de Gouw Lab

Atmospheric Chemistry of Volatile Organic Compounds

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted to the atmosphere from a wide variety of sources, both natural and man-made. In the atmosphere, VOCs have lifetimes varying from minutes to years. A number of different processes remove VOCs from the atmosphere, including chemical reactions with hydroxyl, ozone and nitrate radicals, and deposition at the Earth's surface either directly or indirectly after uptake by aerosols or cloud droplets. The chemical transformation of VOCs in polluted air leads to the production of ozone, which is a harmful gas when present in the air we breathe. In addition, these oxidized VOCs can condense onto aerosols and add to their mass loading. Aerosols in themselves are harmful, since they are small enough to penetrate deep into our lungs. Aerosols also play an important role in the Earth's radiation balance, and thus the climate. This occurs either directly, by aerosols scattering and absorbing radiation, or indirectly by aerosols acting as cloud-condensation nuclei.

Our group uses state-of-the-art instruments to measure VOCs in the atmosphere. From the results, we aim to quantitatively understand the emissions, chemical transformations and ultimate fate of VOCs, as well as how these processes contribute to the formation of ozone and aerosols in the atmosphere.

Our research group is part of the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES) and the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder.

Interested to join our group as a graduate student or post-doc? Click here for more information.