Oxidation of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) by the nitrate radical (NO₃) represents one of the important interactions between anthropogenic emissions related to combustion and natural emissions from the biosphere. This interaction has been recognized for more than 3 decades, during which time a large body of research has emerged from laboratory, field, and modeling studies. NO₃-BVOC reactions influence air quality, climate and visibility through regional and global budgets for reactive nitrogen (particularly organic nitrates), ozone, and organic aerosol. Despite its long history of research and the significance of this topic in atmospheric chemistry, a number of important uncertainties remain. These include an incomplete understanding of the rates, mechanisms, and organic aerosol yields for NO₃-BVOC reactions, lack of constraints on the role of heterogeneous oxidative processes associated with the NO₃ radical, the difficulty of characterizing the spatial distributions of BVOC and NO₃ within the poorly mixed nocturnal atmosphere, and the challenge of constructing appropriate boundary layer schemes and non-photochemical mechanisms for use in state-of-the-art chemical transport and chemistry–climate models. This review is the result of a workshop of the same title held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in June 2015. The first half of the review summarizes the current literature on NO₃-BVOC chemistry, with a particular focus on recent advances in instrumentation and models, and in organic nitrate and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation chemistry. Building on this current understanding, the second half of the review outlines impacts of NO₃-BVOC chemistry on air quality and climate, and suggests critical research needs to better constrain this interaction to improve the predictive capabilities of atmospheric models.

Reliable characterization of particles freshly emitted from the ocean surface requires a sampling method that is able to isolate those particles and prevent them from interacting with ambient gases and particles. Here we report measurements of particles directly emitted from the ocean using a newly developed in situ particle generator (Sea Sweep). The Sea Sweep was deployed alongside R/V Atlantis off the coast of California during May of 2010. Bubbles were generated 0.75 m below the ocean surface with stainless steel frits and swept into a hood/vacuum hose to feed a suite of aerosol instrumentation on board the ship. The number size distribution of the directly emitted, nascent particles had a dominant mode at 55–60 nm (dry diameter) and secondary modes at 30–40 nm and 200–300 nm. The nascent aerosol was not volatile at 230°C and was not enriched in SO₄⁼, Ca⁺⁺, K⁺, or Mg⁺⁺above that found in surface seawater. The organic component of the nascent aerosol (7% of the dry submicrometer mass) volatilized at a temperature between 230 and 600°C. The submicrometer organic aerosol characterized by mass spectrometry was dominated by non‐oxygenated hydrocarbons. The nascent aerosol at 50, 100, and 145 nm dry diameter behaved hygroscopically like an internal mixture of sea salt with a small organic component. The CCN/CN activation ratio for 60 nm Sea Sweep particles was near 1 for all supersaturations of 0.3 and higher indicating that all of the particles took up water and grew to cloud drop size. The nascent organic aerosol mass fraction did not increase in regions of higher surface seawater chlorophyll but did show a positive correlation with seawater dimethylsulfide (DMS).

Absolute oscillator strengths in the region of carbon and fluorine K-shell excitation have been derived for ${\mathrm{CH}}_2$ ${\mathrm{CH}}_2$, ${\mathrm{CH}}_2$CHF, cis-CHFCHF, ${\mathrm{CH}}_2$ ${\mathrm{CF}}_2$, ${\mathrm{CHFCF}}_2$, ${\mathrm{CF}}_2$ ${\mathrm{CF}}_2$, 1,3-${\mathrm{C}}_4$ ${\mathrm{H}}_6$, and 1,3-${\mathrm{C}}_4$ ${\mathrm{F}}_6$ from electron-energy-loss spectra recorded under dipole-dominated conditions. The methods used to derive absolute oscillator strengths from relative energy-loss intensities are discussed in detail. The accuracy of the procedures is tested through comparisons with literature results for ${\mathrm{N}}_2$, CO, and ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$. The total C 1s→${\pi }^{\mathrm{*}}$ and C 1s→${\sigma }^{\mathrm{*}}$(C—F) intensities increase systematically as the degree of fluorination increases. The spectra are discussed in terms of bond-length correlation and potential barrier concepts.