International Conference on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols (ICNAA)

Date: 
June 2013

Recipient: 

Amy

Hodgson

I would like to thank the Royal Meteorological Society for providing funding through the Legacies fund that allowed me to attend the International Conference on Nucleation and Atmospheric Aerosols (ICNAA). The Conference took place at Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA from 23rd to 28th June 2013. This conference takes place every 3 to 4 years at locations around the world and provided an excellent opportunity for me to present my Masters research.

My research involves analysing gas and particulate data collected during the South American Biomass Burning Analysis (SAMBBA) in Brazil, September 2012. I conducted an in-depth case study of the atmospheric composition of the biomass burning plumes and calculated emission ratios and emission factors which differ between different fire types. The two fire types investigated were a large smouldering rainforest fire and numerous smaller flaming cerrado fires. These fires vastly differ in emissions particularly in CO2 and black carbon(BC) emissions which is important in terms of future climate change. These results highlight the need for fire specific emissions to be included in current climate models which will increase model output accuracy and reliability.I presented a poster of this research which allowed me to discuss my research with academics from around the world. From these discussions I received valuable feedback and comments which I will take into account when writing both my Masters Dissertation and a peer reviewed journal article.

Finally I attended numerous oral presentations and poster sessions which gave an insight into the various other research areas in atmospheric aerosols. This conference gave me valuable experience which I will take forward when I start my PhD in October 2013.