Christopher Cappa

Position Title
Assistant Professor

  • Civil and Environmental Engineering
Bio

Research Interests

  • Urban and Regional Smog - Laboratory measurements of physical properties of atmospheric particulate matter and their chemical evolution.
  • Visibility Degradation - Field measurements of optical properties of particles in urban and rural environments.
  • Global Climate Change - Optical properties (absorption, scattering) of particles and how they are affected by chemical and physical transformations in the atmosphere

Research Summary

My research explores how the properties of atmospheric aerosols (e.g. their interaction with light, hygroscopicity, atmospheric lifetime) affect and are affected by physical and chemical transformations that occur within the particle, on the surface of the particle or in the surrounding gas-phase. My work involves both laboratory and field measurements aimed at determining relationships between the physical, optical and chemical properties of particles and how these evolve both spatially and temporally.

Teaching Summary

I teach courses in air pollution control system design (ECI 150) at the undergraduate level and on global climate change (ECI 289A) at the graduate level.

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