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 'Data access' links in the table below to access products containing specific parameter.
| Begin Date | End Date | Data Access | Doc |
| Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) Profiles (mixing ratios at different pressure levels), pixel resolution | vmr | Aura/MLS | 2004-08-08 | Current | ML2HCN | Y |
| Hydrogen Cyanide (HCN) Profiles (mixing ratios at different pressure levels), global gridded | vmr | Aura/MLS | 2004-08-08 | Current | | Y |
Atmos Composition
