Atmospheric Sciences

Modeling

Current computer models of pollutants and air toxics in both the indoors and outdoors do not predict their behavior and resulting human exposures adequately—informing good public policy to control these chemicals requires better science and better models.

Modeling research in the Atmospheric Sciences Department focuses on improving current models in a manner that is open and transparent to the scientific community, and testing the models through experiment and field measurements.

This R&D addresses such areas as:

• Climate change
• Carbonaceous aerosols
• Trace gases
• Regional Air Quality
• Ozone, formed from the interaction of sunlight with oxides of nitrogen and volatile organic compounds.
• Particles, especially PM2.5 (particles less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) formed during combustion and in the atmosphere from chemistry of carbon-, nitrogen- and sulfur-containing compounds.