Other Names
HCN, Acetonitrile
Definition
Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) is a colorless, volatile, and extremely poisonous chemical compound
whose vapors have a bitter almond odor.
HCN main source in the troposphere is the biomass burning. It is a tropospheric source gas
that enters in the stratosphere and is slowly destroyed there. HCN is not only an
indicator of biomass burning events, it also acts as a tracer to observe the dynamics of the middle
atmosphere. Its primary loss mechanism is reaction with the OH radical. The HCN data from Microwave Limb Sounding (Aura/MLS) are based on observations of
emission from spectral lines around 117 GHz.
Applications
| (1)
Atmospheric Chemistry Models |
(5)
Tracer of Air Motions |
| (2)
Air Quality |
(6)
stratosphere-troposphere exchange |
| (3)
Monitoring of Biomass Burning |
(7)
Climate Change |
| (4)
Health and Environment |
|
GES DISC Datasets
Quick Search for 'Hydrogen Cyanide' with Mirador
Click on the corresponding 'WHOM access' links in the table below to access products containing specific parameter.
| Begin Date |
End Date |
WHOM Access |
Doc |
| Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) Profiles (mixing ratios at different pressure levels), pixel resolution |
vmr |
Aura/MLS
|
2004-08-08 |
Current |
ML2HCN.002
|
Y
|
| Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) Profiles (mixing ratios at different pressure levels), global gridded |
vmr |
Aura/MLS
|
2004-08-08 |
Current |
|
Y
|
Atmos Composition
