Research

My work addresses critical challenges in process-level understanding of size-resolved particle microphysics and impacts of particles on air quality, cloud, precipitation, radiation, and climate. Utilizing numerical models from plume to global scales, my group investigates how natural and anthropogenic aerosols form, evolve, and interact with the atmosphere, driving everything from air pollution, cloud formation and extreme weather to global climate radiative forcing. Recent key applications include assessing the non-CO2 impacts of aviation and exploring the efficacy and risks of climate intervention. Below are some key areas of focus.

• Plume, regional, and global scale modeling of size-resolved particle microphysics;

• Particle and contrail formation in aircrfat plumes;

• Aviation non-CO2 climate impacts: Contrail cirrus and NOx emissions;

• Aerosol direct/indirect radiative forcing and climate change;

• Climate intervention via solar radiation modification;

• Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interactions and extreme weather;

• Formation and evolution of particles in the atmosphere;

• Air quality, health effects of ultrafine particles and co-pollutants;

• Usage of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) techniques to improve global models.

Figure 1. Predicted annual and monthly mean new particle formation rates (averaged with the boundary layer) based on ion-mediated nucleation mechanism.