Project description
Shedding light on aerosol formation and impact
Climate change presents a significant threat to people worldwide, underscoring the need for innovative air quality and weather forecasting models that have reduced uncertainties during climate change projections. Developing these models will require a better understanding of aerosol growth and formation. The EU-funded BAE project will address this need by investigating amines. These are expected to form aerosol particles at much higher rates than pollutants such as ammonia; however, they are not currently accounted for in atmospheric projections. The project will also study base molecules and their impact on aerosol formation and other particles, providing critical insights into the atmosphere and related effects.
Objective
Aerosol formation and growth mechanisms need to be better understood to improve air quality and weather prediction models, and reduce uncertainty of radiative forcing in climate change projections. Globally, half of the aerosol population is formed via gas-to-particle conversion and the fraction exceeds 90% in high latitudes. In many locations, the initial molecular cluster forms from sulphuric acid and ammonia or dimethylamine. Growth to an aerosol particle is often explained by the condensation of sulphuric acid, methanesulfonic acid and highly oxygenated organic compounds. While the roles of strong acids and organic compounds and their oxidation channels are quantified in laboratory and field studies, cation detection and neutral atmospheric base measurements are notably under-represented. An important innovation of this project will be the direct measurement of cations and neutral base molecules and clusters based on mass spectrometry.
Ammonia, a base predominantly emitted by agriculture, is a key air pollutant in the formation of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). In western Europe, up to half of PM2.5 is attributed to ammonia pollution because of its ability to form aerosols in reactions with common atmospheric acids. Current atmospheric models do not include amines, which can form aerosol particles at a 1000-times faster rate than ammonia. To uncover the composition and level of toxicity of PM2.5 as well as the scattering and absorption of sunlight by aerosol particles, it is critical to understand the atmospheric chemistry and molecular pathways that control their formation and growth. The project will focus on the role of base molecules in the formation of new particles and their fate in the atmosphere and is led by an established PI with a demonstrated history in ground breaking nanoaerosol and precursor studies. It will underpin the modelling of atmospheric aerosol processes, which are subject to major precursor emission changes in Europe and beyond.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history
- natural sciences chemical sciences electrochemistry electrolysis
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry amines
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) ERC-2022-STG
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
2121 NICOSIA
Cyprus
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.