My long-range goal is to pursue an academic career as an environmental scientist dedicated to understanding air quality and climate variability on regional and global scales, as well as their implications for human health and society. My research integrates laboratory, field, airborne, and satellite observations to quantitatively estimate emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), greenhouse gases (GHGs), and nitrogen oxides (NOₓ) across multiple scales. I also focus on evaluating the sensitivity of air quality and climate change to VOC and GHG emissions and on investigating biosphere-atmosphere interactions and their regulatory processes.

Research Themes under ENVR

• Air and Health
• Climate Adaptation and Resilience (CARE)

Research Areas

• Atmospheric Chemistry
• Biosphere Atmosphere Interactions
• Ecosystem Services and Human Health

Research Interests

• Volatile organic compounds
• Greenhouse gases
• Remote sensing
• Emission inventory
• Environmental monitoring technique

Research Projects

• Marine emissions of volatile organic compounds in the Greater Bay Area: interactions with air quality and climate change (RGC - Collaborative Research Fund)
• Observational study of short-lived halocarbons in a coastal suburban environment (RGC - General Research Fund)
• Study characteristics of volatile organic compounds in Hong Kong's indoor environments (Environment and Conservation Fund)
• Ultra-compact drone-based VOC sampling system for vertical profile measurements (Environment and Conservation Fund)

Publications

Representative Publications

• Liang, Z., Gu, D.*, Li, R., Liu, J., Zhai, C., Su, H., and Lau, A. K. H.: Advancing Atmospheric Detection of Weakly Absorbing Reactive Trace Gases Using the FY-3E/HIRAS-II TIR Sounder on a Dawn–Dusk Orbit, Environmental Science & Technology Letters, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.estlett.5c00501, 2025.
• Liang, Z., Gu, D.*, Li, X., Xu, Z., Cao, X., Bai, H., Li, R., Zhai, C., Su, H., and Lau, A. K. H.: An optimal sequential physical retrieval system for retrieving high-accuracy diurnal atmospheric gases from FY-4B/GIIRS: Theory, algorithm and evaluation, Remote Sensing of Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rse.2025.114901, 2025.
• Zhang, W.*, Weber, J., Archibald, A. T.*, Abraham N. K., Booge, D., Yang, M., and Gu, D.*: Global Atmospheric Composition Effects from Marine Isoprene Emissions, Environmental Science & Technology, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.4c10657, 2025.
• Chan, W. M., Gu, D.*, Leung, K. F., Mai, Y., Mak, S. K., Li, X., Cao, X., Liang, Z., Tse, T. C., Xu, Z., Sun, H., Bai, H., Liu, G., Love, B., Barletta, B., Meinardi, S., and Blake, D. R.: Characteristics of Atmospheric CH4, CO2 and CO at a Suburban Coastal Site in Hong Kong, Atmospheric Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121630, 2025.
• Cao, X., Gu, D.*, Sun, H., Leung, K. F., Mai, Y., Li, X., Chan, W. M., Mak, S. K., Liang, Z., Zhang, W., Zhang, Y., Huang, S., Yuan, B., Shao, M., Yu, J., and Lau, A. K. H.: Intra-urban Comparison of Hazardous VOCs in Hong Kong: Source Apportionment and Integrated Risk Assessment, Sustainable Cities and Society, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2025.106148, 2025.
• Mai, Y., Cheung, V., Louie, P. K. K., Leung, K., Fung, J. C. H., Lau, A. K. H., Blake, D. R., and Gu, D.*: Characterization and source apportionment of volatile organic compounds in Hong Kong: A 5-year study for three different archetypical sites, Journal of Environmental Sciences, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jes.2024.03.003, 2025.
• Liang, Z., Gu, D.*, Zhang, M., Yang, N., Zhao, C., Li, R., Wang, Q., Ye, Y., Liu, J., Li, X., Liu, R., Zhang, Y., and Cao, X.: Diurnal carbon monoxide retrieval from FY-4B/GIIRS using a novel machine learning method, Journal of Remote Sensing, https://doi.org/10.34133/remotesensing.0289, 2024.
• Sun, H., Gu, D.*, Xu, Z., Feng, X., Cao, X., Mai, Y., Li, X., Lee, H. W., Leung, K. F., Tse, T. C., Chan, W. M., and Mak, S. K.: Seasonal Variation and Origins of C1–C5 Alkyl Nitrates: A Year-long Study at a Hong Kong Coastal Site, Atmospheric Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2024.120824, 2024.
• Li, X., Gu, D.*, Hohenberger, T., Fung, Y., Fung, J. C. H., Lau, A. K. H., and Liang, Z.: Dynamic quantification of on-road emissions in Hong Kong: Impact from traffic congestion and fleet composition variation, Atmospheric Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2023.120059, 2023.
• Zhang, W. and Gu, D.*: Geostationary satellite reveals increasing marine isoprene emissions in the center of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 5, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00311-0, 2022.

Full Publication List