Mission NASA ASIA-AQ | Faculty of Chemistry at the Gdańsk University of Technology

Dr. Wojciech Wojnowski from the Department of Analytical Chemistry will participate in the NASA ASIA-AQ (Airborne and Satellite Investigation of Asian Air Quality) mission. Its aim is to study the air quality above the major urban areas of East and Southeast Asia. The task of Dr. Wojnowski will be to monitor the concentration of VOCs and PAHs in the troposphere. He will operate two purpose-built proton transfer reaction time-of-flight mass spectrometers (PTR-ToF-MS) placed on board a NASA research aircraft - a modified Douglas DC-8 passenger plane.

Several research teams from around the world are participating in the mission. For more than two months, the atmospheric air composition will be measured over Manila, Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Bangkok and Taipei. The obtained data will be used to develop more accurate tools for modelling atmospheric air quality and investigating the mechanisms of tropospheric ozone and aerosol formation. They will also enable the identification and apportionment of sources of atmospheric pollutant emissions monitored using research satellites placed in geostationary orbit and equipped with hyperspectral imaging sensors.