Heterogeneous Iodine Chemistry Impacts Reactive Halogen and Oxidant Abundances

Abstract Tropospheric reactive halogens influence the oxidizing capacity of the atmosphere. Although previous studies have shown that iodine exerts the strongest impact on tropospheric ozone concentrations compared to chlorine and bromine, the impact of aerosol iodide recycling back to the gas phase on oxidants has not been estimated prior to this work. Here, we explicitly represent aerosol iodine speciation in a chemical transport model, including soluble organic iodine (SOI), iodate, and iodide, and allow for interconversion among these species. We find that aerosol iodine speciation, interconversion, and recycling substantially affect modeled oxidant abundances. Across model sensitivity studies, tropospheric O x (the odd‐oxygen family for ozone) and O z (the odd‐oxygen family for the HO x family, including OH) burdens vary by up to 10% and 5%, respectively. These ranges arise from uncertainties in heterogeneous iodine chemistry, demonstrating a need for future laboratory experiments and field observations in this area.