Project Overview: Aerosol particles play a critical role in Earth’s energy budget through the absorption and scattering of radiation, and/or through their ability to form clouds and alter cloud lifetime. Heterogeneous and multi-phase reactions alter the climate-relevant properties of aerosol particles and catalyze reaction pathways that are energetically unfavorable in the gas phase (Ravishankara, 2005). The chemical composition of aerosol particles dictates the kinetics of heterogeneous and multi-phase reactions. At present, the vast majority of the molecular level information on these processes has been determined in laboratory investigations on model aerosol systems. At present, we are involved in three projects on heterogenenous and multiphase chemistry that span from laboratory measurements, field investigations, and model parameterizations. This work focuses on the uptake kinetics and product yields for the reactions of reduced and oxidized nitrogen compounds (amines and ammonia) and various sulfur containing molecules found in the oxidation of dimethyl sulfide.
Group Members: Rachel Bergin, Chris Jernigan, Tom Derrah, and Steve Kregel
Representative Publications:
Ryder et al. Role of Organics in Regulating ClNO₂ Production at the Air-Sea Interface. JPC-A 2015 Link to the article.
Ryder et al. Role of Organic Coatings in Regulating N2O5 Reactive Uptake to Sea Spray Aerosol. JPC-A 2015 Link to the article.
Staudt et al. Sulfate and Carboxylate Suppress the Formation of ClNO₂ at Atmospheric Interfaces. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry 2019 Link to the article.
Collaborators: Gil Nathanson (UW Madison), Tracey Holloway (UW Madison)
Funding Sources: NSF CCI CAICE (laboratory studies), NOAA (field studies), and EPA (model development)