Dance Your PhD: Tropospheric N2O isotopic composition

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a significant greenhouse gas and in the stratosphere contributes to the catalytic destruction of ozone. Concentrations have been increasing since the beginning of the industrial era, attributed to human excess input of nitrogen through intensive agriculture and runoff into oceans, yet understanding of the processes, sources, and sinks of this gas lags far behind that of other important trace gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, and CFCs. The isotopes of N2O (most importantly 15N14N18O, 14N15N18O, 14N14N18O, 14N14N16O) can help elucidate the remaining uncertainties because the different source/sink processes preferentially use heavier or lighter isotopes and thus leave their mark on the atmospheric isotope composition. This PhD research is initiating instrumentation and measurement of N2O isotopes in the troposphere to utilize this extra information about N2O cycling.

The dance follows the N2O cycle and demonstrates the fractionation of isotopes which will leave a signature in the tropospheric measurements. All three dancers are N2O molecules, starting on the ground in the soil which is the main source of N2O. N2O is emitted from the soil lightest isotope to heaviest, and the dancers "move on up" in this order. In the troposphere N2O acts as a greenhouse gas through the absorption of radiation in 3 vibrational modes. With one hand as a nitrogen atom, torso as central nitrogen, and the other hand as an oxygen atom, the dancers exhibit the three specific movements of N2O's vibrational modes. Stepping onto the chairs represents the progression of N2O into the stratosphere, which is its only significant loss process. In the stratosphere the N2O is subject to intense UV radiation from the sun. This high energy is shown in the dancers' high energy, more spastic dancing. The radiation leads to the photolysis (destruction) of N2O, and the lightest isotopes (and smallest dancer) are preferentially destroyed, thus jumping from the chair.

Kat Potter, MIT, PhD candidate
Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Science
Supporting dancers: Elke Hodson, Matt Rigby (Post docs, Dept. of EAPS, MIT)
PhD thesis title: Tropospheric N2O isotopic composition: Instrumentation development and preliminary data for the constraint of the N2O global budget and stratospheric influence

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Dance your PhD
• nitrous oxide
• PhD
• MIT
• Science
• Atmosphere
• Isotope

[illammelody]

lamo

[dbucovaz]

NO YOU CANT MIX SCIENCE AND MAYFIELD!

Unless you are talking about Cocaine

THAT NIGGAS THE PUSHERMAN NOT NO2!

[odradek86]

hate chemistry, but the dance is very funny)

grate gig)

[duwsifer]

the girl on the far left should take off her top!

[LaughatAll]

lol WTH :D

[k3nnyinab0x]

great job guys

[niesiul]

hehehehehe lol ;)

[Bosmob]

you can pretty good high on N2O...

just letting you know

[steelspitblues]

you guys suck!

[solanumlycopersicum]

haha nice one :)

I'm making my thesis on nitrogen fixation and the problems with metal pollution :)