OXFLUX · Oxidised organic vapours in the atmosphere: From fluxes to chemical mechanisms and impacts
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-03-01 → 2019-02-28
- EU contribution
- €267,793
- Participants
- 2
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Oxidised organic vapours in the atmosphere: From fluxes to chemical mechanisms and impacts
Plants and human activities emit organic vapors, which are oxidized in the air (e.g. by ozone), making them stickier. In particular vapors emitted from trees can oxidize to very sticky vapors with critical effects on atmospheric aerosol particles, and as a consequence on the properties of clouds (e.g. lifetime) that form on those particles, and hence on climate. However, we only understand a fraction of the oxidation mechanisms, which produce 1000's of species that interact with aerosol particles. The problem is complicated by other processes, such as the deposition of vapors on surfaces (e.g. leafs in a forest), or natural feedback mechanisms. Vapor-aerosol-cloud interactions have been identified as a major source of uncertainty in our ability to predict the sensitivity of climate to human activities, underlining our need for a more thorough understanding of the underlying processes. The overall goal of the OXFLUX project was to reveal important oxidation products, their life cycles under varying conditions, and their impacts on air chemistry and ultimately on climate.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
The oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the atmosphere has crucial effects on aerosol particle formation, hence on the budget of cloud condensation nuclei, and thus on climate. The oxidation of certain biogenic VOC can quickly lead to highly oxygenated organics with very low volatility that have recently been found to play critical roles in all stages of aerosol formation. However, only a fraction of the underlying oxidation mechanisms is currently known, and open questions remain about how the full distribution of oxidation products interacts with the aerosol phase. Moreover, the problem of VOC oxidation is highly interdisciplinary, as it is subject not only to chemical reactions, but also to precursor emissions, natural climate feedbacks and anthropogenic perturbations, depositional losses, and mixing.The aim of OXFLUX is to reveal the formation mechanisms and subsequent fates of important VOC oxidation products, to better quantify their impacts on atmospheric chemistry, in particular on aerosol formation and growth, and ultimately on cloud formation and climate. The Experienced Researcher (ER) will address this challenge experimentally by combining novel mass spectrometric techniques, able to directly measure hundreds of VOC oxidation products, with flux measurements. Fluxes will be measured from towers in temperate and boreal forests, as well as from aircraft. These ambient measurements and their interpretation will be supported by laboratory studies and chemical transport modelling. During the return phase in Europe, the ER will establish continuous flux measurements of oxidised organics in a boreal forest in Finland, and collaborate with atmospheric modellers to include his findings in boundary layer simulations. The ambitious project’s host organisations are world leaders in the field of research and the involved experimental and analytical techniques, maximising the chances of the project’s success and its beneficial impact on the ER’s career.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO · HelsinkiCoordinatorFinland
- UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON · Seattle WaUnited States
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union