Atmospheric chemistry and air quality

Before proceeding to a discussion of recent developments and advances in the research areas of atmospheric chemistry and air quality it will be useful to describe briefly the subjects with which we are dealing. Atmospheric chemistry is a mixture of traditional subjects from chemistry and from meteorology. Its practitioners range from chemists with an interest in the atmosphere to meteorologists working on atmospheric composition. At the core is a small group trained or experienced in both fields who are often members of both the American Meteorological Society and the American Chemical Society and feel comfortable in both communities. As a subject, atmospheric chemistry has theoreticians, experimentalists, bureaucrats, and politicians like any other branch of science.