Using Fourier Transform Spectroscopy to Investigate Atmospheric Composition and its Changes

由于人类活动的影响，地球大气的化学成分正在发生变化。这些变化正在并将继续影响地球上的生活质量。臭氧消耗和气候变化这两个重要且相关的变化在国际上被认为是本世纪大气科学面临的两个“重大挑战”。为了应对这些重大挑战，我的研究小组从太空和地面进行测量，以研究地球大气的化学成分以及它如何随着时间的变化而变化。为了进一步推进这一研究计划，我们将在未来五年内开展以下项目。 1)工业生产过程中产生的含氟化合物是一种强有力的温室气体，可能对全球变暖造成重大影响。这项研究将使用来自加拿大科学卫星的新数据来研究大气中这些化学物质的数量如何随着时间的变化而变化。这些测量将与大气模型进行比较，看看它们能否很好地模拟这些温室气体在大气中的传输。该项目的结果将有助于改进用于预测地球大气未来变化的模型系统。 2)需要长期测量才能了解我们大气中发生的变化。该项目将以过去对北极高空(80 N)大气的测量为基础，建立一个长达十年的臭氧层消耗和气候变化所涉及的关键化学品的数据集。测量将在春季进行，也就是臭氧破坏最严重的时候。它们将被用来调查太空和地面仪器如何“看到”大气中正在发生的事情。这些结果将被用来确定如何最好地在北极使用便携式仪器，以提高加拿大的大气测量能力，并进一步加深我们对不断变化的臭氧层的了解。

The chemical composition of Earth's atmosphere is changing due to the influence of human activity. These changes are affecting, and will continue to affect, the quality of life on Earth. Two important and related changes, ozone depletion and climate change, have been identified internationally as two of the "grand challenges" for atmospheric science in this century. To address these grand challenges, my research group makes measurements from space and from the ground to study the chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere and how it is changing with time. To further this research program, we will undertake the following projects over the next five years. 1) Fluorine-containing compounds, produced by industrial processes, are potent greenhouse gases that can contribute significantly to global warming. This study will use new data from a Canadian scientific satellite to examine how the amounts of these chemicals in the atmosphere are changing with time. These measurements will be compared with atmospheric models to see how well they can simulate the transportation of these greenhouse gases through the atmosphere. The results from this project will contribute to improving the model systems that are used to predict future changes in the Earth's atmosphere. 2) Long-term measurements are required to understand the changes occurring in our atmosphere. This project will build on past measurements of the high Arctic (80 N) atmosphere to create a ten-year long data set of the key chemicals involved in depletion of the ozone layer and in climate change. The measurements will be made during springtime, the time when ozone destruction is greatest. They will be used to investigate how instruments in space and on the ground "see" what is happening in the atmosphere. These results will be used to determine how a portable instrument can be best used in the Arctic to increase Canadian atmospheric measurement capabilities and to further our understanding of the changing ozone layer.