Anna Callaghan

Biography

I'm a PhD student at the Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratories (WACL) in the University of York. Before moving to York for my PhD, I studied chemistry at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh.

The course I took on atmospheric chemistry during my undergraduate degree was my favourite, as I found the science really interesting and the research has a positive impact on the environment. In my free time, I enjoy reading, travelling, swimming and spending time with friends and family.

Qualifications

Masters in Chemistry.

Research interests

Reactive nitrogen species, chemistry in the marine boundary layer and chemistry in the Arctic.

Project title

Assessing the sources, chemistry and trends of nitrogen oxides in the remote oceanic atmosphere.

Supervisors

Funding

National Centre for Atmospheric Science.

Project outline

The oceanic atmosphere is an important region where air pollutants and greenhouse gases are removed through oxidation by the hydroxyl radical, OH. Nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2, known as NOx) play an essential role in controlling the abundance of ozone and the OH. Understanding the sources and sinks of NOx over the oceans is therefore necessary for us to understand the atmosphere’s self-cleaning ability and create accurate climate models.

The Cape Verde Atmospheric Observatory (CVAO) has been collecting measurements of NOx since 2006. The location for the site was chosen because the airmasses reaching it are predominantly from the ocean, allowing us to study the clean, unpolluted oceanic atmosphere. During my PhD, I have been monitoring the NOx instrument at the CVAO to ensure it is running properly and analysing the NOx data that has been collected, as well as going on field campaigns to collect supporting measurements.