Atmospheric Aerosol Chemistry
Atmospheric aerosols play an important role in global climate change. Variations of aerosols are recognized as a significant forcing factor that alters the planetary radiation balance onto and away from the Earth, thus contributing to global temperature change. The effects of climate forcing caused by aerosols are not well understood, especially in the case of anthropogenic aerosols. Indeed, the effect of aerosols has been one of the greatest sources of uncertainty in efforts to interpret climate change that occurred in the past century and to project future climate change.
This science theme is designed to advance the state of knowledge of aerosol physics and chemistry from the molecular level to regional and global scales and their impacts on climate change. State-of-the-art instrumentation at EMSL will be used to characterize the size, composition, density, morphology, chemical reactivity, and cloud interactions of aerosol particles. The research will employ a collaborative, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary approach that will combine both the unique analytical capabilities of EMSL and the research expertise of EMSL scientific staff and the user community.
This science theme is formulated around the following specific, key scientific topical areas that the aerosol chemistry and atmospheric science communities face today and will continue to face in the future:
- Developing a novel analytical platform for comprehensive chemical and physical characterization of organic aerosols
- Evaluating dynamics of cloud-aerosol interactions and their climatic impacts
- Gaining critical knowledge of life cycle and long-term aging of aerosols in the atmospheric environment.
Understanding the role of aerosols in climate change is an important scientific challenge that is critical to more accurately predict the environmental impact of future energy technology options. This science theme addresses the chemical and physical properties of organic aerosols that are of key relevance to cloud formation and climate change. Aerosols are constantly evolving, and the changes they undergo profoundly alter their impact and even how long they live or how far they travel. Providing the scientific foundation to better predict how and when these properties change is necessary so policy makers can make environmentally sound decisions about process that generate aerosols.
All Related Publications Related Publications
- Chemical Speciation of Sulfur in Marine Cloud Droplets and Particles: Analysis of Individual Particles from the Marine Boundary Layer Over the California Current.
- Kinetics of Heterogeneous Reaction of CaCO3 Particles with Gaseous HNO3 Over a Wide Range of Humidity.
- Simultaneous Measurements of Individual Ambient Particles Size, Composition, Effective Density, and Hygroscopicity.
- On Reflectance Ratios and Aerosol Optical Depth Retrieval in the Presence of Cumulus Clouds .
- Fabrication of SiO2 Microdisk Arrays for Optics and Light Trapping Experiments.
