Welcome!
We are part of the Tropospheric Chemical Observations
group in the Chemical Sciences Division of the
NOAA Earth System Research
Laboratory. Our group consists of both CIRES and NOAA researchers and works
on measurements of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
in the atmosphere and their interpretation. Our
laboratory is located in the David Skaggs Research Center in
beautiful Boulder, Colorado.
Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are emitted to the
atmosphere from a wide variety of sources, both natural and
man-made. In the atmosphere, VOCs have lifetimes varying
from minutes to years. Sinks include chemical reactions
with OH, ozone and nitrate radicals, photolysis and
deposition at the Earth's surface either directly, or
indirectly after uptake by aerosols or cloud droplets. The
chemical transformation of VOCs in polluted air leads to
the production of ozone, a harmful gas when present in the
air we breathe. In addition, processed VOCs can condense
onto aerosols and add to their mass loading. Aerosols are
harmful to human health, since they are small enough to
penetrate deep into our lungs. Also, aerosol play an
important role in the Earth's radiation balance, and thus
the climate, either directly by the scattering and
absorption of radiation or indirectly by acting as
cloud-condensation nuclei.
Our group uses state-of-the-art instruments to measure VOCs
in the atmosphere. We do this mostly during large-scale
field missions, which also determine many of the other
atmospheric constituents. From the results we hope to
understand quantitatively the emissions, chemical
transformations and ultimate loss processes of VOCs, and
how these processes contribute to the formation of ozone
and aerosol in the atmosphere. We also study how VOC
emissions may change in a future atmosphere, if alternative
fuels produced from agricultural crops such as corn and
switchgrass were to be used on large scale.
The information contained on these pages describes our
group members, the field projects we are
involved with, the instruments we use and the
publications we have written
or co-authored. Hopefully, these pages are useful to
you as a visitor or colleague!
Joost de Gouw