Project Details
Projekt
LUBRI-FIRE-Tracers - Investigating the occurrence, molecular composition and effects of lubrication oil from aviation and wildfire organic aerosol in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere
Applicant
Professor Dr. Alexander Vogel
Subject Area
Atmospheric Science
Term
since 2026
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 564680853
Organic aerosols (OA) constitute a significant fraction of submicron particles, present at both ground level and in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). However, the origins and molecular compositions of UTLS OA remain poorly understood and may differ substantially from those in the lower atmosphere. The extent of anthropogenic impacts on UTLS OA composition and its natural baseline are largely unknown. Two critical sources of UTLS OA are aviation and wildfire emissions, each significantly affecting radiative forcing through distinct mechanisms. There are major gaps in understanding both direct aerosol-radiation interactions, such as radiative heating by wildfire black and brown carbon, and indirect interactions, like the formation of contrails from modern engines, fuels and lubrication oils. The LUBRI-FIRE-Tracers project aims to quantify key organic compounds in UTLS aerosols during the German High-Altitude and Long-range research aircraft (HALO) missions AEROCLOUD-FIRE and CONTANGO-FIRE. These campaigns will investigate the impact of aircraft emissions on contrail and cirrus cloud formation, as well as the influence of wildfire emissions on atmospheric chemistry, clouds, and climate. The project will collect organic aerosol filter samples for offline analysis using the high-volume sampler Hera4HALO. These filters will be analyzed via liquid chromatography – high-resolution mass spectrometry to determine the organic molecular composition of UTLS aerosols. Tracers of aircraft lubrication oils will be quantified from contrail samples, aviation-induced cirrus cloud residues, and background aerosol in the North Atlantic flight corridor, over Canada, and Germany. Biomass burning tracers in UTLS aerosol will be quantified over North America and Argentina during the two HALO campaigns. Additionally, a non-targeted analysis will resolve molecular differences between boundary layer, free tropospheric, upper tropospheric and lower stratospheric organic aerosols, enabling new discoveries and insights into the complex chemical composition of UTLS aerosols.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
