Aaron Noell

B.A., Chemistry, New York University, 2002

Seventh-year graduate student


My work focuses on peroxy radical kinetics. Peroxy Radicals, e.g. HO2 and RO2, are important reactive intermediates in the atmosphere. Their reactions, both with each other and NOx gases, play central roles in smog (O3) production in the troposphere. I use Frequency Modulation (FM) spectroscopy, as part of the infrared kinetic spectroscopy (IRKS) experiment at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), to observe the kinetics of HO2 reactions. FM is a very sensitive technique that allows for time resolved studies on small concentrations of the HO2 radical. In the IRKS experiment we couple this with UV spectroscopy to be able to track both radical reactants as they evolve with time. In order to aid models of our atmosphere a better understanding of these difficult to study radical reactions is crucial. These radicals are also interesting from a chemical physics standpoint due to their ability to form hydrogen bonded adducts with molecules like H2O and CH3OH. The spectroscopy of these adducts and their influence on the rate of the radical reactions is under study.

Aaron is also being advised by Dr. Stanley P. Sander, Chemical Kinetics and Photochemistry Group, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

Publications
  1. Alconcel, L.S., A.C. Noell, D.J. Robichaud, M. Okumura, and S. P. Sander. "Near-IR Kinetic Spectroscopy (IR-KS) of the HO2 +C2H5O2 Reaction," in preparation.

Funding

NASA Graduate Student Research Program Fellowship, 2004-2007

Extracurricular Interests

X-treme Championship Ultimate Frisbee, hiking, movies…