Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds (OVOCs), such as methanol and formaldehyde, have a significant impact on the atmospheric chemistry and climate. This project aims at better understanding the impact of OVOCs in tropical regions and over oceans.

Oxygenated Volatile Organic Compounds (OVOCs), such as methanol and formaldehyde, have a significant impact on the atmospheric chemistry and climate. However, the paucity of OVOC observations as well as deficient knowledge of their sources and sinks, make the OVOC budget difficult to evaluate, especially in tropical regions and over oceans. Relying on an integrated approach that combines in situ measurements, satellite observations and modelling, the project aims at better understanding and quantifying the impact of OVOCs on atmospheric oxidants and climate-related gases in those regions. In this framework, ULB processes the satellite observations and analyses the spatial distribution and time evolution in the concentrations of several volatile organic compounds, thanks to more than 10 years of measurements from the IASI sounder, orbiting the Earth on the European MetOp meteorological satellites.

Coordinated by the Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), this project brings together teams from the ULB - Quantum Chemistry and Photophysics Unit, P-F. Coheur -, the University of Reunion Island (CNRS-LACy) and the Laboratory of Physical Meteorology (LaMP).

End of the project: 15/04/2021

Dates
Created on August 29, 2018