Atmospheric aerosols: From (Photo)chemical transformation to nucleation microphysics at atmospheric interfaces

我们的创新研究计划需要对空气中的凝聚态物质或气溶胶及其与云和辐射的相互作用的物理化学理解，这“对影响气候变化的总辐射强迫估计贡献了最大的不确定性”（政府间气候变化专门委员会，IPCC，2013）。与气溶胶-云相互作用有关的全球辐射收支的不确定性与与人类活动引起的主要温室气体大气浓度增加的估计辐射影响相同。包括气溶胶在内的大气污染物也与呼吸道和心血管疾病以及癌症发病率的增加直接相关（世界卫生组织，世卫组织，2014年）。已经提出了一些控制辐射强迫的机制，这些机制在很大程度上取决于气溶胶和云的物理和化学特性，而这些特性又影响低层大气的能量收支，影响地球的主要过程，如北极海冰的融化以及极端天气现象的频率和强度。这些物理化学机制通常知之甚少，因此，它们为空气质量和环境健康以及气候变化的预测带来了关键的不确定性。拟议的研究计划，解决这些知识的差距，包括三个互补的前沿研究主题，这将是重要的科学，工程和医学的几个领域，解决IPCC和世卫组织的首要研究重点。我们的研究团队中有10名（17名）HQP将接受培训。本发现补助金中描述的研究提供了对气溶胶的基本物理和分析化学的深入了解，即了解气溶胶及其前体转化的（光）化学，动力学和机制的补充研究，在分子水平上开发化学形态的新方法和技术，对气溶胶的表面物理化学研究，利用纳米和微米气溶胶的特性，设计新颖的天然绿色化学方法和技术，从源头上协助污染治理。我们预计这项研究计划将进一步发展我们对政策制定者提供咨询和服务我们的社区，在国家和国际层面的持续贡献。我们已经建立了国际专业知识，技能，以及一个强大和积极的研究小组，因此我们相信，我们将以有效的方式实现我们的目标。

Our innovative research program entails the physico-chemical understanding of airborne condensed matter or aerosols, and their interactions with clouds and radiation, which “contributes the largest uncertainty to the total radiative forcing estimates” affecting climate change (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, 2013). The uncertainty in the global radiation budget associated with aerosol-cloud interactions is of the same magnitude as the estimated radiative impact of increases in the atmospheric concentration of major greenhouse gases associated with human activity. Atmospheric pollutants, including aerosols, have also been directly linked to increases in the occurrence of respiratory and cardio-vascular disease as well as cancer (World Health Organization, WHO, 2014). A number of mechanisms governing radiative forcing, have been proposed which are strongly dependent on the physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols and clouds, and in turn these affect the lower atmosphere energy budget, influencing Earth’s major processes such as melting of the sea-ice in the Arctic and the frequency and intensity of extreme weather phenomena. These physicochemical mechanisms are generally poorly understood and as such, they introduce key uncertainties into the prediction of air quality and environmental health, and climate change. The proposed research program, addressing these gaps of knowledge, encompasses three complementary cutting edge research themes, which will be significant in several fields of science, engineering and medicine, addressing the top research priorities of IPCC and WHO. Ten (out of 17) HQP in our research team will be trained. The research described in this Discovery Grant provides insight into the fundamental physical, and analytical chemistry of aerosols, namely complementary research on understanding the (photo)chemistry, kinetics and mechanism(s) of the transformation of aerosols and their precursors, on the development of novel methods and techniques for the chemical speciation at molecular levels, on surface physical chemistry research on aerosols, using nano and micro-aerosols properties to design novel natural green chemistry methods and techniques, which assists pollution remediation at its source. We foresee this research program further evolving our ongoing contributions towards advising policy makers and serving our communities, at national and international levels. We have established international expertise, savoir-faire, as well as a strong and motivated research group, and hence we are confident that we will reach our goals in an efficient manner.