By Prof Viney P Aneja, North Carolina State University, USA
The short course was held at Wessex Institute of Technology on Airborne Particulate Matter which was attended by participants from industry as well as academia. Aerosols come in a wide range of sizes, morphology and shapes. They originate from both anthropogenic (stationary, area and mobile sources) and natural sources. They may be emitted directly by a source or formed in the atmosphere by the transformation of gaseous emission (ie gas-to-particle conversion). Their chemical and physical compositions vary depending on location, season and meteorology. Aerosols also play a role in a great number of environmental issues affecting human health, visibility, climate and ecosystems. This course provided the student with a background in the fundamentals of atmospheric aerosols. Both primary and secondary sources of aerosols were discussed together with their transport and fate in the atmosphere. The importance of aerosols in present day urban, rural and remote air quality, together with ways to analyse atmospheric aerosol data were addressed.
The topics covered were:
- Introduction and Fundamentals of Aerosols
- Importance of Aerosols in Air Quality
- Physics of Atmospheric Particles
- Processes Affecting Particle Size
- Aerosol Particle Morphology and Shape
- Chemistry of Atmospheric Particles
- Sources of Atmospheric Aerosols
- Removal Processes Associated with Aerosols
- Atmospheric Transport and Fate of Airborne Particles
- Ratio as a Tool to Evaluate Sources and Data Quality
- Ambient Particulate Matter Concentrations: Patterns and Trends
- Summary and Discussions
The course was presented by Prof Viney P Aneja, Professor at North Carolina State University, USA. Prof Aneja carries out research on environmental engineering at North Carolina State University investigating the transport and fate of pollutants in the environmental and biogeochemical cycling of pollutants. Prof Aneja has received letters of commendation and many distinguished awards for his research and has been a visiting professor at many universities around the world. He is also a member of the Editorial Board of several international journals and has over 250 technical papers and one book to his name.
Wessex Institute