Spectroscopy of aerosols and nanoparticles

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Aerosols are suspensions of solid particles or liquid droplets in a gas, which are ubiquitous in our world and indeed throughout the solar system. On Earth, concentrations range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of particles per milliliter of air, with particle sizes from subnanometers to many microns. The environmental impacts of aerosols are as diverse as they are important, including scattering solar radiation, nucleating cloud droplets, and even health issues as particles deposit deep within the human pulmonary system. Aerosols play a crucial role in determining the climate and the overall meteorological cycle not only on Earth, but also on other planets and moons. Still their climate and health impacts are in general poorly understood. A large source of uncertainty arises from our insufficient fundamental understanding of how aerosols interact with light including solar radiation, how they form from the gas phase, and how cloud droplets freeze. This proposal addresses these central issues from a fundamental physical-chemical perspective. For that purpose, we develop novel instrumentation for the characterization and monitoring of aerosols and nanoparticles and employ specially tailored theoretical approaches for a detailed analysis of the experimental results. The proposed research will contribute to a better understanding of aerosol climate impacts, air pollution control, and particle analytics. It will enhance the training opportunities of highly qualified personnel in key sectors, thus contributing to the competitiveness of Canadian industry and academia.