Dr Claire Ryder
My Research
I am a postdoctoral researcher working on the Fennec Project, which aims to examine the Saharan Heat Low and co-located mineral dust aerosol maxima, with a focus on intensive aircraft and ground-based measurements in June 2011.
I work on the optical properties and radiative effects of aerosols, particularly related to mineral dust and urban pollution. Previously I have examined the properties of dust as part of the DODO (Dust Outflow and Deposition to the Ocean) experiment. I have also worked on the radiative effect of urban aerosol in London. I am now studying the microphysical, optical and radiative properties of dust using aircraft measurements from the Fennec project.
Why do we care?
Aerosols, small particles in the atmosphere, such as dust, soot or pollution, can be found all over the world in varying amounts. One effect these particles have is to reflect sunlight back out to space. This can heat up the atmosphere, and cool or warm the surface of the planet, depending on the properties of the particles. Thus aerosols can have an impact on weather and climate. Understanding these processes is not always straightforward or well understood, and therefore it's important to do more research to try and improve our understanding.