Kimberly Strong, FRSC

Address: Department of Physics, University of Toronto
60 St. George Street
Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7, Canada

Research Publications Post-Docs Students Courses Links

Brief CV

Previous Projects:

I was the Principal Investigator for this project, which involved the launch of high-altitude balloons from Vanscoy, Saskatchewan in 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004. Each carried a payload of instruments to measure vertical concentration profiles of stratospheric trace gases. The data have been used to investigate the changing chemical balance of the mid-latitude stratosphere, focussing on ozone, and nitrogen and chlorine compounds that play a role in ozone chemistry. This project was a large collaborative effort involving Co-Investigators from Environment Canada (formerly the Meteorological Service of Canada), the University of Toronto, York University, the University of Waterloo, the University of Denver, the Service d'Aeronomie, CNRS (France), and Scientific Instrumentation Limited. MANTRA was supported by the Canadian Space Agency, Environment Canada, NSERC, and CRESTech.

• The MANTRA Home Page

Current Projects:

Arctic Atmospheric Science: PEARL, CANDAC, and PAHA

I am one of the founding members of CANDAC – the Canadian Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Change, which has established the Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Eureka, Nunavut (80°N) to comprehensively monitor the Arctic atmosphere from the ground to 100 km to study ozone depletion, climate change, and air quality. I was leader of one of our four original research themes (“Arctic Middle Atmosphere Chemistry”), and was subsequently the Deputy PI for Probing the Atmosphere of the High Arctic (PAHA), funded under NSERC’s CCAR program, as well as theme leader for “Composition Measurements”. I am currently the PI for PEARL and lead scientist four of the instruments (Bruker Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer, two UV-visible grating spectrometers, Extended-range Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer). This builds on my previous work at Eureka, which is providing a long-term dataset for studying the evolution of Arctic atmospheric chemistry, with links to the NDACC, TCCON, and MUSICA networks. My group has deployed a UV-visible spectrometer in the Arctic every spring since 1999 to measure ozone, NO2, and BrO for studies of stratospheric ozone science, and we have played a key role in ensuring the continuity of the spring data record at Eureka. From 2010-2016, I was the Director for the NSERC CREATE Training Program in Arctic Atmospheric Science, which was closely affiliated with PEARL activities. In 2011 and 2020, we contributed to the identification and quantification of severe stratospheric ozone loss in the Arctic using measurements by both the UV-visible and FTIR spectrometers at Eureka. Over the last several years, we have documented the transport of biomass burning products into the High Arctic, including the first long-term time series of ammonia in the high Arctic, measured greenhouse gases, investigated bromine explosion events and their impact on tropospheric ozone, and contributed to long-term trend studies.

• The PEARL/CANDAC Home Page
• The Canadian Arctic ACE/OSIRIS Validation Campaigns
• NSERC CREATE Training Program in Arctic Atmospheric Science
• The NDACC Home Page
• The TCCON Home Page

Although the general mechanism for stratospheric ozone loss is now known, questions remain regarding the underlying chemical and dynamical processes, the potential for severe depletion in the Arctic, and the mechanisms for mid-latitude ozone loss. In order to address some of these questions, we assembled a portable ground-based instrument to record UV-visible spectra of sunlight scattered from the zenith sky. The resulting spectra are analyzed to retrieve vertical columns of ozone, NO₂, OClO, and BrO using differential optical absorption spectroscopy, as well as vertical profiles of NO₂. The instrument has been deployed on the ground during the four MANTRA campaigns and in springtime Arctic campaigns every year since 1999. All of the latter were at Environment Canada's former Arctic Stratospheric Observatory (now PEARL) at Eureka, Nunavut (80N), with one at Resolute Bay in 2002. This research has been supported by NSERC, CFCAS, MSC, CSA, the Northern Scientific Training Program, and the Canadian Northern Studies Trust.

• "Ozone Research in the High Arctic: The Whole Story" by Matt Bassford, Above and Beyond, March/April 2000
• "Using ground-based UV-VIS-IR spectroscopy to probe atmospheric composition over Canada" by Strong, Lutsch and Zhao, Physics in Canada, 2017

The University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO)

At the University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory (TAO), we are using solar infrared spectroscopy for long-term measurements of stratospheric and tropospheric trace gases, urban pollution and stratospheric chemistry studies, and satellite validation. We have been operating a Bomem DA8 high-resolution Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer at TAO since October 2001. TAO was approved as a Station of the Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC) in March 2004, based on a refereed algorithm and data comparison exercise. TAO data have contributed to validation of ACE-FTS, SCIAMACHY, and OSIRIS, the first detection of NO in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere using ground-based FTIR spectroscopy, and studies of chlorine trends, polar intrusions, tropospheric transport of pollutants over Toronto, and attribution of enhanced ethane and methane to the development of oil and natural gas extraction in North America. TAO and PEARL have the only two NDACC FTIR instruments in Canada, and were key sites in the CAnadian FTir Observing Network (CAFTON), for which I was the PI. TAO has received support from the University of Toronto, CFI, ORDCF, CRESTech, NSERC, ABB Bomem, CFCAS, and PREA.

• The TAO Home Page
• The CAFTON Home Page

Ultraviolet-Visible-Infrared Laboratory Spectroscopy

We operate a Laboratory Spectroscopy Facility to measure absorption features of gases of atmospheric interest. Several gas absorption cells, along with transfer optics and a cooling system, have been designed and built, and are coupled to a lab-based Bomem DA8 FTIR spectrometer to acquire spectra at high spectral resolution and at temperatures relevant to the atmosphere. We have measured the infrared cross sections of the fluorotelomer alcohols 1:2, 4:2 and 6:2 FTOH, in collaboration with colleagues at Ford Motor Company and Dupont Central Research and Development. We have derived absorption cross sections of several (hydro)chlorofluorocarbons and other infrared-active species such as peruorotributyalamine, motivated by the need for such data in order to retrieve accurate atmospheric measurements from ACE-FTS spectra and to improve calculations of global warming potentials. This work has been supported by NSERC and the Canadian Space Agency.

