Lin Huang

Research Scientist - Group Leader, Stable Isotope Research Laboratory

4905 Dufferin Street (Toronto, ON)

CURRENT S&T / RESEARCH

Contributing to Environment Canada’s mandates on climate change and air quality via applying isotope geochemistry and multi-tracer approaches

• Quantifying temporal and spatial isotopic trends for atmospheric CO₂ and carbonaceous aerosols at baseline stations and major ecosystems in Canada via high precision measurements (0.02 ‰ for δ¹³C and 0.05‰ for δ¹⁸O)
• Studying CO₂ exchange between the atmosphere, the major ecosystems in Canada (boreal forest and permafrost) and the major emission sources at the surface via C and O isotope measurements in air CO₂
• Isotopic source profile characterizations of CO₂ and PM, including fossil fuel combustions and biomass burning, for source identification and apportionment in ambient air CO₂ and PM
• Understanding the formation of secondary organic aerosols (SOA) via the photochemical oxidations of volatile organic compounds (including anthropogenic & biogenic) with OH radicals and estimating the yield of (SOA) using isotope approaches
• Understanding the impacts of human activities on climate change, addressing the issue of continuous increase in atmospheric CO₂, via integration of atmospheric measurements of GHGs, carbonaceous PM and their isotopes at various time and spatial scales

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES / INTERESTS

Directing/Managing long-term observations and research activities at the Stable Isotope Research Lab in contribution to WMO-Global Atmosphere Watch program for global carbon cycle related climate change as well as air quality research; publishing the results in peer-reviewed scientific journals

Co - PI on international collaborative projects related to carbon cycle research, e.g., NACP vertical profile project at a boreal forest with ESRL/NOAA, US; a sub-arctic carbon cycle study with NIPR, Japan, and isotope standard (air CO₂) development for WMO-GAWmeasurement community with MIP, Germany and NIES, Japan

Supervisor of PhD students on their thesis research via Adjunct Professorship with the Department of Chemistry, York University, and post-doctoral fellows (NSERC program)

Conference, meeting and session organization, e.g., a Co-organizer of the 12th WMO/IAEA Meeting of Expert on CO₂, 2003, Toronto; a science committee member of the 7th International CO₂ Conference, 2005, Boulder, CO; a convener for a special session of the 7th ISEG, 2006 Beijing, China

KEY PUBLICATIONS

Chan, T.W., L. Huang, W.R. Leaitch, S. Sharma, J.R. Brook, J.G. Slowik, J. P.D. Abbatt, P.C. Brickell, J. Liggio, S.-M. Li and H. Moosüller. 2010. Observations of OM/OC and specific attenuation coefficients (SAC) in ambient fine PM at a rural site in central Ontario. Atmospheric Chemistry & Physics, 10 2393-2144.

Brand, Willi A., Lin Huang, Hitoshi Mukai, Alina Chivulescu, Ju¨rgen M. Richter and Michael Rothe. 2009. How well do we know VPDB? Variability of δ13C and δ18O in CO₂ generated from NBS19-calcite. Rapid Commun. Mass Spectrom. 23: 1-12.

Anderson, R.S., L. Huang, R. Iannone and J. Rudolph. 2007. Measurements of the ¹²C/¹³C Kinetic Isotope Effects in the Gas-Phase Reactions of Light Alkanes with Chlorine Atoms. J. Phys. Chem. A. 111(3) pp 495 – 504.

Huang, L., J.R. Brook, W. Zhang, S.M. Li, L. Graham, D. Ernst, A. Chivulescu and G. Lu. 2006. Stable Isotope Measurements of Carbon Fractions (OC/EC) in Airborne Particulate: A new Dimension for Source Characterization & Apportionment. Atmospheric Environment. 40(15):2690-2705.

Irei, S., L. Huang, F. Collin, W. Zhang, D. Hastie and J. Rudolph. 2006. Flow reactor studies for stable carbon isotopic composition of secondary particulate organic matter generated by toluene/OH radical-initiated reactions. Atmospheric Environment. 40(30):5858-5867.

Chen, B., J.M. Chen, L. Huang and P. Tans. 2006. Modeling dynamics of stable carbon isotopic exchange between a boreal forest ecosystem and the atmosphere. Global Change Biology. 12(10):1842-1867.

Huang, L. and D. Worthy. 2005. Flask Sampling Strategy by MSC for Atmospheric Observations of Greenhouse Gases and CO2 Isotopes over Canada: Status & Plan, Report of the 12th WMO/IAEA Meeting of Experts on CO2 Concentration and Related Tracer Measurement Techniques, Toronto, Sept. 2003, GAW publication 161, 94-100.