Anthropogenic pollutants have a considerable impact on air quality, climate and human health and impose a social and economic burden on society. It is important to quantify this burden to be able to design and implement sound and effective policy. We perform policy analyses to estimate societal costs of anthropogenic sources and benefits from switching to cleaner sources.
Our Research
We use laboratory experiments, field measurements, and numerical modeling to study the sources, transformation, fate, and properties of gas- and particle-phase air pollutants from anthropogenic and natural sources.
Measurement
Energy and combustion sources emit organic particles that volatilize with atmospheric mixing and reactive organic gases that oxidize in the atmosphere to enhance particulate matter concentrations. Our laboratory work focuses on using tools (e.g., dilution tunnels, filter-based methods, environmental ‘smog’ chambers) to simulate atmospheric processes and gas- and particle-phase instrumentation to quantify and understand the formation and properties of organic compounds arising from air pollution sources.
Modeling
Chemical transport models numerically simulate the emissions, transport, chemistry and deposition of gas and particulate pollutants in the atmosphere. These models are routinely used to quantify the contribution of different pollution sources, determine pollutant exposure, test compliance with national ambient air quality standards and investigate the pollutant response to different policy scenarios. Our modeling work focuses on using chemical transport models to study the formation, atmospheric evolution and exposure to anthropogenic pollutants from urban to global scales.
Policy
