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Welcome to the AMC-Lahti Team News page. Here we share updates on our latest research activities, events, and team milestones. Stay connected with what’s happening inside our lab and beyond.
Benjamin Foreback has successfully defended his PhD thesis
Benjamin Foreback has successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “Extreme air pollution events in Beijing: Examining their origins and dynamics” at 12:00 on Thursday, the 19th of June 2025 in Aalto Auditorium at Lahti University Campus (Niemenkatu 73, 15140 Lahti).
The opponent was Professor John Lin (University of Utah), and the custos will be Professor Michael Boy (University of Helsinki/LUT University).
Dissertation will also be electronically available before the defense at: Helda e-Thesis
Air quality is an ongoing global challenge faced by modern society, and poor air quality is responsible for more than 6 million premature deaths annually. In addition to problems from long-term exposure to air pollution, short-term exposure to extreme air pollutant concentrations, such as during haze episodes, can lead to acute health problems and hospitalizations. Severe air pollution episodes also cause significant economic damage. This thesis examines two different types of extreme air pollution events. First, we used measurements to investigate the effects caused by fireworks celebrations during the Chinese New Year in Beijing over the course of seven years. Then we conducted a modeling study for a severe wintertime haze episode that affected Beijing and the surrounding region in November 2018. In our Chinese New Year measurement report, we analyzed observations from multiple data sources between 2013 and 2019. In all seven years, we observed a significant increase in concentrations of particulate matter and gaseous pollutants coinciding with the celebration of Chinese New Year. We found a downward trend in concentrations since 2016, which we speculate could be because of increased public awareness of the effects of fireworks on air quality.
Petri Clusius has successfully defended his PhD thesis
Petri Clusius has successfully defended his PhD thesis titled “Process modelling of emissions, chemistry and SOA formation in real environments” on Friday, June 13th at 12:00 in Physicum, Auditorio E204 (Gustaf Hällströmin katu 2, 00560 Helsinki, Finland).
The opponent was Senior Scientist Ulas Im from Århus University, and the Custos is Professor Micael Boy from the University of Helsinki.
If you are unable to attend in person and would like to follow the public examination online, it will be accessible remotely via UniTube.
Dissertation will also be electronically available before the defense at: Helda e-Thesis
Atmospheric aerosols influence weather and global climate through their interactions with clouds. Furthermore, aerosols directly impact air quality and Earth’s radiative budget. Aerosols enter the atmosphere either through the direct emission of particulate matter or via phase transitions from the gaseous to the liquid or solid phase, a process known as new particle formation. Particles in the size range of 50–150 nm in diameter are essential for cloud formation in the atmosphere, as they serve as the initial nuclei for the heterogeneous nucleation of water vapour. The concentration of these cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) affects cloud lifetime, optical properties, and precipitation. The relative contribution of aerosols, and consequently CCN, from direct particle emissions and new particle formation varies significantly across different environments. However, quantifying this remains challenging due to the complex interplay between atmospheric chemistry, direct particle emissions, new particle formation, and the deposition of gases onto these particles. Advances in measurement techniques now allow aerosol composition to be resolved as a function of size, yet identifying the origins and process history of individual particles remains difficult based on measurements alone.
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