Aerosols in Climate & Human Health

Anthropogenic and natural aerosols have a direct adverse influence our health and also affect us through secondary processes acting on our environment and climate on both local and global scales. In both cases there is a lack of understanding as to the mechanisms in play; how aerosols interact with living matter and how aerosols interact and impact clouds and precipitation formation.

Our group focuses on aerosol-cloud interactions and the effect that aerosols have on climate, the environment and our health. by combining field and laboratory work we investigate the interaction between human and climate; exploring the human effects on climate with an emphasis on cloud formation and precipitation processes, and vice versa, namely, how climate may affect our lives in the short and long terms.

Faculty

Dr. Karin Ardon-Dryer. Cloud physics, aerosols-cloud interaction, aerosol measurements, atmospheric field studies, aerosol-health interactions, air pollution and air quality.

Dr. Sandip Pal. Boundary layer and mountain meteorology, turbulence, lidar, remote sensing of state variables and tracers, carbon cycle and atmospheric aerosols 

Research Facilities

The aerosol research team works on campus within the Atmospheric Science Group and the Climate Science Center. New laboratory facilities dedicated to the study of aerosols are currently under development.

Related Graduate Course

ATMO 5302: (3:3:0) Weather, Climate, and Applications