Problem Definition: The potential impacts of aluminum containing particles, produced from ablation/demise during re-entry, remain speculation until certain critical laboratory measurements are performed and the resulting physico-chemistry data input into a global chemistry-climate model.
Research Objectives:
- Measure the processing of HCl on aluminum-containing particles
- Measure the ability of these particles to freeze H2SO4/HNO3/H2O droplets and produce polar stratospheric clouds
- Model the impacts of Al-containing particles on stratospheric ozone by activating the HCl reservoir and changing the frequency of PSC formation
- Simulate with a chemistry-climate model (WACCM) and analyse the global impacts of the rocket/satellite industry on atmospheric composition, dynamics, and climate
Expected Results:
- Uptake coefficients of HCl on alumina particles as a function of temperature, and analysis of whether the uptake is reactive and photochemically active
- Measured freezing points of acid/H2O droplets incorporating Al-containing particles, as a function of H2SO4:HNO3:H2O
- Assessment of the resulting changes in stratospheric ozone from the injection of Al from space debris
Secondments:
- Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI, Villingen, Switzerland, ca. 4 months): surface analysis of HCl uptake on alumina particles, using XPS at SLS, focusing on the degree of dissociation of HCl as a function of water vapor partial pressure
- Institute Pierre-Simon Laplace (CNRS/IPSL, Guyancourt, France, ca. 3 months): parameterization of the near-field processing
Host:
Main Supervisor:
Co-Supervisors:
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