University of Colorado at Boulder - Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry

CHEM-5151 / ATOC-5151 - Atmospheric Chemistry Graduate Course - Spring 2005

This page is maintained by Prof. Jose-Luis Jimenez

Lecture Notes for Spring 2005

• Syllabus
  • Schedule Update on Feb-19
• Course Organization

• Lecture 1: Introduction I
  Additional Reading on Units and Atmospheric Structure
  • Jacob's chapter 1 on measures of atmospheric composition (Suggested)
  • Jacob's chapter 2 on atmospheric pressure (Suggested)

• Lecture 2: Introduction II

• Lecture 3: The Global Atmospheric Circulation (Brian Toon)
• Lecture 4: Atmospheric Chemical Transport (Brian Toon)
  Additional Reading on Transport
  • Jacob's chapter 3 on box models (Required)
  • Jacob's chapter 4 on atmospheric transport (Required)
  • Jacob's chapter 5 on the continuity equation (Required)
  • Stull's chapter on the general circulation (Suggested)
  • McElroy's chapter on the general circulation (Suggested)

• Lecture 5: Spectroscopy & Photochemistry I
• Lecture 6: Spectroscopy & Photochemistry II
  • TUV Photolysis Calculator
• Lecture 7: Photochemistry of Important Atmospheric Molecules

• Lectures 8-10: Chemical Kinetics I-III (Ed Dunlea)
  • Solutions to class questions for kinetics lectures
  • Spreadsheet with calculations from Ed
  • Additional Reading on Kinetics: Jacob's chapter 9 on chemical kinetics (Strongly suggested, especially if you don't have a background in this area)

• Lecture 12: Gas Phase Organic + NOx + UV Reactions I
• Lecture 13: Gas Phase Organic + NOx + UV Reactions II
  • Additional Reading on NOx-Organic Chemistry (suggested)
    • Jacob's chapter 11 on Oxidizing Power of the Trosposphere
    • Jacob's chapter 12 on Ozone Air Pollution

• Lecture 14: Inorganic Nitrogen Chemistry (Ed Dunlea)

• Lectures 13-15: Aerosols I-III (Qi Zhang)
  • Introductory Reading on Aerosols: Jacob's chapter 8
  • Required reading on aerosols - Part I
  • Required reading on aerosols - Part II
  • Required reading on aerosols - Part III
  • Organic Atmospheric Particulate Material, J. H. Seinfeld and J. F. Pankow, Annu. Rev. Phys. Chem., 2003. (Final required reading on aerosols)
  • Reference paper that Qi used for some of the lectures: Qi Zhang et al; Insights into the Chemistry of Nucleation Bursts and New Particle Growth Events in Pittsburgh Based on Aerosol Mass Spectrometry. Environmental Science and Technology, 38: 4797-4809, 2004.

• Lecture 16: Aerosol Light Scattering and Cloud Nucleation
  Suggested reading on particle health effects:
  • Epidemiology: Mounting Evidence Indicts Fine-Particle Pollution,, Jocelyn Kaiser, Science 307(5717):1858-1861, March 2005.
  • (Companion article in Science): Atmospheric Science: Something in the Air, Daniel M. Murphy, Science 307(5717):1888-1890, March 2005.

• Lecture 17: Stratospheric Ozone Chemistry I (Darin Toohey)
• Lecture 18: Stratospheric Ozone Chemistry II (Darin Toohey)
  Additional reading (suggested):
  • Jacob's chapter 10 on Stratospheric Ozone
  • Stratospheric Ozone: An Electronic Textbook.
  • The Ozone Hole Tour

• Lectures 19-20: Acid Deposition
  Additional reading (suggested):
  • Jacob's chapter 13 on Acid Rain

• Lecture 21: Instrumentation (Jessica Gilman)

• Lecture 22: Atmospheric Chemistry and Climate
  Additional reading (suggested):
  • Jacob's chapter 7 on the Greenhouse effect
  • Brasseur et al.'s Chapter on Atmospheric Chemistry and Global Climate
  • IPCC Report - Climate Change 2001
  • Climate Change 2001. Report of Working Group 1: The Scientific Basis
  • Aerosols and Climate Change: A Tutorial. Schwartz S. E., American Association for Aerosol Research, 23rd Annual Conference, Atlanta, October 4, 2004. (11 MB file)
  • Uncertainty requirements in radiative forcing of climate change, S. E. Schwartz, J. Air Waste Management Assoc. 54, No. 11, (November, 2004)

Other Reference Materials

• Chemical Kinetics Data
  • JPL Kinetics & Photochemistry Data Evaluation
  • IUPAC data compilation from Atkinson et al. (with more reactions relevant to the troposphere)
  • NIST Chemical Kinetics Database (not limited to reactions or conditions of atmospheric importance)
  • Aqueous Kinetics Data from the Notre Dame Radiation Chemistry Data Center
• Actinic Fluxes for use in photolysis calculations
  • Table 3.7 of Finlayson-Pitts & Pitts in Excel Format for HW#2
  • Table 3.11 of Finlayson-Pitts & Pitts in Excel Format for HW#2
• Standard Atmosphere, Solar Irradiance at Top of Atmopshere, and Structures of Important Atmospheric Molecules and Radicals (from Table B of Jacobson 1999)
• Centennial Issue of the Journal of Physical Chemistry
• Chemical Reviews Special Issue: Atmospheric Chemistry, Long-term Issues (A. R. Ravishankara, Guest Editor)
• Useful math info
• Taylor series expansions
• "Advice to Beginning Physics Speakers" by James C. Garland, Physics Today, July 1991.
• Jimenez Group Scientific Reference Info (focuses on aerosols).

Homeworks for Spring 2005