Timothy Bates
University of Washington, WA·Earth & Environmental Science
The Arctic is warming faster than anywhere else on Earth, and its sea ice is shrinking quickly. As open water grows, the region's airborne particles, or aerosols, are changing too.
- Fields
Earth & Environmental Science
Chemistry
- Topics
Arctic aerosols
atmospheric aerosol
Utqiagvik
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Mar 2027
What they work on
- Extend the 15-year Utqiaġvik record of submicron inorganic aerosol components, and analyze and archive 12 years of filter samples to build a nearly 30-year record.
- Restart sampling of organic aerosol components to compare with 2008–2010 data, documenting how particle sources have changed as Arctic sea ice has declined.
- Add sulfur isotope analysis to the chemical measurements to better identify emission sources, such as sea spray and particles from living organisms.
- Continue particle size distribution measurements and restart cloud condensation nuclei measurements, which track particles that seed cloud droplets, to link aerosol sources to climate effects.
More about the research
These include sea spray and particles released by living organisms. Aerosols affect climate, clouds and the local environment. Most of these changes have happened in the last decade, so long, continuous measurements are needed to document the 'New Arctic' as it forms.
Why it matters
A nearly 30-year Arctic aerosol record will help researchers in atmospheric chemistry, climate science and ecology track how sea ice loss is changing what is in the air. Linking particle sources to cloud formation could improve understanding of Arctic climate impacts that matter to the environment and to communities living there.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Hamish Gordon
Carnegie Mellon University, PA·Earth & Environmental Science·Early-career
Develop a new parameterization of atmospheric new particle formation that accounts for temperature and ions, using CERN CLOUD chamber data and field measurements, and evaluate it in climate models.
Earle Williams
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA·Earth & Environmental Science
Resolve the global circuits paradox by measuring the DC global circuit (ionospheric potential) and the AC global circuit (Schumann resonances) at the same time, during the daily hours when Africa and the Americas each dominate.
Kerri Pratt
University of Michigan, MI·Chemistry
Measure bromine- and chlorine-containing gases, aerosols and cloud residual particles above and downwind of Arctic sea-ice leads, stretches of open water within ice cover, using the Wyoming King Air and Purdue ALAR research aircraft.
The school
University of Washington: 81 labs on PI Pages, $1.7B a year on research, 694 research doctorates a year.
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