Roisin Commane

Atmospheric composition and chemistry in Urban, Rural and Arctic regions

Research website: https://atmoscomp.ldeo.columbia.edu

 

Fields of Interest

I'm at atmospheric chemist interested in longer-lived trace gases and the processes that drive how much of these gases we see in the atmosphere. I'm interested in ecosystem interactions with the atmosphere in Arctic, mid-latitude and urban environments. Recently I've been leading the development of a measurement network for CO2 and methane around New York City. 

Before that I spent time measuring CO2, CH4, N2CO in the remote atmosphere on the NASA DC-8 aircraft as part of the ATom project. I also work on understanding carbon dioxide and methane in the Arctic as part of the NASA CARVE and ABoVE projects. Our recent CARVE journal articles include Commane et al., PNAS, 2017. Prior to that, I developed a laser spectrometer instrument to measure fluxes of carbonyl sulfide (OCS) and deployed this instrument at Harvard Forest, MA. I worked to understand the processes controlling the OCS flux through collaboration with colleagues in the ecological sciences. Related OCS publications include Commane et al, PNAS, 2015.

 

Education

2009. PhD. Atmospheric Chemistry, School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, UK

2005. MRes. Biomolecular Science, Dept. Chemistry, Imperial College, London, UK

2003. BSc. Joint Hons. (Chem. & Mathematical Phys.), University College Dublin, Ireland

 

Honors & Awards

2021 Irish Top 40 Under 40 Awards, Irish Echo, 02/2021

2021 Certificate of Recognition, New York State Senate, 03/2021

2018 NASA Group Achievement Award: ATom Mission Airborne Science Team

2013 NASA Group Achievement Award: CARVE Airborne Science Campaign Team

 

Over 80 publications to date. Overview of recent publications are available at:  Commane publications list

Recent publications from my group include: 

  • Commane and Schiferl, Climate mitigation policies for cities must consider air quality impacts. Chem, 8, 1-14, 2022.
  • Schiferl, L. D., Watts, J. D., Larson, E. J. L., Arndt, K. A., Biraud, S. C., Euskirchen, E. S., Goodrich, J. P., Henderson, J. M., Kalhori, A., McKain, K., Mountain, M. E., Munger, J. W., Oechel, W. C., Sweeney, C., Yi, Y., Zona, D., and Commane, R.: Using atmospheric observations to quantify annual biogenic carbon dioxide fluxes on the Alaska North Slope, Biogeosciences, 19, 5953–5972, https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-19-5953-2022, 2022.
  • Wei, D., Reinmann, A., Schiferl, L. D., and Commane, R.: High resolution modeling of vegetation reveals large summertime biogenic CO2 fluxes in New York City, Environ. Res. Lett., 17, 124031, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aca68f, 2022.
  • Ludwig, S. M., Natali, S. M., Mann, P. J., Schade, J. D., Holmes, R. M., Powell, M., Fiske, G., Commane, R. Using machine learning to predict inland aquatic CO2 and CH4 concentrations and the effects of wildfires in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta, Alaska. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 36, e2021GB007146. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GB00714, 2022