Borneo

I am in the rain forest and am loving every moment of it. This place is absolutely nuts with so many things going on at the same time...! But let me explain why we are here and what are we doing.

We are a part of the consortium consisting of several UK universities and some research organisations. It is called the OP3 project which stands for Oxidant and Particle Photochemical Processes and we are trying to understand how emissions of reactive trace gases from a tropical rain forest mediate the production and processing of oxidants and particles in the troposphere, and to better understand the impact of these processes on local, regional and global scale atmospheric composition, chemistry and climate.

To put in simple terms we are measuring the gases emitted by the trees and seeing the effect it has on the region.

We have several types of instruments here which study different aspects of the rainforest chemistry. Some of them focus on the gases coming out of the trees, some on the gases from the soil, some on gases from nearby oceans. Then there are instruments which can study the breakdown products of the primary emissions. Over the next few days I will try and explain what role each university plays and how they contribute the the holistic understanding.

What I can confirm at the moment is that we have seen some really exciting wildlife. We have seen Elephants, wild bearded pigs, several birlds, some species of monkeys, a leopard cat and of course the well known Orang-utans. I am loving the rain forest experience and there are many stories to share!

Until the next post.. hope you are all doing well and taking care!