Atmospheric chemical species can "live" in the atmosphere from only a second to several years. Is this lifetime conventionally determined only from their chemical destruction/transformation potential or also physical processes such as dry deposition?
We may include transport and radiation (influenced by clouds and pollution itself) effects.
The main mechanisms for removing chemical compounds from the atmosphere include
-sedimentation
-rain-out
-wash-out
-chemical reactions
-dry deposition
For most chemicals in the air (both gas phase and particulate) the most important processes determining their residence time are rain-out and dry deposition.
The relative importance of the different scavenging mechanisms under specific meteorological conditions is discussed by Bolin et al. (1973); I have attached a copy of this classical paper.
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