Role of Physics in Environmental and Air Quality Research

Poor air quality resulting in “air pollution is slashing years from billions of people’s lives around the world and is a greater threat to life expectancy than smoking, HIV/AIDS or war” and disproportionately impacts low income and minority neighborhoods. Air quality research is highly interdisciplinary involves experimental laboratory and field (ground, aircraft, and satellite) research and theoretical research involving modeling. Physics plays a broad role, contributing directly to atmospheric and environmental projects and indirectly through basic research, providing technological spin-offs from research programs, and helping to educate a technically literate population capable of responding to environmental issues. Basic physics has played a central role and where it is crucial for further progress. This talk highlights work in our lab at NCAT devoted to the use of several spectroscopic techniques applied to the understanding the role of biomass burning (wildfire and domestic) emissions aerosol nanoparticles on climate, weather, air quality and health.  We investigate the role of photochemical aging, burning conditions, morphology, relative humidity on the optical and chemical properties  of these particles and emission factors of  particulate and gaseous emission and how these changes impact air quality and health.