Biogenic Emissions and Air Quality Impacts

About

Terrestrial plants emit 80% of the organic gases into the atmosphere that drive atmospheric chemical processes. These gases - called biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) - rapidly oxidize, leading to the formation of ozone and particles, which pose risks for human health and impact Earth’s climate by acting as greenhouse gases, scattering light, or serving as cloud condensation nuclei.

The increased frequency and intensity of drought, heat, and herbivory stress caused by global warming stresses plants, changing the composition and amount of gases they emit. However, the overall direction of this change and the resulting impact of stressed forest emissions on the Earth’s atmosphere is unknown.

Research Topics

We use plant chamber measurements with chemical ionization mass spectrometry methods to study the effects of combined stressors on BVOC emissions and their oxidation products. Using a Zeppelin as a platform for airborne flux observations, we investigate stress impacts at the real-world ecosystem scale on plant volatile emissions and their oxidation products. This way, we aim to better understand impacts of plant stress on air quality and climate.

More information on VOC research at IEK-8 can be found here.

Contact

Dr. Eva Pfannerstill

IEK-8

Building 05.2 / Room 2029

+49 2461/61-6646

E-Mail

Helmholtz Young Investigator Group project "ClimStress" - Climate stress impacts on forest emissions and aerosol pollution"

How will plant emissions impact future air quality under climate change while the switch to renewable energy reduces anthropogenic emissions? The project “ClimStress” addresses this question by a unique combination of chamber and field measurements with novel instrumentation that can characterize gases and particles in unprecedented comprehensiveness. Linking a plant chamber with a state-of-the-art atmospheric oxidation chamber, we will investigate how combinations of multiple stressors impact tree emissions and their atmospheric oxidation towards air pollutants. The first airborne emission measurements on board a Zeppelin airship will enable us to quantify ecosystem-scale emissions along a gradient of stressed towards less-stressed forest. Thus, "ClimStress" will provide crucial input for accurate modelling of atmospheric chemistry and air quality, and thereby help reduce the uncertainty in future air pollution and climate predictions.

Young Investigators Group Eva
Young Investigators Group Eva

Plant Chamber measurements in SAPHIR-PLUS

SAPHIR-PLUS is a plant chamber coupled to the large atmospheric oxidation chamber SAPHIR at Forschungszentrum Jülich. It provides a controlled environment for up to six trees. The oxidation processes of the tree emissions can be observed in SAPHIR.

Zeppelin-based airborne flux measurements

A Zeppelin is an ideal platform for tropospheric chemistry research, as it can fly low and slowly. These abilities also make it highly useful for airborne eddy covariance flux measurements, i.e. direct emission measurements.

JOB OFFERS
PUBLICATIONS
Last Modified: 29.04.2024