About
I am a YESP-Member and an Environmental Scientist at the Institute of Climate and Energy Systems: Troposphere (ICE-3) at Forschungszentrum Jülich and interim deputy-head of ACTRIS CiGas research infrastructure. My research focuses on constraining the impacts of volatile, intermediate and semi-volatile organic compounds from unregulated sources on urban air quality.
Examples of such sources include both combustion-based (e.g. forest fires, solid fuel burning, trash burning) and non-combustion sources (e.g. asphalt, solvents, fragrances). We investigate the fate of these emissions as they release into the atmosphere in the gas-phase, oxidize and subsequently partition to the aerosol phase to form airborne particulate matter (e.g. PM2.5) that has significant consequences for public health and global climate. For these purposes, we employ state-of-the-art time-of-flight mass spectrometry in laboratory/chamber experiments and field measurements to characterize organic gas and particle phases at near-molecular levels and also implement advanced mathematical tools to isolate contributions of distinct sources in our measurements.
Our work also falls under the pan-European inter-governmental ACTRIS research infrastructure program wherein we develop new analytical techniques for making ambient gas-phase measurements across Europe. I also carry ACTRIS management-related responsibilities including engagements with the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) at the United Nations (UN) for FZ-Jülich CiGas priorities, organizing workshops for training ACTRIS personnel and conducting audits of ACTRIS measurement stations all over Europe.
Research Topics
- Emerging sources of air pollution in developed megacities
- Impact of unregulated burning emissions on developing megacities
- New analytical techniques for characterizing organic aerosol and precursor emissions
Project Team
Dr. Ralf TillmannSenior Scientist
Head of group "Organic Trace Gases"Building 05.2 / Room 3024+49 2461/61-6963
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Last Modified: 04.05.2026