Atmospheric Science and Instrumentation
Working together to Improve our understanding of Earth’s Atmosphere
Welcome! I am a Ph.D. chemist who found my professional home working at the interface between the atmospheric sciences and airborne instrumentation. As a research scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research’s Research Aviation Facility, I am working to create a space to utilize my experience in service of the broader atmospheric research community. I hope this site can serve as a launching point for future discussions and collaborations. Please feel free to contact me and start that journey.
Atmospheric Science
The air we breathe. The only thing protecting us from harmful radiation. Earth’s temperature-regulating blanket. Without the atmosphere we simply would not exist. Its movements produce weather systems, its reflectivity and absorptivity regulate climate, and its production and loss of gases and aerosols will either pollute it or promote a healthy ecosystem. It is a global challenge that we face to understand these processes in order to protect ourselves and the only home we may ever have.
Airborne Instrumentation
Our understanding of the Earth’s atmosphere is in part limited by the quality and quantity of data we are able to collect and analyze. The focal point of my own research activities has been the development of state-of-the-art instrumentation for field deployment. Through the provision and interpretation of accurate, precise data we are able to advance understanding and improve our ability to anticipate future challenges.
Instrument Development Projects
WB-57 during the NOAA SABRE missions
DC-8, ATom mission
NOAA WP-3D, SENEX 2013
Pasadena, CA during CalNex 2010
Scientific Interests and Foci
Atmospheric Chemistry/Climate
Newly identified marine sulfur chemistry will be a focal point of the AEROMMA 2023 field study
Improving Analytical Capabilities
Andrew Rollins (NOAA) and Samantha Lee (CIRES/NOAA) collaborate on the development of an iodide CIMS
Collaboration in Science
Teachers tour the NCAR GV as part of the Discover AQ teacher workshop. Credit: David Oonk/CIRES
Upcoming Field Deployments – 2023
Atmospheric Emissions and Reactions Observed from Megacities to Marine Areas (AEROMMA)
AEROMMA will provide new observations during the summer of 2023 from megacities to the marine environment using airborne, surface, satellite observing systems, and state-of-the-art air quality and climate models.
The objectives include the following:
- improve representation of emissions and chemical and physical processes in the next generation weather-chemistry models;
- provide observations to improve representation of chemistry and aerosol microphysics in the marine atmosphere;
- quantify emissions and source attribution urban areas;
- reductions in global climate model uncertainties through provisions of improved observational constraints;
- comprehensive aircraft observations of atmospheric composition under TEMPO (Tropospheric
Emissions: Monitoring Pollution) - value assessment and risk reduction for future satellite missions such as NOAA GEO-XO
(NOAA’s Geostationary Extended Observations).
