Public Seminar by Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences (EOAS) Thrust, Function Hub, HKUST(GZ) - Chemical Evolution of Secondary Organic Aerosols and its Impact on Climate-related Optical Properties
Atmospheric aerosols strongly influence Earth’s energy budget by aerosol-radiation interactions and aerosol−cloud interactions. Primarily, aerosols influence climate by either absorbing or scattering incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation. This interaction profoundly alters Earth's radiation budget and hence the climate on regional and global scales. Among the myriad of atmospheric aerosols, secondary organic aerosols (SOA) constitute a substantial fraction. However, the complex nature of SOA sources and chemical composition, coupled with their variable optical properties and potential transformation during atmospheric aging, engender considerable uncertainty in their radiative forcing estimation. In this seminar, I will present our studies on the understanding of SOA formation from diverse sources (biogenic and anthropogenic emissions as well as their interactions) through multiple oxidation pathways. I will show the utilization of our newly developed broadband cavity-enhanced spectrometers for investigating the SOA optical properties, and how these properties change with atmospheric aging and therefore impact climate.
Dr. Quanfu He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Aerosol group at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH. Quanfu graduated from Sun Yat-sen University in Polymer Materials Science as a bachelor and obtained his doctoral degree in Environmental Science at the Chinese Academy of Science. Dr. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Weizmann Institute of Science before he moved to Jülich. Quanfu’s research interests focus on the climate and health effects of organic aerosols. His research combines field measurements and laboratory experiments to characterize the chemical-physical properties of organic aerosols, explore the SOA formation from various sources via multiple oxidation pathways, and address the health and climate effects of organic aerosols. Dr. He has published 51 peer-reviewed articles including 9 (co-)first-authored papers in the top journals of atmospheric science. He was recognized for Outstanding Achievements in Postdoctoral Research and an awardee of Senior Koshland Scholar by the Weizmann Institute of Science. He is currently serving as an editor for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.
For enquiries, please contact Miss Phoenix Li (phoenixwfl@hkust-gz.edu.cn).