Research
Goals - Our research activity is principally aimed at developing instrumentation, designing laboratory studies, and participating in field campaigns to understand the role that atmospheric aerosols (man-made as well as natural) have on climate and air quality. In particular, we are interested in applying optical techniques to this field and in determining the aerosol optical properties and their interactions with clouds (the effects that aerosols have on clouds as well as the effects that clouds have on aerosols). See also the ongoing research projects and collaborative efforts link for details.
Instrument Development
Photoacoustic/nephelometer spectrometers
Acoustic aerosol levitator/concentrator
Tunable diode laser for differential absorption spectroscopy
Sequential aerosol samplers for electron microscopy analysis
Laboratory Studies
Aerosol optical properties
Multiphase turbulent cloud chamber (under development at MTU)
Droplet levitation
Ice nucleation
Field Studies Participation
Pico Mountain Observatory, Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, ongoing
ClearfLo (Clean Air for London), England 2012
BORTAS (Quantifying the impact of BOReal forest fires on Tropospheric oxidants over the Atlantic using Aircraft and Satellites), Pico Azores, 2010-2011
CRC E100-a longitudinal emissions pilot study using remote sensing, Ann Arbor 2010
CARES (Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study), California 2010
BC2 (Boston College Experiment 2), Boston 2008
ISAC (Indirect and Semi-Direct Aerosol Campaign), Alaska 2008
CHAPS (Cumulus Humilis Aerosol Processing Study), Oklahoma 2007
Aerosol Absorption and Scattering measurement at the Storm Peak Laboratory, Colorado, 2006-2007
FLAME (Fire Lab at Missoula Experiment), Montana 2006
GoMACCS (Gulf of Mexico Atmospheric Composition and Climate Study), Huston 2006
MILAGRO (Megacity Initiative: Local and Global Research Observations), Mexico City 2006
MASE (MArine Stratus Experiment), California, 2005
Active External Collaborations
University of Colorado, Boulder - Dr. Detlev Helmig
University of the Azores - Dr. Paulo Fialho
University of Illinois - Dr. Seth Olsen
Desert Research Institute - Dr. Hans Moosmüller
University of Nevada, Reno - Dr. Pat Arnott
Los Alamos National Laboratory - Dr. Manvendra Dubey