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Paul Scherrer Institut
Stable Isotopes
Paul Scherrer Institut CH-5232 Villigen PSI Phone +41 56 310 21 11 Fax +41 56 310 45 25 (local)



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Updated:
29.01.2010
E-Mail: matthias.saurer@psi.ch

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Objectives

Stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and other elements are built into ecosystems by physical and biological processes. These processes produce distinctive isotope ratio “fingerprints” in different organisms and substances, integrated in time and space. Our main research interest is to assess the effects of environmental changes, like climate, air pollutants and increasing carbon dioxide, on the matter fluxes and the stable isotopes in the ecosystem and the atmosphere.
We are investigating C-, N- and H2O-fluxes by analysing the stable isotope ratios 13C/12C, 15N/14N, 18O/16O and D/H .
Our objective is:
  • to develop "isotope tools" to monitor C- and N-fluxes in plants
  • to use isotopes in tree rings as indicators of environmental conditions in the past
  • to study the influence of increased nitrogen deposition and increased CO2 on plants
  • to investigate the sources of secondary organic aerosols



    News

    Some pictures and graphs from our work (updated Dec-23, 2009)

    Isotope lecture and course 25 - 29 Jan 2010

    Interested in our book, published by Academic Press?

    several

    go to Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry (LAC)

     

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