CAICE has welcomed a new postdoctoral researcher to the science team: Dr. Andy Ault, who recently received his PhD from UC San Diego with the Prather Research Group is now putting his understanding of single particle aerosol chemistry to great use at the University of Iowa, working with Prof. Vicki Grassian. Andy will spearhead work on offline analysis of aerosol samples by microscopy and spectroscopy to complement the online measurements currently taking place at the wave channel at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Prof. Grassian was able to visit UCSD recently to have hands-on involvement in the wave-generated aerosol experiments currently in progress. Her visit was very productive and provided a great springboard for continued close interaction and collaboration. Along with integrating multiple complementary analytical techniques to understand the nuances of highly complex marine aerosols, the CAICE science team has been working to develop and implement innovative means of chemically analyzing both the bulk seawater ‘precursor’ and aerosols to extract a maximum of information from each particle sampled.
CAICE researchers are making detailed physical and chemical measurements of aerosols generated by controlled breaking waves using a glass wave channel housed in the Hydraulics Lab at Scripps Institution of Oceanography.