I am a PhD student studying Environmental Science and Engineering at Harvard University. I am advised by Daniel Jacob in the Atmospheric Chemistry Modeling Group and I am currently researching atmospheric methane. You can view my CV here.
We use machine learning to remove biases in TROPOMI satellite observations of atmospheric methane, with GOSAT observations serving as a reference. We find that the TROPOMI biases relative to GOSAT are related to the presence of aerosols and clouds, the surface brightness, and the specific detector that makes the observation onboard TROPOMI. The resulting blended TROPOMI+GOSAT product is more reliable for quantifying methane emissions.
Publication: Balasus et al. (2023)
We measured aerosol and gas composition at a land–water transition site near Baltimore, MD. Gas-phase ammonia concentrations were highly elevated compared to measurements at a nearby inland site. Our analysis revealed that ammonia was from both industrial and agricultural sources. This had a pronounced effect on aerosol chemical composition at the site, most notably contributing to episodic spikes of aerosol nitrate.
Publication: Balasus et al. (2021)
nicholasbalasus@g.harvard.edu