Project Grant 2215527

This three-year, $454,659 project grant from the National Science Foundation's Geosciences program (CFDA 47.050) supports the continued membership of three universities in the Cloud Consortium at CERN. The Consortium will study the chemistry and physics that drive new particle formation and growth in Earth's atmosphere using a 26 cubic meter stainless steel chamber. Over the grant period, research will focus on chemical mechanisms generating extremely low volatility organic compounds that can nucleate and condense onto freshly nucleated particles under various atmospheric conditions. Studies will examine aging of first-generation oxidation products in the free troposphere, key radical intermediates in organic and inorganic oxidation systems, and interactions among vapors and particles below 10 nm. Results will be propagated to atmospheric models to test their ability to explain field measurements and understand implications for aerosol radiative forcing. The grant provides required consortium fees and supports shipping and travel to experimental campaigns and associated meetings for Carnegie Mellon University, the California Institute of Technology, and the University of Colorado Boulder.