CAREER: Kinetics Studies and Ground Based Atmospheric Observations of Tropospheric Aerosol Nucleation

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The goal of this research is a better understanding of aerosol formation processes in the lower troposphere. Laboratory studies of aerosol nucleation by sulfuric acid in the presence of ammonia and organics will be carried out. The effect of oxygenated organics on nucleation will be investigated. Nucleation rates of gaseous sulfuric acid and organics will be determined as a function of organic functional group, carbon chain length, relative humidity, and temperature. The question of whether atmospheric nucleation takes place in the absence of sulfuric acid will be investigated. Long-term, simultaneous in-situ measurements of aerosol size distributions and sulfuric acid at Kent, OH will also be performed. The measured nucleation rates, as well as the information on how organics affect nucleation, will be useful for global models that attempt to predict aerosol and cloud abundances on regional and global scales. The education plan consists of four activities: (1) Development of an atmospheric chemistry research module (to measure solubility of atmospherically relevant organic compounds) for students at 15 Ohio universities, (2) Mentoring of underrepresented groups in science, first generation college students, and women, (3) Teaching atmospheric chemistry for high school students in Upward Bound Pre-College programs, and (4) Updating "Chemistry in the World," an undergraduate chemistry course for non-science majors including elementary and middle school education majors.