Abundances, emissions, and loss processes of the long-lived and potent greenhouse gas octafluorooxolane (octafluorotetrahydrofuran, c-C4F8O) in the atmosphere

• Published in: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
• Main Authors: Vollmer, Martin, Bernard, François, Mitrevski, Blagoj, Steele, L. Paul, Trudinger, Cathy, Reimann, Stefan, Langenfelds, Ray, Krummel, Paul, Fraser, Paul, Etheridge, David, Curran, Mark, Burkholder, James
• Other Authors: NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder -National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Center Research Separation Science, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University (RMIT University), CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research (CSIRO-MAR), Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation Canberra (CSIRO), Oceans and Atmosphere, CSIRO, University of Toronto
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2019
• Subjects: geo; envir; Grim; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3481-2019; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02890525/file/Vollmer_ACP_2019.pdf; https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02890525

International audience The first atmospheric observations of octafluorooxolane (octafluorotetrahydrofuran, c-C4F8O), a persistent greenhouse gas, are reported. In addition, a complementary laboratory study of its most likely atmospheric loss processes, its infrared absorption spectrum, and global warming potential (GWP) are reported. First atmospheric measurements of c-C4F8O are provided from the Cape Grim Air Archive (41∘ S, Tasmania, Australia, 1978–present), supplemented by two firn air samples from Antarctica, in situ measurements of ambient air at Aspendale, Victoria (38∘ S), and a few archived air samples from the Northern Hemisphere. The atmospheric abundance in the Southern Hemisphere has monotonically grown over the past decades and leveled at 74 ppq (parts per quadrillion, femtomole per mole in dry air) by 2015–2018. The growth rate of c-C4F8O has decreased from a maximum in 2004 of 4.0 to 3000 years. GWPs of 8975, 12 000, and 16 000 are estimated for the 20-, 100-, and 500-year time horizons, respectively.