About

Dr. Steven S. Brown is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Colorado Boulder. He is affiliated with the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory in Boulder, CO. His professional contact information includes a phone number at 303-351-2115 and email addresses steven.s.brown@noaa.gov and steven.s.brown@colorado.edu. The provided information indicates his role involves research related to chemical sciences, though specific details about his research focus, background, or key contributions are not included in the page text.

Research topics

• Environmental science
• Meteorology
• Geography
• Geology
• Chemistry
• Environmental chemistry
• Computer Science
• Waste management
• Engineering
• Oceanography
• Cartography
• Physics
• Climatology
• Atmospheric sciences
• Environmental engineering
• Telecommunications
• Organic chemistry

Selected publications

• Volatile chemical product emissions enhance ozone and modulate urban chemistry

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2021 · 360 citations

  • Environmental science
  • Environmental chemistry
  • Chemistry

  from fragranced VCPs and other anthropogenic sources, which is comparable to that of a summertime forest. Photochemical modeling of an extreme heat event, with ozone well in excess of US standards, illustrates the significant impact of VCPs on air quality. In the most populated regions of NYC, ozone was sensitive to anthropogenic VOCs (AVOCs), even in the presence of biogenic sources. Within this VOC-sensitive regime, AVOCs contributed upwards of ∼20 ppb to maximum 8-h average ozone. VCPs accounted for more than 50% of this total AVOC contribution. Emissions from fragranced VCPs, including personal care and cleaning products, account for at least 50% of the ozone attributed to VCPs. We show that model simulations of ozone depend foremost on the magnitude of VCP emissions and that the addition of oxygenated VCP chemistry impacts simulations of key atmospheric oxidation products. NYC is a case study for developed megacities, and the impacts of VCPs on local ozone are likely similar for other major urban regions across North America or Europe.

  DOI

• Coupled Air Quality and Boundary-Layer Meteorology in Western U.S. Basins during Winter: Design and Rationale for a Comprehensive Study

  Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society · 2021 · 31 citations

  • Environmental science
  • Meteorology
  • Climatology

  Wintertime episodes of high aerosol concentrations occur frequently in urban and agricultural basins and valleys worldwide. These episodes often arise following development of persistent cold-air pools (PCAPs) that limit mixing and modify chemistry. While field campaigns targeting either basin meteorology or wintertime pollution chemistry have been conducted, coupling between interconnected chemical and meteorological processes remains an insufficiently studied research area. Gaps in understanding the coupled chemical-meteorological interactions that drive high pollution events make identification of the most effective air-basin specific emission control strategies challenging. To address this, a September 2019 workshop occurred with the goal of planning a future research campaign to investigate air quality in Western U.S. basins. Approximately 120 people participated, representing 50 institutions and 5 countries. Workshop participants outlined the rationale and design for a comprehensive wintertime study that would couple atmospheric chemistry and boundary-layer and complex-terrain meteorology within western U.S. basins. Participants concluded the study should focus on two regions with contrasting aerosol chemistry: three populated valleys within Utah (Salt Lake, Utah, and Cache Valleys) and the San Joaquin Valley in California. This paper describes the scientific rationale for a campaign that will acquire chemical and meteorological datasets using airborne platforms with extensive range, coupled to surface-based measurements focusing on sampling within the near-surface boundary layer, and transport and mixing processes within this layer, with high vertical resolution at a number of representative sites. No prior wintertime basin-focused campaign has provided the breadth of observations necessary to characterize the meteorological-chemical linkages outlined here, nor to validate complex processes within coupled atmosphere-chemistry models.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Global airborne sampling reveals a previously unobserved dimethyl sulfide oxidation mechanism in the marine atmosphere

  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · 2020 · 357 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Environmental science
  • Atmospheric sciences

  SCHO), identified through global-scale airborne observations that demonstrate it to be a major reservoir of marine sulfur. Observationally constrained model results show that more than 30% of oceanic DMS emitted to the atmosphere forms HPMTF. Coincident particle measurements suggest a strong link between HPMTF concentration and new particle formation and growth. Analyses of these observations show that HPMTF chemistry must be included in atmospheric models to improve representation of key linkages between the biogeochemistry of the ocean, marine aerosol formation and growth, and their combined effects on climate.

  DOI

Frequent coauthors

• W. P. Dubé

  Emory University

  502 shared

• C. Warneke

  NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory

  442 shared

• J. A. de Gouw

  Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

  396 shared

• Jeff Peischl

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  386 shared

• P. R. Veres

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  305 shared

• R. A. Washenfelder

  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

  297 shared

• J. A. Neuman

  Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences

  286 shared

• J. B. Gilman

  263 shared

Education

• Ph.D.

  University of Wisconsin-Madison

  1996

• B.A.

  Dartmouth College

  1989

Awards & honors

• Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Scienc…
• Fellow of the American Geophysical Union, 2022
• Colorado Governor’s Award for High Impact Research, 2022
• Boulder County Healthy Community Award, 2022
• NOAA Bronze Medal Award (Highest level granted by the Unders…

Similar researchers at University of Colorado Boulder

• Jose-Luis Jimenezh-233
• Joost de Gouwh-186
• Roy Parkerh-161
• Kristi S. Ansethh-159
• Thomas R. Cechh-156