For our third Seminar we received Dr. Mahendar Chand Rajwar, from the Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences – ARIES, in Nainital, India, talking about the role of non-methane hydrocarbons in ozone formation. Dr. Rajwar explained the impacts of primary air pollutants for the environment and highlighted the necessity of systematic and continuous observations of ozone precursor for regulatory control, given that photochemical production rate varies in different environments. He showed data from urban areas and a mountain site in India, addressing the role of LPG leakage emission dominant at both sites, and the seasonal variation due to spring season and monsoon influences. Local physical and dynamic processes are impacted by biomass burning and presence of aromatic compounds.
The second speaker was Dr. Connor Barker, from the Department of Geography, University College London, in London, UK talking about Ozone depletion From Satellite Megaconstellation emissions. Connor showed the environmental impacts of the space industry with the increasing number of rockets launching, influencing the radiative forcing and the stratospheric ozone. Gaseous and aerosol emissions from launch and re-entry can be still negligible, but are exponentially increasing. As rocket launch and re-entry emissions cause stratospheric warming and tropospheric cooling, sensitivity simulations demonstrate that the size distribution of re-entry derived particles affects the location of ozone depletion.
A big thank you and congratulations to both presenters for sharing their work with the IGAC ECR community! Both presentations ended with engaging discussions and informative Q&As.