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6548 Forest Park Pkwy, St. Louis, MO 63112, USA

https://eece.wustl.edu/news-events/seminar-series.html ##seminar
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Swarup China, Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes IRP Leader
Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory
PNNL
A DOE Office of Science User Facility

Processing of biological and secondary organic aerosols in the atmosphere 

Airborne bioaerosols (biological particles) are an integral part of the atmosphere-biosphere interface and significantly impact environment and Earth’s climate. Bioaerosols such as pollen, fungal spores, bacteria, and plant debris emitted directly from the biosphere, impact hydrological cycles by serving as nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals. Chemical compositions of bioaerosols are highly variable and, due to the inherent challenges involved in analytically distinguishing between biological and other carbonaceous particles. Furthermore, understanding of some atmospheric processing pathways such as aqueous-phase processing of biological and organic aerosol remains poorly constrained. Several studies have targeted an improved understanding of vertically resolved organic aerosol given the ubiquitous and complex contributions that organics, notably secondary organic aerosol, make to the total mass loading of atmospheric particles. A combination of X-ray micro-spectroscopy and high-resolution mass spectrometry techniques can provide a comprehensive arsenal of tools for improving our understanding of the nature of these particles at the biosphere-atmosphere interfaces and their reactivity and transformations during atmospheric processing. In this talk, I will discuss processing biological and organic aerosols, and their impact on atmospheric ice formation. 

Bio
Dr. Swarup China leads the Terrestrial-Atmospheric Processes Integrated Research Platform. His significant research areas include atmospheric aerosol properties and processes, atmospheric aerosol chemistry, heterogeneous ice nucleation, and aerosol-cloud interactions. He utilizes field studies, laboratory measurements, and off-line analysis with multi-modal analytical techniques, such as microscopy, spectroscopy, and high-resolution mass spectrometry to study atmospheric processes and interactions between ecosystems. China also studies the chemical aging of atmospheric particles through multi-phase atmospheric chemistry and investigates the effect of physicochemical properties of complex atmospheric particles on aerosol microphysical properties and cloud development. He aims to better understand the physical chemistry of atmospheric particles controlling aerosol-cloud interactions.

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