FACULTY
Dr. Matthew P. Fraser
|
 |
| Address | Rice University Dept of Environmental Science and Engineering - MS 519 6100 Main Street P.O. Box 1892 Houston, TX 77005-1892 |
| Phone | 713/348-5883 |
| Fax | 713/348-5203 |
| mpf@rice.edu |
B.S. Chemical Engineering, Carnegie Mellon, 1991
M.S. Environmental Engineering Science, Caltech, 1993
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering Science, Caltech, 1998
Urban and regional air quality: interactions between vapor phase and particulate organic compounds, urban sources of air pollution, atmospheric processes.
Many of the air quality problems facing the country today are closely interlinked. Emissions of gas-phase hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen lead to ground-level ozone as well as fine particle formation. Urban haze can be transported hundreds of kilometers and lead to visibility degradation in National Parks and other scenic locations. The emissions of sulfur dioxide from power plants in the Midwest lead to sulfate aerosol haze over the East Coast, acidification of streams and lakes in Canada and the United States, and has been linked to changes in global climate.
One such linking of air quality concerns revolves around atmospheric organic compounds, which constitute a complicated mixture of vapors and particle-bound species. Direct emissions of organic gases and particles from hundreds of different sources undergo atmospheric chemical reaction and gas-to-particle conversion leading to a complicated suite of ambient organic compounds. These atmospheric chemical reactions lead to ozone formation and secondary organic compounds (formed in the atmosphere) which include toxic air contaminants and non-volatile species which partition into the particle phase.
In order to understand this complex mixture of organic compounds,
Professor Fraser has focused on measuring the vapor phase and
the particle phase concentrations of individual organic compounds.
This level of detail allows new insights into the conversion of
vapor-phase compounds into non-volatile reaction products, the
relative importance of different emission sources to atmospheric
photochemistry, and the role of primary emissions and secondary
formation in determining ambient concentrations of pollutants.
Professor Fraser has also conducted research in determining the
emissions of pollutants from motor vehicles by conducting an experiment
in a roadway tunnel and using mathematical airshed models to simulate
the emissions, transport and chemical reaction of organic compounds.
Dr. Fraser teaches Air Resource Management.
Fraser, M. P.; G. R. Cass; R.
A. Rasmussen and B. R. T. Simoneit (1998) "Air Quality Model
Evaluation Data for Organics. 5. C6 - C22 Nonpolar and Semipolar
Aromatic Hydrocarbons," in press, Environmental Science
and Technology.
Fraser, M. P. and G. R. Cass (1998) "Detection of Excess Emissions of Ammonia from In-Use Motor Vehicles and the Implications for Fine Particle Control," Environmental Science and Technology 32:1053-1057.
Fraser, M. P.; G. R. Cass and B. R. T. Simoneit (1998) "Particulate Organic Compounds in Motor Vehicle Exhaust and in the Urban Atmosphere," presented at the 6th International Conference on Carbonaceous Particles in the Atmosphere (Vienna, Austria), and submitted for publication in Atmospheric Environment.
Fraser, M. P.; G. R. Cass; R. A. Rasmussen and B. R. T. Simoneit (1997) "Air Quality Model Evaluation Data for Organics. 4. C2 - C36 Non-Aromatic Hydrocarbons," Environmental Science and Technology 31:2704-2714.
Grosjean, E.; D. Grosjean, M. P. Fraser and G. R. Cass (1996) "Air Quality Model Evaluation Data for Organics. 2. C1 - C14 Carbonyls in Los Angeles Air," Environmental Science and Technology 30:2687-2703.
Fraser, M. P., E. Grosjean, D. Grosjean, R. A. Rasmussen and
G. R. Cass (1996) "Air Quality Model Evaluation Data for
Organics. 1. Bulk Chemical Composition and Gas/Particle Distribution
Factors," Environmental Science and Technology 30:1731-1743.