Current Research

arcticap_path_all_weco

ArctiCAP 2017 CO2 and CH4 measurement campaign flight path

Arctic and boreal ecosystem carbon flux analysis


As part of the NASA Arctic and Boreal Vulnerability Experiment (ABoVE), my ongoing work aims to quantify ABoVE-domain CO2 and CH4 fluxes seasonally and spatially and identify the sources and dominant processes in this area. Tools being applied to this problem include aircraft measurements, an atomspheric transport model, a stastical-driven photosynthesis and respiration model, and geospatial inversion techniques. Optimized CO2 and CH4 fluxes in time and space.will allow us to develop an annual budget for CO2 and CH4 throughout the ABoVE domain, improving upon our understanding and representation of the carbon system in arctic and boreal ecosystems.

 Research in Press

interactions

Interactions between agriculture and air quality


Concern is ever growing over increasing human population and the effects of industrialization on the environment, agriculture and air quality have become important areas of research. My PhD research at MIT focused on exploring the interactions of these topics in both directions. Using new observations at the surface, on aircraft, and from satellite, we found summertime ammonia emissions and concentrations were underestimated in an atmospheric chemistry model. While this has little impact on PM during the summer, accounting for these missing ammonia emissions contributes significantly to inorganic PM during colder time periods. We also employed this atmospheric chemistry model, empirical relationships, and a crop production model to assess the net impact of PM and ozone on global crop production. While varying by crop and location, our results indicate that production enhancement due to increased diffuse light from PM may offset a significant portion of ozone damage, especially in winter growing seasons. Full description of these studies is found on the Publications page.