Combustion Aerosols: A Complex Story of Health and Climate Impacts

Vehicles, power plants, agricultural burning, and forest fires are examples of combustion sources whose particulate (or aerosol) emissions have profound yet poorly characterized effects on public health and climate. 

In this seminar, I will start with a brief overview of the state of knowledge of combustion aerosols, including black carbon and brown carbon, and highlight some of the science gaps. I will then describe the research in the UGA Air Quality and Climate Research Laboratory aimed at addressing these gaps. 

I will present results from laboratory experiments that link the physicochemical properties of brown carbon to combustion fundamentals, as well as regional modeling efforts to predict the public-health and climate impacts of combustion aerosols emitted from gasoline vehicles in the United States.