RUI: Brown Carbon Aerosol Production in Polluted Environments: The Effects of Oxidants, SO2, and Sunlight on Aqueous-Phase Aldehyde Reactivity

University Of San Diego, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

This Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project is investigating the formation of brown carbon in the atmosphere. The identification of important photochemical sources of brown carbon are important because light-absorbing particles in the atmosphere (black and brown carbon) are the second largest anthropogenic driver of climate change, after CO2 emissions. At least 20 diverse undergraduate students will participate in this research as part of this project, making it more likely that they will choose careers in science. The objectives of the research are: (1) to characterize aqueous-phase browning processes in droplets and in aerosol particles, with and without light and/or oxidants, (2) to measure the effect of dissolved SO2 on aldehyde partitioning and aerosol-phase products, (3) to determine the atmospheric significance of these reactions, and (4) to mentor and train a diverse cohort of undergraduate students, especially freshmen and sophomores, in atmospheric chemical research. Brown carbon formation will be quantified using cavity-attenuated phaseshift single-scattering albedo (CAPS-ssa) spectroscopy on evaporating droplets and aging aerosol particles with and without added aqueous-phase oxidants in a lab chamber, in rooftop photochemistry experiments, and at the CESAM cloud chamber at University of Paris East at Creteil.