Running Master Thesis
| Kenny Rautenberg | What is the link? Fingerprint analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) in soil and airborne particles Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are major organic pollutants which are ubiquitously spread around the globe and are primarily emitted via anthropogenic combustion processes. They have been found in various environmental media and most substances of this group exert a carcinogenic on living organisms including humans. PAHs make up a majority of the organic fraction in atmospheric particles, particularly in ultrafine particles (UFP) – particulate matter with a diameter of ≤ 100 nm. Due to their small size, UFP pose a risk for harmful effects on the human body and the earth’s environment. The aim of this master thesis is to implement and validate a method for the filter extraction and subsequent GC-MS analysis for ambient UFP samples focussing on PAHs. |
| Sophia Kraft | Effects of airborne PAH on the formation and composition of biogenic secondary organic aerosol |
| Julia David | Ozone risk = Urban risk? Investigations of the non-linear tropospheric ozone production along an urban-rural gradient Tropospheric ozone is one of the pressing problems related to air pollution worldwide and is non-linearly linked to NOx, ROx, and VOC concentrations in ambient air. This work aims to explore trends in surface ozone concentrations on a temporal and spatial scale. Therefore, datasets from urban, suburban and rural areas will be compared that are available from the Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Bayrisches Landesamt for Umwelt (LfU) and the Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) . |
| Finja Löher | Assessing yields and reactivity of photooxidation products along the urban-remote gradient by controlled experiments and SPME-GC-MS with on-line derivatization Atmospheric photooxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOC) has significant effects on the formation of tropospheric ozone and secondary organic aerosol (SOA) as well as for recycling of the OH radical, yet many underlying processes and dependencies are not sufficiently understood to date. In this master thesis, the photooxidation of mixtures of anthropogenic and biogenic VOC is studied. |
| Alexander Weiß | Performance investigations of mobile analyzers for ultrafine particles in field and laboratory as part of the UFP-MUC project This study tests and evaluates the performance of three mobile particle counters for the observation of atmospheric ultrafine particles in field and laboratory experiments. |