Environmental Science: Atmospheres Blog

We are pleased to present this research infographic explaining the importance of ice formation in the atmosphere. An article on this topic was published in Issue 3 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres, where it can be read in full: Ice nucleation imaged with X-ray spectro-microscopy.

The paper describes a new X-ray technique that can be used to probe and monitor individual ice nucleation particles, around which larger ice crystals can form. The technique allows the authors to identify distinct components within the particle, such as minerals and organic compounds and brings new understanding  and more accurate prediction of ice nucleation and cloud formation.

Peter A. Alpert, Anthony Boucly, Shuo Yang, Huanyu Yang, Kevin Kilchhofer, Zhaochu Luo, Celestino Padeste, Simone Finizio, Markus Ammann and Benjamin Watts, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 335-351

We are pleased to share this infographic explaining the sources and methods of mitigating the effects of particulate matter in indoor domestic environments. An article on this topic was published in Issue 4 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres, where it can be read in full: Assessment of PM2.5 concentrations, transport, and mitigation in indoor environments using low-cost air quality monitors and a portable air cleaner.

Key findings showed that low-cost air quality monitors performed well when monitoring background air quality, but could sometimes overestimate particulate matter content when a source was actively emitting it. Depending on the layout of the home and whether doors were kept closed, particulate matter from cooking could travel from the kitchen to the bedroom in 0-45 mins, but was 30% lower in concentration when it arrived. Filtration methods to remove particulate matter proved more effective when placed closer to the source of emission.

Sumit Sankhyan, Julia K. Witteman, Steven Coyan, Sameer Patel and Marina E. Vance, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 647-658

Could our collection be the ideal platform for your next atmospheric and environmental science publication on indoor air quality?

We invite you to contribute to our growing collection highlighting the key role that the chemical sciences play in the study of indoor air quality, its interactions with outdoor air, health implications and exposure. For this collection, we invite submissions which focus on all aspects relating to indoor air quality, including theoretical and experimental methods, as well as modelling and consideration of policy and health impacts of indoor air quality. For more information on this cross-journal collection, which closes for submissions on 31^st October, see open call for papers.

When you publish with Environmental Science: Atmospheres and Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts you can:

• Put your trust in both our rigorous peer review process and fast times to publication – which are less than 9 weeks after submission across all our journals.
• Expect your work to be promoted through our journal social media (@EnvSciRSC)
• Be confident of a global audience for your work. As a leading voice in the chemical sciences, there are opportunities for work published in this collection to inform our policy positions on indoor air quality. This means that dissemination of this work will likely go beyond chemists and reach a broader audience.

Which journal should I choose?

Environmental Science: Atmospheres publishes high quality research in fundamental and applied atmospheric chemistry. The journal scope spans the entirety of Earth’s atmosphere, and studies addressing the interactions of indoor air pollutants with outdoor air, or considering human health effects, are encouraged. We offer authors the option to publish the peer review history alongside their article.

Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts publishes high quality articles in all areas of the environmental chemical sciences. The journal strongly prefers significant contributions whose results can be generalised to other systems, particularly those which characterise chemical processes or address contaminant environmental impacts. All authors have the option of double-anonymised peer review.

Article publication online and in issues will occur without delay to ensure the timely dissemination of the work. The articles will then be assembled on the RSC Publishing platform and promoted as a web-based thematic collection, to permit readers to consult and download individual contributions from the entire series.

If you’re interested, we invite you to submit your research today, quoting ‘XXIndAir22’ when submitting your manuscript.

We are delighted to announce that the Environmental Science: Atmospheres themed issue ‘Aerosol formation in the urban environment’ is now online.

Guest Edited by Professor Mikael Ehn (University of Helsinki), Professor Katrianne Lehtipalo (University of Helsinki) and Professor Paul M. Winkler (University of Vienna), this collection includes studies on new particle formation and growth mechanisms and rates, and the sources, transformations and chemical composition of aerosol precursor vapours, clusters, and particles.

