Welcome!
Located 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 housed in the David Skaggs Research Center in
beautiful Boulder, Colorado.
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, 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 breath. In addition, processed VOCs can condense
onto aerosol and add to their mass loading. Aerosol in
itself are harmful, 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.
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