Speaker: Jamie Donaldson, Physical & Environmental Sciences, U of T Scarborough
Title: Some Simple Field Experiments: One Lab Scientist’s Perspective
Abstract: In this talk, I will present some recent (and a little not-so-recent) work which takes advantage of simple and “inexpensive” field measurements and data mining to help develop our understanding of urban and near-urban atmospheric processes. I will give an argument for widespread urban activation of chloride (and, by implication, any bromide present) by gas phase nitrogen oxides on particulate and urban grime surfaces. I will then show that there exists a sharp negative gradient in ozone mixing ratios over the first kilometre inland from Lake Ontario and that this gradient depends on season and local urban density. I will end by presenting preliminary results from a campaign that measured ozone and nitrogen dioxide on Lake Ontario offshore from Toronto that suggests some real differences between over-land and over-lake chemistry. Almost all the work I will discuss was carried out by undergraduate researchers or myself, suggesting a potential for wider community engagement in local environmental measurement campaigns.