John Plane

Research section: Physical Chemistry

KEYWORDS Atmospheric chemistry Planetary atmospheres Kinetics and photochemistry Mesosphere Marine boundary layer

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Our research interests span the three branches of atmospheric chemistry: laboratory studies (kinetics and photochemistry), atmospheric measurements, and modelling. Current laboratory-based research includes experimental and theoretical studies of neutral and ion-molecule reactions in the gas phase, uptake on ice surfaces, photo-electric emission from doped low-temperature ice, and the formation of nano-particles by homogeneous nucleation. Atmospheric measurements include the development of differential optical absorption spectroscopy for observing trace species in the troposphere and stratosphere, and rocket-borne and satellite observations of the upper atmosphere. Recent modelling work has focused on topics in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere – the meteoric metal layers, noctilucent clouds, the coupling of chemistry with tides and gravity waves, long-term change – and aspects of the tropospheric marine boundary layer - the role of nitrate and halogen oxide radicals, and the production of ultra-fine aerosol.

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Research Group           

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Plane, J.M.C., Atmospheric chemistry of meteoric metals, Chemical Reviews, 103, 4963-4984, 2003

Plane, J.M.C., B.J. Murray, X.Z. Chu, and C.S. Gardner, Removal of meteoric iron on polar mesospheric clouds, Science, 304, 426-428, 2004

Saiz-Lopez, A., A. S. Mahajan, R. A. Salmon, S. J. B. Bauguitte, A. E. Jones, H. K. Roscoe, and J. M. C. Plane, Boundary layer halogens in coastal Antarctica, Science, 317, 348-351, 2007.

Fan, Z. Y., J. M. C. Plane, J. Gumbel, J. Stegman, and E. J. Llewellyn, Satellite measurements of the global mesospheric sodium layer, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 7, 4107-4115, 2007.