Modelling the formation of atmospheric aerosol particles
Ville Loukonen & computational aerosol physics group University of
Helsinki/Department of Physics/Division of Atmospheric Sciences
It is commonly known that aerosol particles affect visibility and can
potentially cause adverse health effects. Recently, there has been a
lot of discussion about the role of aerosol particles in the climate
change: how these small particles directly interact with
electromagnetic radiation and indirectly affect the Earth's albedo by
taking part in cloud formation processes. Furthermore, not only are the
particles emitted into the atmosphere in particulate phase important:
according to some studies 20-80% of all atmospheric aerosol particles
form in the atmosphere from gaseous precursors.
However, aerosol particle formation mechanisms are not yet properly
understood. This is due to the challenges in both experimental and
theoretical research.
In this talk I will discuss theoretical challenges related to
mesoscopic modelling of the phenomenon and especially concentrate on
the importance of accurate molecular-level modelling of the initial
steps of aerosol particle formation.
Loukonen___Modelling_the_formation_of_atmospheric_aerosol_particles-1.pdf