Reactive nitrogen is quickly becoming the dominant pollutant in many regions in the world, with important consequences for ecosystems, human health and climate. This leads to changes in atmospheric chemistry and physics that need to be understood in order to more effectively address this pollution. In the CAINA project we are investigating how aerosols and clouds interact in this new nitrogen-dominated chemical regime, by combining field experiments, chamber studies and modeling. The project is based in the Netherlands, where nitrogen pollution is particularly problematic. We make extensive use of the Ruisdael atmospheric observatory with its advanced in-situ and remote sensing infrastructure. 

The CAINA team consists of atmospheric scientists and PhD students from 4 Dutch Universities (University of Groningen, Wageningen University, TU Delft, and Utrecht University) in collaboration with project partners from Germany (MPIC-Mainz, Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology) and from Cyprus (The Cyprus Institute). We will closely collaborate on the project, combining expertise in atmospheric and aerosol physics, atmospheric chemistry, cloud remote sensing, and atmospheric modeling.