Hang Su

The 2013 Arne Richter Award for Outstanding Young Scientists is awarded to Hang Su for relevant contributions to the measurement and modelling of soil-atmosphere exchange and aerosol-cloud interactions.

Hang Su’s research addresses a key current topic in atmospheric sciences: multi-phase interactions and their influence on the atmospheric chemistry and cloud microphysics, which is of fundamental importance for our understanding of the Earth system and global environmental change. Su started his research by measuring of atmospheric nitrous acid, HONO, which is an important source of hydroxyl radicals. After finding a missing source of HONO, Su proposed an original hypothesis for this and designed laboratory experiments. He proved that biogenic nitrite in soils can contribute to atmospheric HONO and OH radicals, which can fill a gap in the atmospheric chemistry and the nitrogen cycle.

Aside from his innovative ideas, he shows the ability to synthesise broad perspectives and interconnections. He has improved the understanding of aerosol-cloud interaction by introducing the aerosol/updraft limited regime concept and distribution function approaches. He is one of the very few scientists devoted to synthesising broad knowledge and findings, crucial for interdisciplinary geoscience.

Su is also a remarkable scientific advisor and lecturer. He is co-advising PhD students and giving lectures at the International Max Planck Research School. He has contributed to over 20 papers, two published in Science, and his work has been recognised by a Union Outstanding Student Poster Award in 2009. He undoubtedly is a very thorough-thinking and active scientist.