Atmospheric aerosols

Welcome to the research group of Dr. Jeff Pierce in the Department of Atmospheric Science at Colorado State University. Our research focuses on atmospheric particles and gases and their interactions with human health, clouds and climate.

Specific areas of interest include:

1. Aerosols and climate: Changes in atmospheric aerosols (airborne particles) due to human-generated pollution affects the earth's climate by interacting with the sun and earth's radiation and by modifying clouds. The extent to which this increased aerosol concentration has affected climate is generally regarded to be one of the most uncertain gaps in our understanding of recent climate change.

2. Particles and health: Atmospheric particles in the atmosphere is estimated to contibuted to millions of deaths each year. However, uncertainties remain about how much individuals are exposed particulate matter and the particles' sources.

3. Near-source aerosol physics: The size and number of atmospheric particles may be greatly influenced by processes near their sources, such as in power plant plumes; however, these processes are currently ignored or are only crudely accounted for in regional and global atmospheric models.

4. New-particle formation and growth: A large portion of the number of atmospheric particles are formed from gases in the atmosphere (rather than being emitted directly from a source). The rate at which these particle form and grow is very uncertain, yet must be better understood in order to reduce uncertainties in the climate effects of aerosols.