World's Best Scientists 2026 revealed!

D-Index & Metrics

Environmental Sciences

D-Index
101
Citations
31762
World Ranking
364
National Ranking
159

Overview

Joel A. Thornton is affiliated with the University of Washington in the United States. Their research primarily spans the fields of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Environmental Science, with a focus on Atmospheric Science and Global and Planetary Change as notable subfields.

Thornton's recent publications illustrate a strong engagement with atmospheric chemistry and aerosol dynamics. Among these are:

  • Quantification of organic aerosol and brown carbon evolution in fresh wildfire plumes, 2020, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Global tropospheric halogen (Cl, Br, I) chemistry and its impact on oxidants, 2021, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
  • Molecular mechanism for rapid autoxidation in α-pinene ozonolysis, 2021, Nature Communications
  • Emissions of Trace Organic Gases From Western U.S. Wildfires Based on WE-CAN Aircraft Measurements, 2021, Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
  • HONO Emissions from Western U.S. Wildfires Provide Dominant Radical Source in Fresh Wildfire Smoke, 2020, Environmental Science & Technology

Their work covers a range of topics including:

  • Atmospheric chemistry and aerosols
  • Atmospheric ozone and climate
  • Atmospheric aerosols and clouds
  • Air quality and health impacts
  • Atmospheric and environmental gas dynamics
  • Fire effects on ecosystems
  • Spectroscopy and laser applications

Frequent co-authors include:

  • Brett B. Palm
  • Ben H. Lee
  • Qiaoyun Peng
  • Carley D. Fredrickson
  • F. Flocke

Thornton's research has appeared consistently in key journals within atmospheric science and related areas. Frequent publication venues include:

  • Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
  • Geophysical Research Letters
  • Environmental Science & Technology
  • Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
  • ACS Earth and Space Chemistry

The research contributions focus extensively on the chemical processes influencing aerosols, gases, and radicals in the atmosphere, with particular investigation into wildfire emissions and their impacts. This work supports understanding the interactions between atmospheric chemistry and broader environmental and health effects.

Best Publications

  • A large source of low-volatility secondary organic aerosol

    Mikael Ehn;Joel A. Thornton;Einhard Kleist;Mikko Sipila

  • Highly Oxygenated Organic Molecules (HOM) from Gas-Phase Autoxidation Involving Peroxy Radicals: A Key Contributor to Atmospheric Aerosol

    Federico Bianchi;Theo Kurtén;Matthieu Riva;Claudia Mohr

  • Recent advances in understanding secondary organic aerosol: Implications for global climate forcing

    Manish Shrivastava;Christopher D. Cappa;Jiwen Fan;Allen H. Goldstein

  • A large atomic chlorine source inferred from mid-continental reactive nitrogen chemistry

    Joel A. Thornton;James P. Kercher;Theran P. Riedel;Nicholas L. Wagner

  • An Iodide-Adduct High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Chemical-Ionization Mass Spectrometer: Application to Atmospheric Inorganic and Organic Compounds

    Ben H. Lee;Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker;Claudia Mohr;Theo Kurtén

  • A novel method for online analysis of gas and particle composition: description and evaluation of a Filter Inlet for Gases and AEROsols (FIGAERO)

    F. D. Lopez-Hilfiker;C. Mohr;M. Ehn;M. Ehn;F. Rubach

  • Tropospheric Halogen Chemistry: Sources, Cycling,and Impacts

    William R Simpson;Steven S Brown;Alfonso Saiz-Lopez;Joel A Thornton

  • Nitrate radicals and biogenic volatile organic compounds: oxidation, mechanisms, and organic aerosol

    Nga Lee Ng;Steven S. Brown;Steven S. Brown;Alexander T. Archibald;Elliot Atlas

  • Secondary organic aerosol reduced by mixture of atmospheric vapours

    Gordon McFiggans;Thomas F. Mentel;Juergen Wildt;Iida Pullinen;Iida Pullinen

  • Toward a general parameterization of N 2 O 5 reactivity on aqueous particles: the competing effects of particle liquid water, nitrate and chloride

    T. H. Bertram;T. H. Bertram;J. A. Thornton

  • Chemistry of atmospheric nucleation: on the recent advances on precursor characterization and atmospheric cluster composition in connection with atmospheric new particle formation.

    M. Kulmala;T. Petäjä;M. Ehn;J. Thornton

  • Contribution of nitrated phenols to wood burning brown carbon light absorption in Detling, United Kingdom during winter time.

    Claudia Mohr;Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker;Peter Zotter;André S. H. Prévôt

  • Highly functionalized organic nitrates in the southeast United States: Contribution to secondary organic aerosol and reactive nitrogen budgets

    Ben H. Lee;Claudia Mohr;Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker;Anna Lutz

  • The role of chlorine in global tropospheric chemistry

    Xuan Wang;Daniel J. Jacob;Sebastian D. Eastham;Melissa P. Sulprizio

  • The formation of highly oxidized multifunctional products in the ozonolysis of cyclohexene.

    Matti P. Rissanen;Theo Kurtén;Mikko Sipilä;Joel A. Thornton

  • Monoterpenes are the largest source of summertime organic aerosol in the southeastern United States

    Haofei Zhang;Haofei Zhang;Lindsay D. Yee;Ben H. Lee;Michael P. Curtis

  • A thermal dissociation laser‐induced fluorescence instrument for in situ detection of NO2, peroxy nitrates, alkyl nitrates, and HNO3

    D. A. Day;P. J. Wooldridge;M. B. Dillon;J. A. Thornton

  • A large and ubiquitous source of atmospheric formic acid

    D. B. Millet;M. Baasandorj;D. K. Farmer;J. A. Thornton

  • Quantifying atmospheric nitrate formation pathways based on a global model of the oxygen isotopic composition (Δ 17 O) of atmospheric nitrate

    B. Alexander;M.G. Hastings;D.J. Allman;Jordi Dachs

  • Fine particle pH and the partitioning of nitric acid during winter in the northeastern United States

    Hongyu Guo;Amy P. Sullivan;Pedro Campuzano-Jost;Pedro Campuzano-Jost;Jason C. Schroder;Jason C. Schroder

  • Atmospheric NO2: In Situ Laser-Induced Fluorescence Detection at Parts per Trillion Mixing Ratios

    Joel A. Thornton;Paul J. Wooldridge;Ronald C. Cohen

  • A field-deployable, chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometer

    T. H. Bertram;J. R. Kimmel;T. A. Crisp;O. S. Ryder

Frequent Co-Authors

Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker
Felipe D. Lopez-Hilfiker University of Washington
Steven S. Brown
Steven S. Brown National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Jose L. Jimenez
Jose L. Jimenez University of Colorado Boulder
Glenn M. Wolfe
Glenn M. Wolfe University of Maryland, Baltimore County
Patrick R. Veres
Patrick R. Veres National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Pedro Campuzano-Jost
Pedro Campuzano-Jost University of Colorado Boulder
Jessica B. Gilman
Jessica B. Gilman National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
Carsten Warneke
Carsten Warneke National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
William P. Dubé
William P. Dubé Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences
Claudia Mohr
Claudia Mohr ETH Zurich

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