Claire Ryder : Urban aerosol in London : UoR, Dept Of Meteorology

Urban aerosol in London

View from Physics
Department, Imperial College London

One of my interests is the effect of urban aerosol on long and shortwave radiation in cities. This can be important for air quality, boundary layer development and solar energy generation. I have worked on ground based aerosol and solar radiation measurements across London, and been part of a team looking at how dominant London pollution is in comparison to regional pollution (the EM25 project).

I have used measurements of solar radiation across London to see if there are any spatial patterns, and to see if any of this can be attributed to aerosol loadings. Read an article I wrote on the Reading Weather & Climate Discussion Blog, Is Pollution Making London Duller? or read the published article, An urban solar flux island: measurements from London.

The French Lidar van at imperial

The EM25 campaign took place in June 2009, when the FAAM BAe146 flew circuits round London, while a French Lidar van made circuits around the M25. Together, they measured the transport of pollutants (aerosols and gasses) out of the city of London.

Read the article describing the aircraft measurements made during EM25, Airborne measurements of trace gases and aerosols over the London metropolitan region. One of the key findings was that aerosol in the London plume was more absorbing than background regional aerosol.