• "Infrared Absorption Cross-sections of Fluorinated Molecules for Improved Global Warming Potential Calculations" by Strong et al., Fall AGU poster, 2018

SCISAT and the ACE-FTS and MAESTRO Satellite Instruments

The Canadian Space Agency's Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment (ACE) was launched on the SCISAT satellite in August 2003, carrying the ACE-FTS and MAESTRO instruments, to investigate the chemical and dynamical processes that control the distribution of ozone in the upper troposphere and stratosphere, with a focus on the decline of stratospheric ozone at northern mid-latitudes and in the Arctic. Students and PDFs from my group participated in the pre-launch testing and calibration of ACE-FTS and MAESTRO, which took place at the University of Toronto's Space Instrument Characterization Facility. I have been a Co-I since 1998, as well as co-leader (with ACE Deputy Mission Scientist Kaley Walker) of the ACE validation effort, which resulted in an extensive series of papers in a 2008-09 special issue of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics. My interests lie in the assessment and interpretation of the ACE measurements, particularly of the six NOy species, for which I was subgroup leader for a large international team, and which led to the creation of a global inventory of stratospheric NOy from ACE-FTS data. As part of the validation effort, I am Co-Leader of the ACE/OSIRIS Arctic Validation Campaigns which have taken place at Eureka, Nunavut from February to April every year since 2004. This has resulted in a valuable assessment of the data quality from this mission.

• The ACE Home Page
• CSA's SCISAT Home Page

Stratospheric Science with the Odin Satellite

Odin is a Swedish satellite, launched in February 2001, which carries a Canadian Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager (OSIRIS) and a Sub-Millimetre Radiometer (SMR). One goal of the Odin mission is to resolve outstanding questions regarding polar and mid-latitude ozone depletion by making global measurements of the distributions of ozone and trace species. I became a Co-Investigator on the Canadian Aeronomy Science Team in 1997. I was involved in the development of algorithms for the inversion of OSIRIS spectra to retrieve vertical profiles of ozone and NO2. We have compared MANTRA, TAO, PEARL and ACE measurements with OSIRIS and SMR profiles. We also developed a new method to retrieve NO density profiles in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere region from OSIRIS night-time NO2 continuum observations, along with temperature and atomic oxygen density profiles. These data have been compared to similar datasets from SMR and ACE-FTS, and with the CMAM, TIMED-GCM and WACCM models.

• OSIRIS Home Page at the University of Saskatchewan
• CSA's Odin/OSIRIS Home Page

Studies of Planetary Atmospheres

My group has been involved in several projects related to better understanding of planetary atmospheres. In one, we worked on the modelling and retrieval of O2 and NO airglow emissions in the atmospheres of Mars and Venus, incorporating results from the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique Mars Global Circulation Model and the University of Michigan Venus Thermospheric general circulation model, quantifying detectable emissions, and comparing with observations from the SPICAM and SPICAV (SPectroscopy for the Investigation of the Atmosphere of Mars / Venus) instruments. Motivated by the possibility of sending an infrared spectrometer to Mars, we developed techniques to retrieve vertical profiles of temperature and trace gases in the dusty, and therefore challenging, Martian atmosphere. In addition, we participated in the Mars Methane Mission, involving two field campaigns held in Quebec in June 2011 and 2012, operating spectrometers to identify methane sources in Martian-like terrains, in collaboration with McGill and industrial partner MPBC. Related to this, we analyzed the expected behaviour of a methane source on Mars, developing a dispersion model, determining current estimates for Martian source strengths, and assessing the spatial limitations for methane detection.

Selected list of papers, with copies available for download: Click here

PhD theses, with copies available for download: Click here

Datasets, with links for download: Click here

Post-Doctoral Fellows and Research Staff - Enquiries welcome!

Current:

Orfeo Colebatch (Research Officer)
Meike Rotermund (Post-Doctoral Fellow)

Previous:

Graduate Students - Enquiries welcome!

Current:

Previous:

Undergraduate & Summer Research Students - Enquiries welcome!

Current:

Previous:

PHY 492F, Advanced Atmospheric Physics (and calendar description) - same as PHY1498
PHY 392S, Physics of Climate (and calendar description)
JPH 441S, Physical Science in Contemporary Society (and calendar description)
PHY 100F, The Magic of Physics (and calendar description)
PHY 132S, Introduction to Physics II - Electromagnetism Section (co-taught) (and calendar description)
PHY 138Y, Physics for the Life Sciences - Electromagnetism Section (co-taught)
PHY 315S, Radiation in Planetary Atmospheres
PHY 305F, Electronics Laboratory I
PHY 325/326/425/426, Modern Physics Laboratory
PHY 140Y, Foundations of Physics
PHY 499S/1499S, Earth Observations from Space

Undergraduate Research and Reading Courses: Enquiries welcome!

Graduate Courses:

PHY 1498F, Introduction to Atmospheric Physics (and calendar description) - same as PHY492
PHY 1830F, Foundation Course in Atmospheric Physics (co-taught)
PHY 499S/1499S, Earth Observations from Space
PHY 2107F, Experimental Methods in Physics (co-taught)
PHY 2501F, Atmospheric Physics - Radiation
PHY 2505S, Atmospheric Radiative Transfer and Remote Sounding

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This site is maintained by: Kimberly Strong
Last updated: November 2024