ESE Trailblazer Seminar

Atmospheric composition is shaped by complex interactions among emissions, transport,and chemistry, with important consequences for air quality, climate forcing, and emerging energy systems. Atmospheric observations from satellites, aircraft, and surface measurement networks provide a valuable window into these interactions, but they reflect the combined influence of emissions, transport, and chemistry. Models are therefore essential for connecting observed patterns to the underlying mechanisms that drive them. In this talk, I will show how global chemical transport modeling can be integrated with observations to better understand the drivers of atmospheric composition. I will present examples spanning interpretation of geostationary NO2 observations, investigation of atmospheric oxidant chemistry, and the implications of uncertainty in modeled oxidant concentrations for evaluating hydrogen's climate impact. Together, these studies demonstrate how integrating observations with atmospheric chemistry models improves our understanding of atmospheric composition across scales and supports more robust assessments of air quality and climate impacts.