European Research Council Advanced Grant Success
Professor Lucy Carpenter has been awarded £2m to study how ozone in the lower atmosphere interacts with the sea’s surface from the prestigious Advanced Grant Fund of the European Research Council (ERC).
The grant will support a highly interdisciplinary study, involving aspects of both physical and atmospheric chemistry, ocean chemistry and physics, and engineering.
Professor Carpenter, who helps lead the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories, explains: "Tropospheric ozone (O3) is a significant climate gas and it has a major influence on air quality, public health, food security and our ecosystem’s viability.
"We estimate that deposition of O3 on the Earth’s surface accounts for around a third of overall tropospheric O3 removal; however, we’re much less certain about losses to the ocean surface, or the effect this has."
The project will explore the fundamental mechanics involved in the loss of O3 both on and in the ocean surface, as well as the subsequent production of trace gases.
Professor Carpenter says: "The overall objective is to unify observations of the ocean surface from above, within and below, offering insight into this complex yet sparsely studied interface and applying this knowledge to our global understanding of the atmosphere."
The latest round of ERC grants totalled €540M. ERC Advanced Grants can be awarded to top scientifically-independent researchers of any nationality or age. Recipients must be exceptional leaders in terms of originality and significance of their research contributions.