The life cycle and impact of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols – both indoors as well as outdoors.
Large particles and dirt pile up on the impactor plate in a sampler used to collect particles smaller than 10 mikro meters (PM10 sampler). Photo: Birgitta Noone
Our work is, for the most part, interdisciplinary and aims at understanding the composition of air and its influence on climate and human health. The majority of our research activities focus on understanding the life cycle and impact of tiny atmospheric particles known as aerosols – both indoors as well as outdoors. Aerosols have implications not only for climate but on human health as well. We also support and encourage active interaction between researchers and policymakers through hosting the Air Quality Reference Laboratory (in collaboration with the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency), organizing events and activities for various stakeholders, as well as participating in expert groups, committees and boards, both at home and internationally. We offer advanced courses at the MSc and PhD levels as well as a joint BSc programme in environmental physics in collaboration with the Department of Physics at Stockholm University.
Sea spray aerosols are ubiquitous over much of the Earth's surface and are especially important in remote regions with few other aerosol sources. As such, they may have a pronounced impact on climate through direct and indirect effects on the radiation budget.
Despite their abundance in the Earth’s atmosphere, cloud formation and evolution are still poorly understood. This is particularly true for the interactions clouds have with atmospheric aerosol particles and their precursor vapors, which hampers our knowledge on the role that clouds and precipitation play in the climate system and in governing air quality.
Particles emitted from car brakes contribute an increasingly important part to air pollution in cities, but little is known about the gases which are also emitted. In this project, we investigate the gaseous emissions from brakes and their fate in the atmosphere.
Aerosol-cloud interactions (ACI) remain the largest source of uncertainty in past, present, and future radiative forcing, impeding credible climate projections.
Feedbacks between a changing climate and vegetation (CLIVE): The role of volatile organic compounds and biogenic aerosols. CLIVE aims to explore how forests, particularly in boreal and tropical regions, influence climate change through their interactions with carbon and water cycles.
While modelling of transport and deposition undertaken in our research group indicates the importance of SAA transport and deposition of PFAAs in coastal regions, there is currently little empirical evidence for these impacts.
Will the ice continue to disappear at an ever-increasing rate as the exposed ocean surface absorbs increasing amounts of solar radiation? Or might conditions become progressively more favorable for biological activity and associated cloud-formation, decreasing the amount of solar-radiation received at the surface?
There is dust in the air at stone crushers - in beach volleyball halls - at construction sites – and in the dust there are small quartz particles that can be harmful to health. But how many of them are there exactly? – in the Nano-quartz project we investigate this matter (2020 – 2024)
Air pollution in Delhi contains astonishingly high levels of chlorine, which reacts rapidly in the air. This project combines fieldwork with lab experiments to understand chlorine’s impact on atmospheric chemistry and human health in South Asia.
