Thursday, October 20, 2022
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Harrison Hill | Senior Research Communications Specialist | 405-744-5827 | [email protected]
In the tallgrass prairies of Oklahoma, wildfires are a pure half of the ecosystem.
Across the nation and globe, their frequency and depth are growing, which makes
understanding them extra necessary than ever.
Researchers at Oklahoma State University are working to raised perceive the results
the smoke from these fires has on our local weather and human well being.
Dr. Elijah Schnitzler, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry, not too long ago
had his work printed in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, one of the most prestigious multidisciplinary analysis journals.
carbon earlier than it has aged in the environment.
His work particularly targeted on particles created from burning biomass — in any other case
generally known as plant-based materials.
When a wildfire tears by means of someplace like the tallgrass prairies, it produces biomass
burning natural aerosol (BBOA), which impacts local weather by absorbing and scattering
photo voltaic radiation. Schnitzler’s staff is working to know this impact as wildfires
turn out to be extra prevalent.
To do that, he targeted on the tiny particles in smoke which might be produced by wildfires.
Specifically, he’s concentrating on what occurs to smoke as it’s transported downwind
from the hearth.
“These particles are composed of natural compounds and they’re delicate to reactions
with ozone,” mentioned Schnitzler, noting there could be adjustments to the composition of these
particles as they journey.
While in the air, BBOA can react with oxidants in the air and alter coloration — known as
whitening — which results in much less radiation absorption, he mentioned.
“There are loads of processes that affect their coloration — one of these is whitening
the place a chemical response bleaches the particles,” Schnitzler mentioned. “But different results
like condensation of different species onto particles additionally affect their coloration.
“Hopefully we can contribute with the bigger analysis group to a complete
understanding of the lifetime of these particles. We hope to develop an built-in
image of how the particles are transported downwind with simultaneous chemical reactions.”
The article — “Rate of atmospheric brown carbon whitening governed by environmental conditions” — was co-authored with researchers from the University of Toronto, the University
of British Columbia, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Schnitzler’s analysis will result in a regional and large-scale understanding of what
may occur in areas the place these particles journey to throughout and after a wildfire,
he mentioned.
“My experimental work was combined with work at British Columbia and MIT,” he mentioned.
“It is a very good instance of how bringing experiments and modeling collectively can
enable us to make extra basic conclusions.”
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