OCTAVE

Oxygenated organic Compounds in the Tropical Atmosphere : variability and atmosphere-biosphere Exchanges

Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds (OVOCs) have a significant impact on the atmospheric oxidative capacity and climate. However, large discrepancies in OVOC budget estimates still exist, mostly due to incomplete representation of photochemical OVOC production, and uncertainties in terrestrial emissions and ocean/atmosphere exchanges of OVOCs and their precursors. The paucity of OVOC observations in tropical regions strongly contributes to those uncertainties. A better understanding of OVOC sources and sinks is required to quantify their impact on atmospheric oxidants, on the lifetime of methane and consequently on climate.