Hydroxyl-Radical

Atmospheric lifetime against reaction with the hydroxyl radical (OH), from Seinfeld & Pandis (2006) Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Ch. 2, Eq. 2.12: tau = 1/(k_OH*[OH]). OH is the dominant daytime oxidant of the troposphere, so the OH-reaction lifetime sets how long most reactive trace gases — methane, carbon monoxide, non-methane VOCs — persist in the atmosphere. This observed-only algebraic component implements two relations: an effective pseudo-first-order loss rate constant k_eff = k_OH*OH_conc (the second-order reaction X + OH collapsed onto the approximately constant ambient OH), and the lifetime tau_OH = 1/k_eff. The lifetime is jointly controlled by the species' intrinsic reactivity (k_OH, spanning four-plus decades across tropospheric trace gases) and the ambient oxidising capacity ([OH], varying with season, latitude and pollution): a species may persist for years in clean remote air and only hours in a polluted daytime plume. Purely algebraic system (no time derivatives): four variables — one parameter k_OH, one input OH_conc encoded as a parameter, two outputs k_eff and tau_OH as state — and two equations. Migrated from GasChem.jl@280ee50f src/AtmosphericLifetime.jl:264 (`OHReactionLifetime` @component).