IESc Seminar Series: The Urban-to-Rural Shift in Air Pollution: Ammonia and Secondary Particles in a Changing Climate by Ezgi Akyüz

Institute of Environmental Sciences Seminar Series

“The Urban-to-Rural Shift in Air Pollution: Ammonia and Secondary Particles in a Changing Climate”

by Ezgi Akyüz, PhD

Istanbul Technical University

We cordially invite you to our seminar “The Urban-to-Rural Shift in Air Pollution: Ammonia and Secondary Particles in a Changing Climate” to be held by Ezgi Akyüz, from Istanbul Technical University

When: 05 October, 2026, Monday, 13:30-15:00

Where: Institute of Environmental Sciences Seminar Room (Hisar Campus E-Block)

Contact: pinar.ertor@bogazici.edu.tr for any questions.

Abstract:

In Europe, emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides have fallen sharply as power plants, industry and traffic came under regulation. Ammonia (NH 3 ) from livestock and fertilizers has changed much less. NH 3 reacts with the acids formed from these gases to produce ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate, an important part of fine particulate matter (PM 2.5). NH 3 emissions also depend strongly on the weather. In this talk, I compare static, improved and dynamic NH 3 emissions in the WRF-CMAQ modeling system. The simulations cover Europe under present (2014) and future (2050) climate, and the results for Türkiye are evaluated with IASI satellite data and ground observations. The results show that climate change affects both how much ammonia is emitted and how much of it turns into particles, with nitrate as the most sensitive component.

Short bio:

Ezgi Akyüz is a research assistant at the Eurasia Institute of Earth Sciences, Istanbul Technical University. She received her Ph.D. in Earth System Science from ITU in 2025, studying how climate change affects agricultural ammonia and secondary particle formation, and was a visiting scholar at Cornell University. Her work combines emission inventories, chemical transport modeling, satellite remote sensing and machine learning.