This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This project addresses a significant area of uncertainty in our understanding of biogenic sources of gases and aerosols to the atmosphere by updating a 3-dimensional global model (Community Atmospheric Model - Chemistry coupled with Community Land Model). Emissions and processing of several sesquiterpenes will be explicitly simulated and possible new isoprene reaction mechanisms will be considered in the context of secondary organic aerosol formation. These mechanisms have important ramifications for the oxidative capacity of the atmosphere and will help to reduce uncertainties about sources, distributions, and composition of atmospheric organic aerosols.
Broader impacts will include traditional student training and course development. An undergraduate will be recruited via the Significant Opportunities in Atmospheric Research and Science (SOARS) program, which provides an opportunity for students of historically underrepresented groups in science to participate in summer research activities. Traditional avenues of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference presentations will enhance scientific understanding. The societal benefit of this work will derive from improved understanding of how the Earth system currently functions and from an improved model framework for simulations of future climate scenarios.