Read the full issue online.
It includes:

Paper
The contribution of new particle formation and subsequent growth to haze formation
Markku Kulmala, Runlong Cai, Dominik Stolzenburg, Ying Zhou, Lubna Dada, Yishuo Guo, Chao Yan, Tuukka Petäjä, Jingkun Jiang and Veli-Matti Kerminenbc
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 352-361. DOI: 10.1039/D1EA00096A

Paper
A computationally efficient model to represent the chemistry, thermodynamics, and microphysics of secondary organic aerosols (simpleSOM): model development and application to α-pinene SOA
Shantanu H. Jathar, Christopher D. Cappa, Yicong He, Jeffrey R. Pierce, Wayne Chuang, Kelsey R. Bilsback, John H. Seinfeld, Rahul A. Zaverie and Manish Shrivastavae
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2021, 1, 372-394. DOI: 10.1039/D1EA00014D

Paper
Observed coupling between air mass history, secondary growth of nucleation mode particles and aerosol pollution levels in Beijing
S. Hakala, V. Vakkari, F. Bianchi, L. Dada, C. Deng, K. R. Dällenbach, Y. Fu, J. Jiang, J. Kangasluoma, J. Kujansuu, Y. Liu, T. Petäjä, L. Wang, C. Yan, M. Kulmala and P. Paasonen
Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 146-164. DOI: 10.1039/D1EA00089F

We hope you enjoy reading the articles!

We are pleased to share this infographic on the use of satellites to detect and monitor methane emissions. A review on this topic was published in Issue 1 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres and can be read in full at Methane detection and quantification in the upstream oil and gas sector: the role of satellites in emissions detection, reconciling and reporting.

Jasmin Cooper, Luke Dubey and Adam Hawkes, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 9-23

We are pleased to share this infographic on how brown carbon interacts with light. The study, which focuses on Mexico City, was published in Issue 3 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres, and can be read in full at: Aerosol optical properties and brown carbon in Mexico City

Armando Retama, Mariana Ramos-Cerón, Olivia Rivera-Hernández, George Allen and Erik Velasco, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 315-334

We are excited to share this infographic on the emission of nanoparticles from engines. This work was published in Issue 2 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres and can be read in full at: Particle emissions of a heavy-duty engine fueled with polyoxymethylene dimethyl ethers (OME)

Alexander D. Gelner, Dieter Rothe, Carsten Kykal, Martin Irwin, Alessandro Sommer, Christian Pastoetter, Martin Härtl, Malte Jaensch and Georg Wachtmeister, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 291-304

In this gold open-access themed collection, Environmental Science: Atmospheres focuses on bioaerosols, which are airborne particles that are living or originate from living organisms, such as bacteria, viruses, fungal spores and pollen.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Sampling and detection of bioaerosols
• Bioaerosol sensors
• Source and emission of bioaerosols
• Environmental transport of bioaerosols
• Exposure and risk assessment
• Ventilation and air quality control
• Risk control and management

Bioaerosols are a natural component of both indoor and outdoor air, and some can have significant impacts on human health, agriculture and ecosystems. One example is the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 via airborne virus-containing particles. Papers that deal with detection, measurement, transport, risk mitigation, and other related research of bioaerosols are within the scope of the themed collection.

Guest Editors: Cindy Morris (INRAE, Avignon), Xiaole Zhang (ETH Zurich), Malin Alsved (Lund University), Joshua Santarpia (University of Nebraska Medical Center)

Submission deadline: 31st October 2022

Submit your manuscript, quoting ‘EABioaer22’: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/esatmos

APCs are waived until mid-2023.

We are excited to share this new infographic on how weather can affect the spread of COVID-19. The work was published in Issue 1 of Environmental Science: Atmospheres. The article is Open Access and can be read at Speech-generated aerosol settling times and viral viability can improve COVID-19 transmission prediction

Alan Y. Gu, Yanzhe Zhu, Jing Li and Michael R. Hoffmann, Environ. Sci.: Atmos., 2022, 2, 34-45

Stephen Klippenstein, at Argonne National Laboratory, USA, is one of our Associate Editors handling the peer review of submitted manuscripts. He has spent his career trying to improve the accuracy and the utility of theoretical methods for predicting the kinetics of gas phase reactions. Recent progress in this endeavour has made it so that such calculations can now be of considerable value to efforts at modelling the chemistry of the atmosphere. In his opinion, the role for theoretical kinetics in atmospheric chemistry will expand enormously over the next few years.

As such, he is always excited to handle theoretical kinetics atmospheric chemistry papers for the journal and hopes that Environmental Science: Atmospheres can become the go-to source for such studies.

Publish with Environmental Science: Advances and receive a number of benefits including:

• Free Gold Open Access publication – all article processing charges are waives until mid-2023
• Rapid times to publication – our average time to decision for peer-reviewed manuscripts is just 36 days†
• Flexible article types with no word count restrictions or colour charges
• Broad readership: our global audience provides maximum exposure for your work
• Publicity on Twitter and WeChat for featured articles