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Title:  Modelling Radical Chemistry Above a Southeast Asian Rainforest

Supervisor:  Dr Nic Carslaw

TAC:  Prof. Malcolm Cresser, Dr. Alistair Boxall 

Funding:  NERC  (OP3 project funding)

Description of Thesis

Over half the forests in the world are found in the tropics and these forests account for over half of all the biogenic volatile organic carbon (VOC) emissions into the atmosphere.  It is believed that these tropical forests have a large part in affecting the chemistry of the atmosphere.  However, at the present time their functions in affecting the atmospheric chemistry both locally and globally are not well understood.  Also the biogenic emissions from tropical forests depend on climatic factors such as temperature and rainfall; a changing global climate may impact upon the levels of voc emissions changing the atmospheric chemistry of these regions.  The region being studied is an area of tropical South-East Asian rain forest in East Malaysia.  The objectives of this project are; to understand how emissions of reactive trace from a tropical rain forest mediate the regional scale production and processing of oxidants and particle in the troposphere and to better understand the impact of these processes on a local, regional and global scale atmospheric composition, chemistry and climate.

Numerical models are being used more readily to help describe complex processes across all areas of science.  A numerical model uses a series of mathematical equations that attempt to describe processes that are observed in the field or under laboratory conditions.  Through these equations, a simulation of a natural system can be created.  The accuracy of these simulations can indicate how well the chemistry of the area is understood.

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