Dr. Arnott develops and deploys photoacoustic instruments for measurement of black carbon emission from vehicles in source sampling, and in ambient air quality studies. These measurements are often combined with other real time particulate emission measurements for the larger purpose of establishing detailed knowledge of the conditions giving rise to most of the black carbon and particulate emission to the atmosphere, and their environmental impacts. He teaches courses in the Atmospheric Sciences Program and Physics Department at the University of Nevada, Reno.