2016 News & Events

When it comes to understanding and modeling the chemistry of the atmosphere, it's all about the numbers: numbers that quantify the rates of chemical reactions; numbers that quantify the various pathways to different products for a given reaction; numbers that quantify how various trace gases in the atmosphere interact with sunlight and how fast they break apart. These key numbers determine the importance of reactions that underpin the atmosphere's chemistry as well as ultimately our understanding of the chemical processes that are important in air quality, depletion of the ozone layer, and climate change.

CSD scientist James Burkholder co-led the latest data evaluation that provides the periodic update of those numbers, the Chemical Kinetics and Photochemical Data for Use in Atmospheric Studies. The 18^th evaluation of kinetic and photochemical data led by the NASA Panel for Data Evaluation was released in April 2016. The data evaluation panel was established in 1977 by the NASA Upper Atmosphere Research Program Office. It brings together about a dozen international scientists with expertise in chemistry and physics to assess available fundamental data on reaction rates and photochemistry and recommend values for use in atmospheric modeling. The Panel has published evaluations about every 3 to 4 years since 1977.

The Data Evaluations have been used extensively throughout the atmospheric sciences and prominently in the periodic scientific assessments for the Montreal Protocol that protects Earth's stratospheric ozone layer.

Jim has previously served as a Panel member in the 16^th and 17^th evaluations. NOAA (specifically CSD and its predecessor, the Aeronomy Laboratory) has a long history with the Panel dating back to the contributions of Carl Howard and A.R. Ravishankara beginning with the 5^th Evaluation published in 1982. Jim's role as co-chair of the latest Evaluation is the first time NOAA has held a leadership position of the Data Panel.

The Evaluations are based on laboratory kinetics and photochemical data. CSD's kinetics program has been among the elite few laboratories worldwide that are relied upon for the fundamental science in the Evaluations.