BOREAS

Boreas imageAs part of the BOREAS project in 1994, we investigated the environmental controls on the production of isoprene emissions from a monoculture aspen forest in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada.  We were one of the first research groups to develop models to estimate the seasonal isoprene emissions from forest ecosystems.  Also, the field investigatations on seasonal isoprene emissions permitted us to learn how the antecendent environmental conditions impact the isoprene production from the forest ecosystems. An additional research goal was to learn the amount of photosynthetic carbon entering the atmosphere in the form of isoprene.  Working with ecologists and atmospheric chemists, new knowledge has been generated concerning the contribution of isoprene oxidation on the formation of tropospheric ozone and peroxy radicals in remote, rural environments with low (< 1 ppb) nitrogen oxide levels. Also, canopy models have been developed and applied to estimate seasonal isoprene emissions from forest ecosystems.