for ocimene. Using measured concentrations of anthropogenic hydrocarbons and other reactive air pollutants (NOx, ozone), the box model employing the RACM mechanism revealed that these modest emissions could have a significant impact on air quality. For a suburban location that was downwind of the urban core (high NOx; low anthropogenic hydrocarbons), biogenic terpenes increased time-dependent ozone production rates by a factor of 50. Our study demonstrates that low-biomass density landscapes emit sufficient biogenic terpenes to have a significant impact on regional air quality.