Lynn M. Russell
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
University of California at San Dieigo

Lynn M. Russell is Professor of Atmospheric Chemistry at Scripps Institution of Oceanography on the faculty of University of California at San Diego. She completed her undergraduate work at Stanford University. She received a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the California Institute of Technology for her studies of marine aerosols. Her postdoctoral work as part of the National Center for Atmospheric Research Advanced Studies Program investigated aerosol and trace gas flux and entrainment in the marine boundary layer. Her research is in the area of aerosol particle chemistry, including the behavior of particles in marine and anthropogenically-influenced conditions. This research has been supported by the Dreyfus Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the Office of Naval Research, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation. She received the Whitby Award of the American Association of Aerosol Research in 2003 for her contributions on atmospheric aerosol processes.
http://cas.ucsd.edu/people/act_detail.cfm?state=%26%2B%5E%3B(W%3C%3B%5E%0A

Department Lecture Series
Thursday Sept 13, 9:45 am, Smith 331

Organic Aerosols in the Atmosphere (and Their Many Mixtures)


Organic aerosol particles constitute one of the largest uncertainties in quantifying the effects of man-made emissions on the radiative balance of the Earth. Organic composition during recent field projects was measured by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Aerosol Mass Spectrometry (AMS), and Near-Edge X-ray Absorption Fine Structure/Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy (NEXAFS/STXM) to characterize organic functional group abundance and morphology of atmospheric aerosols. We present a summary of spectra, sizes, and shapes observed in 595 particles that were collected and analyzed between 2000 and 2006. These particles ranged between 0.1 and 12 microns and represent aerosols found in a large range of geographical areas, altitudes, and times. They include samples from seven different field campaigns: PELTI, ACE-ASIA, DYCOMS II, Princeton, MILAGRO (urban), MILAGRO (C-130), and INTEX-B. At least fourteen different classes of organic particles show different types of spectroscopic signatures. Different particle types are found within the same region while the same particle types are also found in different geographical domains. Particles chemically resembling black carbon, humic-like aerosols, pine ultisol, and secondary or processed aerosol have been identified from functional group abundance and comparison of spectra with those published in the literature.