Dr. Sergio Alejandro Ibarra-Espinosa

Atmospheric Scientist | Emissions Specialist | Data Scientist

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Portrait of Dr. Sergio Ibarra-Espinosa

About Me

I am an atmospheric scientist specializing in emissions inventories, climate modeling, and air pollution analysis. Affiliations: 1. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado-Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States 2. NOAA Global Monitoring Laboratory, Boulder, CO, United States.

Education

  • PhD in Atmospheric Sciences, USP (2017)
  • MSc in Environmental Planning, U. Chile (2011)
  • BSc in Environmental Science, UTEM (2007)

Experience

  • Postdoc at University of Colorado, CIRES (2022-present)
  • Postdoc at Nuclear Energy Research Inst. (2021-2022)
  • Postdoc at Chinese Academy of Sciences (2019)

Skills

  • R, Python, Fortran
  • WRF-Chem, VEIN, HYSPLIT
  • Machine Learning
  • Spatial Data Analysis

Languages

  • Spanish (Native)
  • Portuguese (Fluent)
  • English (Advanced)

Research Interests

Air Pollution Modeling

Developing high-resolution emissions inventories and atmospheric models for urban areas.

Vehicular Emissions

Bottom-up approaches for traffic emissions using the VEIN model.

Climate Change

Analyzing CH₄ and CO₂ fluxes and their climate impacts.

Data Science

Applying statistical and machine learning methods to environmental data.

Selected Publications

Improving spatial disaggregation of vehicular emission inventories

Meotti, B., Ibarra-Espinosa, S. and Hoinaski, L.

Environmental Technology (2025), pp.1-14

Journal Vehicular Emissions Software

Air regulation service is affected by green areas cover and fragmentation: An analysis using demand, supply and flow during COVID-19 quarantine

Pimiento-Quiroga, N.A., Prist, P.R., Ibarra-Espinosa, S., Barrozo, L.V. and Metzger, J.P.

Landscape and Urban Planning (2025), 254, p.105230

Journal Climate Air Quality Urban Planning

Multiscale CO budget estimates across South America: quantifying local sources and long range transport

Lichtig, P., Gaubert, B., Emmons, L.K., Jo, D.S., Callaghan, P., Ibarra-Espinosa, S., ...

Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2024), 129(8), e2023JD040434

Journal Climate Air Quality

Changes in vehicular emissions due to COVID-19 partial lockdown...

Ibarra-Espinosa S, et al.

Frontiers in Sustainable Cities (2022)

Vehicular COVID-19 Brazil

VEIN v0. 2.2: an R package for bottom-up vehicular emissions inventories

Ibarra-Espinosa S, et al.

Geoscientific Model Development (2018)

Vehicular Software R Package
View All Publications

Latest Blog Posts

Blog Post: VEIN Model for Urban Emissions
April 1, 2025
Featured • Vehicular Emissions

Advancements in the VEIN Model for Urban Emissions

Exploring the latest updates to the VEIN model and how it's being used in cities worldwide to improve air quality assessments.

8 min read 12 comments
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Blog Post Image 2
Research

😷 São Paulo: COVID-19, Mobility, and Environmental Factors

Air quality, COVID-19, and mobility.

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Blog Post Image 2
Research

🌳 Urban Green Areas, Air Quality, and COVID-19 in São Paulo

Ecologycal services and vehicular emissions in cities.

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Get In Touch

Email

sergio.ibarraespinosa@colorado.edu

Phone

+1 (720) 449-3424

Location

Boulder, Colorado, USA