PSI

PSI has initiated this proposal and will coordinate POLYSOA. The institute has extensive experience of working in and managing large, multi-partner projects including those funded by the EU. PSI will also lead the WP5 Integrated Assessment. The strength of PSI is the combined expertise in aerosol and gas phase chemistry research, whereby it uses a large variety of physical and chemical analytical facilities in its laboratory work and field experiments. PSI houses a large smog chamber which will be used for the joint chamber experiments with SOA. Several analytical instruments will be operated there to characterize the basic conditions of the photochemical smog produced, e.g. concentrations of NOx, ozone, particle number and size, etc. PSI has developed a state-of-the-art V-TDMA and H-TDMA, respectively, which are the important tools to physically characterize the SOA and the polymeric fraction. PSI also owns an AMS and a PTR-MS for fast on-line measurements of the gas and particle phase. The density of the SOA can be obtained by the combination of AMS and SMPS (Scanning mobility particle sizer). The AMS will be used to provide a mass spectral signature of different types of aerosols. The PTR-MS will be modified such that the semi-volatile constituents of the aerosol can be determined which should allow us to get hands on the building blocks of the polymeric material in SOA.

CV of Urs Baltensperger

PD Dr. Urs Baltensperger is the head of the Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry at PSI and lecturer at ETH Zurich. His main interest is in the formation and transformation of aerosols as well as the study of their impact. He is the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Group for Aerosols of the Global Atmosphere Watch (GAW) aerosol program of WMO at the Jungfraujoch. He also is president of the Commission for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences. He is author and co-author of more than 110 peer-reviewed journal articles. He is currently involved in the EC projects ACCENT, ARTEMIS, CREATE, and EUROCHAMP. He is also member of the steering group of the ESF project Interdisciplinary tropospheric research: from the laboratory to global change (INTROP).

Recent publications

Andreani-Aksoyoglu, S., A.S.H. Prévôt, U. Baltensperger, J. Keller, J. Dommen, Modelling of formation and distribution of secondary aerosols in the Milan area (Italy); J. Geophys. Res.,109, doi:10.1029/2003JD004231 (2004).

Baltensperger, U., N. Streit, E. Weingartner, S. Nyeki, A.S.H. Prévôt, R. van Dingenen, A. Virkkula, F. Raes, H. ten Brink, A. Blatter, A. Neftel, H.W. Gäggeler, Urban and rural aerosol characterization of summer smog events during the PIPAPO field campaign in Milan, Italy; J. Geophys. Res.,107, doi: 10.1029/2001JD001292, pp. 1-13 (2002).

Gysel, M., E. Weingartner, S. Nyeki, D. Paulsen, U. Baltensperger, I. Galambos, G. Kiss, Hygroscopic properties of water-soluble matter and humic-like organics in atmospheric fine aerosol; Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 35-50 (2004).

Kalberer, M., D. Paulsen, M. Sax, M. Steinbacher, J. Dommen, A.S.H. Prévôt, R. Fisseha, E. Weingartner, V. Frankevich, R. Zenobi, U. Baltensperger, Identification of polymers as major components of atmospheric organic aerosols; Science, 303, 1659-1662 (2004).

Saathoff, H., K.-H. Naumann, M. Schnaiter, W. Schöck, O. Möhler, U. Schurath, E. Weingartner, M. Gysel, U. Baltensperger, Coating of soot and (NH4)2SO4 particles by ozonolysis products of a-pinene; J. Aerosol Sci., 34, 1297-1321 (2003).