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Research Interests

• Carbon cycle and climate

• Atmospheric remote sensing

• Greenhouse impacts of agriculture

• Isotopic analysis of atmospheric trace gases

• Biosphere-atmosphere exchange of trace gases

• FTIR spectroscopy applications to atmospheric chemistry

Atmospheric Chemistry and Spectroscopy

Research in atmospheric chemistry is concerned with measurements and interpretation of atmospheric trace gas composition and the exchange of trace gases between the atmosphere, biosphere and geosphere. These studies are aimed at a better understanding of the budgets, sources and sinks of trace gases important in atmospheric chemistry, the greenhouse effect, climate change, stratospheric ozone chemistry and ultraviolet radiation. These gases include CO₂, CH₄ , N₂O, CO, O₃ , NH₃ , NO, NO₂, water vapour and many others.

Our research involves a strong component of development of novel applications of spectroscopy (especially FTIR spectroscopy) for measurements of atmospheric trace gas composition and fluxes.

Representative Publications

Griffith, D. W. T. (2002). FTIR measurements of atmospheric trace gases and their fluxes. Handbook of Vibrational Spectroscopy. J. M. Chalmers and P. R. Griffiths, John Wiley & Sons. 4: 2823-2841.

Turatti, F., D.W.T. Griffith, S.R. Wilson, M.B. Esler, T. Rahn, H. Zhang, G. Blake, and M. Wahlen, Positionally dependent 15N fractionation factors in the photolysis of N 2 O determined by high resolution FTIR spectroscopy, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27 (16), 2489-2492, 2000.

Griffith, D.W.T., Toon, G.C., Sen, B., Blavier, J.-F., and Toth, R.A., 2000. Vertical profiles of nitrous oxide isotopomer fractionation measured in the stratosphere. Geophysical Research Letters, 27 (16), 2485-2488.

Esler, M.B., D.W.T. Griffith, S.R. Wilson, and L.P. Steele, Precision trace gas analysis by FT-IR spectroscopy, Anal. Chem., 72 (1), 206-215 and 216-221, 2000.

Griffith, D.W.T., and B. Galle, Flux measurements of NH3, N2O and CO2 using dual beam FTIR spectroscopy and the flux-gradient technique, Atmos. Environ., 34 (7), 1087-1098, 2000.

Leuning, R., S.K. Baker, I.M. Jamie, C.H. Hsu, L. Klein, O.T. Denmead, and D.W.T. Griffith, Methane emission from free ranging sheep: a comparison of two measurement methods, Atmos. Environ., 33 (9), 1357-1365, 1999.

Griffith, D.W.T., N.B. Jones, and W.A. Matthews, Interhemispheric ratio and annual cycle of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) total column from ground based solar FTIR spectra, J. Geophys. Res., 103 (D7), 8447-8454, 1998.

Griffith, D.W.T., Synthetic calibration and quantitative analysis of gas phase infrared spectra, Applied Spectroscopy, 50 (1), 59-70, 1996.

Griffith, D. W. T., G. R. Bryant, D. Hsu, and A. R. Reisinger (2008), Methane emissions from free-ranging cattle: comparison of tracer and integrated horizontal flux techniques, J. Environ. Qual., 37(2), 582-591. 

Griffith, D. W. T., S. D. Parkes, V. Haverd, C. Paton-Walsh, and S. R. Wilson (2009), Absolute calibration of the intramolecular site preference of ¹⁵N fractionation in tropospheric N₂O by FTIR spectroscopy, Analytical Chemistry, 81, 2227-2234. 

 Searchable Publication List

Current Students

PhD:

Nicholas Deutscher The Australian and global carbon cycle refining sources and sinks by region using infrared remote sensing, in situ measurements and inverse modelling.

Mei Bai Methane emissions from cattle using novel spectroscopic techniques.

Xue Shi Data mining of atmospheric trace gas composition records.

Suggested Topics for Future Students

Isotopic analysis, quantifying sources and sinks for atmospheric trace gases:

-Carbon Dioxide
-Water vapour
-Methane
-Nitrous oxide

FTIR remote sensing of the atmosphere

Tropospheric chemistry - carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, especially agricultural sources

Stratospheric chemistry, species relevant to ozone depletion

Validation of satellite instruments by ground-based remote sensing

Biosphere-atmosphere interaction

Fluxes of trace gases between the atmosphere and earth's surface

Abbreviated CV

Qualifications
1970: BSc Hons (Monash)
1975: PhD (Monash)

Positions held
1986-present Chemistry, University of Wollongong
1980-1986 Staff Scientist, Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, Mainz , Germany
1978-1980 CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellow/Visiting Scientist. National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder , Colorado , USA .
1975-1978 Postdoctoral Fellow, Research School of Chemistry , ANU

Fellowships and Awards
2002: Velux Visiting Professor and invited lecturer in Atmospheric Chemistry, University of Copenhagen
2001: National Research Council ( USA ) Senior Research Associate, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
1997: CIRES Senior Fellowship, University of Colorado , USA
1989: Senior Fulbright Scholar, National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder CO , USA .
1978: CSIRO Postdoctoral Fellowship, taken at NCAR, Boulder, CO.

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