Atmospheric observatory for Atlantic Ocean as York scientists win research cash
Posted on 15 September 2005
Dr Lucy Carpenter and Dr Alastair Lewis, of the University's Department of Chemistry, have been awarded £487,070 by the National Environment Research Council (NERC) to set up an atmospheric observatory on the Cape Verde Islands.
The York chemists, who have been awarded the money under the NERC's Surface Ocean - Lower Atmosphere Study (SOLAS) programme, will be the major partners in a project also involving German and Cape Verdean scientists.
Cape Verde (16°N, 24°W) is situated in the tropical Eastern North Atlantic Ocean, in a region which exerts a strong influence on greenhouse gases and clouds as well as being highly sensitive to climate change. There are major interactions between the ocean and the atmosphere in this area of the tropics though these are little understood due to the limited amount of study that has taken place.
This project is a key component in understanding how global changes in atmospheric composition and climate may affect the ocean and biogeochemical processes occurring within it
Dr Alastair Lewis
The project will examine long term trends in gases such as ozone, and processes affecting the marine ecosystem such as the input of desert dust to the ocean.
It will launch a two and a half-year programme of trace gas, including ozone, nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds, and aerosol measurements. The aim is to create a high quality international facility and start a long-term UK-led atmospheric monitoring programme, providing vital data to the UK and international communities.
Dr Carpenter said: "The Cape Verde Observatory will provide a powerful tool for characterizing transport and deposition of trace gases, aerosols and dust from Africa to the tropical Atlantic."
Dr Lewis added: "This project is a key component in understanding how global changes in atmospheric composition and climate may affect the ocean and biogeochemical processes occurring within it".
Notes to editors:
- Last year, Dr Lewis led a team of 40 scientists from seven UK universities, which travelled to the Azores to take part in the largest international atmospheric field campaign of its type ever attempted. The mission tracked a mass of polluted air as it left the United States and travelled across the Atlantic to the UK and mainland Europe. Scientists measured chemical reactions within the air-mass, quantifying the resulting pollutants delivered to Europe.
- The University of York's Department of Chemistry has an excellent reputation for teaching and research. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the department was awarded a 5 rating. It has 46 full-time members of staff including many winners of international prizes, more than 380 undergraduate students, approximately 150 graduates (mainly studying for the PhD degree) and 90 research fellows. Its laboratories were recently extended and modernised to provide an excellent environment for teaching and research.