Paul Shepson

About

Paul Shepson is a professor at Stony Brook University in the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences (SoMAS), where he conducts research on atmospheric chemistry and composition, interactions between the atmosphere and the surface, and the impacts of climate change on the physics, biology, and chemistry at the surface and in the atmosphere. His research group focuses on developing methods for quantifying greenhouse gas emission rates, particularly CO2 and CH4, from urban environments using aircraft-based measurements, tower observations, emissions models, and chemical transport models. This work connects to efforts at local, national, and international levels to mitigate climate change, and involves collaboration with organizations such as the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST). Shepson's research also includes studies of halogen chemistry in the Arctic Ocean environment, examining ocean-sea ice-snowpack-aerosol interactions that are changing due to climate change. His group has been involved in long-term Arctic research, including field projects in Alaska and campaigns like CHACHA, aimed at understanding atmospheric chemistry in the rapidly changing Arctic atmosphere. With a PhD from Pennsylvania State University obtained in 1982, Shepson has contributed extensively to the field through research on atmospheric chemistry, climate change, and related topics, with numerous publications and active involvement in grants and projects.

Research topics

• Statistics
• Atmospheric sciences
• Environmental chemistry
• Meteorology
• Organic chemistry
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Geography
• Climatology
• Chemistry

Selected publications

• Nontargeted Tandem Mass Spectrometry Analysis Reveals Diversity and Variability in Aerosol Functional Groups across Multiple Sites, Seasons, and Times of Day

  Environmental Science & Technology Letters · 2020 · 81 citations

  Organic aerosol (OA) is a complex mixture of compounds with diverse elemental and structural features, and its composition affects its health and environmental impacts. A detailed speciation of the functional group distribution in OA is important for constraining atmospheric reaction pathways and products, evaluating chemical mechanisms and models, and understanding OA impacts. We used high-resolution tandem mass spectrometry to perform a nontargeted analysis of OA functional groups from three d…

  DOI

• Wintertime CO₂, CH₄, and CO Emissions Estimation for the Washington, DC–Baltimore Metropolitan Area Using an Inverse Modeling Technique

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2020 · 72 citations

  , and 13% for CO). Analysis of hourly reported emissions from power plants and traffic counts shows that 97% of the daily variability in posterior emissions estimates is explained by accounting for the sampling in time and space of sources that have large hourly variability and, thus, caution must be taken in properly interpreting variability that is caused by irregular spatiotemporal sampling conditions.

  DOI

• OH, HO ₂ , and RO ₂ radical chemistry in a rural forest environment: measurements, model comparisons, and evidence of a missing radical sink

  Atmospheric chemistry and physics · 2023-09-15 · 44 citations

  articleOpen accessCorresponding

  Abstract. The hydroxyl (OH), hydroperoxy (HO2), and organic peroxy (RO2) radicals play important roles in atmospheric chemistry. In the presence of nitrogen oxides (NOx), reactions between OH and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can initiate a radical propagation cycle that leads to the production of ozone and secondary organic aerosols. Previous measurements of these radicals under low-NOx conditions in forested environments characterized by emissions of biogenic VOCs, including isoprene and m…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Underestimation of Thermogenic Methane Emissions in New York City

  Environmental Science & Technology · 2024-05-14 · 14 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Recent studies have shown that methane emissions are underestimated by inventories in many US urban areas. This has important implications for climate change mitigation policy at the city, state, and national levels. Uncertainty in both the spatial distribution and sectoral allocation of urban emissions can limit the ability of policy makers to develop appropriately focused emission reduction strategies. Top-down emission estimates based on atmospheric greenhouse gas measurements can help to imp…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Tropospheric bromine monoxide vertical profiles retrieved across the Alaskan Arctic in springtime

  Atmospheric chemistry and physics · 2024-01-03 · 9 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract. Reactive halogen chemistry in the springtime Arctic causes ozone depletion events and alters the rate of pollution processing. There are still many uncertainties regarding this chemistry, including the multiphase recycling of halogens and how sea ice impacts the source strength of reactive bromine. Adding to these uncertainties are the impacts of a rapidly warming Arctic. We present observations from the CHACHA (CHemistry in the Arctic: Clouds, Halogens, and Aerosols) field campaign ba…

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• A Multiphase Study of the Nature, Sources, and Fate of Atmospheric Organic Nitrogen

  NSF · $751k · 2006–2013

• The Collaborative O-Buoy Project: Deployment of a Network of Arctic Ocean Chemical Sensors for the IPY and Beyond

  NSF · $508k · 2007–2011

• Studies of the Production of Molecular Halogens in Arctic Snowpacks and on Sea Ice Surfaces

  NSF · $527k · 2011–2014

Frequent coauthors

• Brian H. Stirm

  Purdue University West Lafayette

  124 shared

• A. Karion

  National Institute of Standards and Technology

  104 shared

• Kerri A. Pratt

  98 shared

• Colm Sweeney

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  91 shared

• J. W. Bottenheim

  Environment and Climate Change Canada

  77 shared

• J. C. Turnbull

  University of Colorado Boulder

  73 shared

• K. R. Gurney

  Northern Arizona University

  68 shared

• W. R. Simpson

  University of Alaska Fairbanks

  66 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Atmospheric Chemistry

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1981

• M.S., Atmospheric Chemistry

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1978

• B.S., Chemistry

  University of California, Los Angeles

  1976

Similar researchers at Stony Brook University

• Minghua Zhangh-89
• Pavlos Kolliash-66
• Brian Colleh-58