Atmospheric Chemistry

Faculty

Research Staff

  • Murat Aydin
  • Shari Bush
  • Juno Hsu
  • Hector Martinez De La Torre
  • Pedro Vicente Nunes
  • Pedro Vicente Nunes
  • Xin Zhu

Postdoctoral Scholar

Graduate Student

  • Mackenzie Grieman
  • Jordan Schnell
  • Kristal Verhulst
  • Wenshan Wang
  • Ian Wrangham

Student Assistant

  • Ayush Jangam
  • Ricardo Jimenez
  • Hollie McKiel
  • Melinda Nicewonger
  • Whitney Sum
  • Nick Weis

Research Topics Include:

  • Emissions, transformation and transport of chemicals throughout the troposphere and stratosphere
  • Understanding the influence of atmospheric chemistry on climate and air quality
  • Development of new analytical techniques for trace gases
  • Field expeditions
  • Stable isotope studies
  • Numerical models of global atmospheric photochemistry and transport

 

Recent Publications

Holmes, C. D., Michael J. Prather, O. A. Sovde, and Myhre G.. "Future methane, hydroxyl, and their uncertainties: key climate and emission parameters for future predictions." ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 13, no. 1 (2013). Abstract
Allen, R. J., S. C. Sherwood, J. R. Norris, and C. Zender. "The equilibrium response to idealized thermal forcings in a comprehensive GCM: implications for recent tropical expansion." ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 12, no. 10 (2012). Abstract
Tang, Q., and M. Prather. "Tropospheric column ozone: matching individual profiles from Aura OMI and TES with a chemistry-transport model." ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS 12 (2012): 10441-10452. Abstract
Kooperman, G. J., M. S. Pritchard, S. J. Ghan, M. H. Wang, R. C. J. Somerville, and L. M. Russell. "Constraining the influence of natural variability to improve estimates of global aerosol indirect effects in a nudged version of the Community Atmosphere Model 5." JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-ATMOSPHERES 117 (2012). Abstract
Han, Q., C. S. Zender, J. K. Moore, C. S. Buck, Y. Chen, A. Johansen, and C. L. Meaures. "Global estimates of mineral dust aerosol iron and aluminum solubility that account for particle size using diffusion-controlled and surface-area-controlled approximations." GLOBAL BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLES 26 (2012).
Allen, R. J., S. C. Sherwood, J. R. Norris, and C. S. Zender. "Recent Northern Hemisphere tropical expansion primarily driven by black carbon and tropospheric ozone." Nature 485, no. 7398 (2012). Abstract
Prather, Michael J., C. D. Holmes, and J. Hsu. "Reactive greenhouse gas scenarios: Systematic exploration of uncertainties and the role of atmospheric chemistry." GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS 39 (2012): 5. Abstract
Zender, C. S., A. G. Krolewski, M. G. Tosca, and James T. Randerson. "Tropical biomass burning smoke plume size, shape, reflectance, and age based on 2001–2009 MISR imagery of Borneo." Atmos. Chem. Phys. 12 (2012): 3437-3454.
Myhre, G., K. P. Shine, G. Radel, M. Gauss, I. S. A. Isaksen, Q. Tang, Michael J. Prather, J. E. Williams, P. van Velthoven, O. Dessens et al. "Radiative forcing due to changes in ozone and methane caused by the transport sector." Atmospheric Environment 45 (2011): 387-394.
Prather, Michael J., X. Zhu, Q. Tang, J. N. Hsu, and J. L. Neu. "An atmospheric chemist in search of the tropopause." Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres 116 (2011).
Research Lab Description Links to more information
Trumbore / Czimczik Research Group

The focus of my research is the cycling of carbon and nitrogen in the terrestrial biosphere. I am particularly interested in understanding how climate change and alterations in land use and management as well as in the frequencies of disturbances (i.e. drought, fire) affect the allocation and residence time of carbon and nitrogen in soils and perennial plants. And, how changes in terrestrial ecosystems feed back to the climate system, e.g. by constraining future levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Sue Trumbore's Homepage at Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry
Claudia Czimczik Homepage
Prather Modeling Lab

Simulation of the physical, chemical and biological processes that determine atmospheric composition. Development of

  1. detailed numerical models of photochemistry and atmospheric radiation, and
  2. global chemical transport models that describe ozone and other trace gases.

Studies include the predicted effects of volcanic sulfate aerosols on stratospheric ozone loss, the role of clouds in scattering sunlight and altering photochemistry, and the non-linearities in chemical systems that lead to sudden changes such as the depletion of ozone caused by CFC increases.
Michael Prather's Homepage
UC Irvine Environment Institute
Saltzman / Aydin Research Group

The oceans produce a diverse array of trace gases that affect the chemistry of the atmosphere and the climate system. Our goal is to understand what controls the production, emissions, and atmospheric chemistry of oceanic trace gases. We develop trace gas detectors, collect field data from islands and ships and use computer models to simulate natural processes.

 Saltzman / Aydin Research Group
Zender Modeling Lab

Our research group studies the energy and trace species that pass through Earth's atmosphere. We model the microphysics of trace gas, aerosol, cloud, and surface interactions with Earth's radiative, thermodynamic, and chemical budgets. We then (often) parameterize these effects in climate models. The model simulations, combined with lab, field, and satellite data, help us attribute alteration of Earth's climate and composition to specific processes. Our current research includes mineral dust, meteoric, and carbonaceous aerosols, snow lifecycle and albedo, aerosol impacts on ocean biogeochemistry, wind-driven surface energy/mass exchange, climate-disease links, and terascale data analysis. Our aerosol generation, radiative transfer, and data processing models are freely available and are used in geoscience research institutions world-wide.
Charles Zender's Homepage
http://dust.ess.uci.edu
Kim Lab

We are exploring interactions between biosphere-atmosphere-human, specifically, how the interactions affect on the oxidation capacity of the troposphere that controls fates of trace gases and secondary photochemical product (e.g ozone and secondary aerosols) productions. Our research tools are mainly in-situ measurement instrumentation to precisely quantify very reactive radical species in the troposphere and we deploy the instrumentation to the environmentally critical locations.