Analysis of Brown Carbon Content and Evolution in Smokes from Siberian Forest Fires Using AERONET Measurements

Golovushkin, Nikolai A.; Кузнецова, И. Н.; Konovalov, I. B.; Nahaev, M. I.; Kozlov, V. S.; Beekmann, Matthias

doi:10.1134/s1024856020030045

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…However, there have been only a few studies addressing BrC contained in the Siberian aerosol. In particular, Gorchakov et al (2016) found evidence for the presence of BrC in the Siberian aerosol by analyzing the wavelength dependence of the AERONET retrievals of the aerosol refractive index. Golovushkin et al (2020) applied the W16 method to the retrievals of the absorption aerosol optical depth at two Siberian AERONET sites and found evidence that BrC absorption decreases as a function of the aerosol photochemical age with an e-folding time of about 30 h.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring the absorption properties of organic aerosol in Siberian biomass burning plumes from remote optical observations

et al. 2021

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Abstract. Light-absorbing organic matter, known as brown carbon (BrC), has previously been found to significantly enhance the absorption of solar radiation by biomass burning (BB) aerosol. Previous studies have also proposed methods aimed at constraining the BrC contribution to the overall aerosol absorption using the absorption Ångström exponents (AAEs) derived from the multi-wavelength remote observations at Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET). However, representations of the BrC absorption in atmospheric models remain uncertain, particularly due to the high variability in the absorption properties of BB organic aerosol (OA). As a result, there is a need for stronger observational constraints on these properties. We extend the concept of the established AAE-based methods in the framework of our Bayesian method, which combines remote optical observations with Monte Carlo simulations of the aerosol absorption properties. We propose that the observational constraints on the absorption properties of BB OA can be enhanced by using the single-scattering albedo (SSA) as part of the observation vector. The capabilities of our method were first examined by using synthetic data, which were intended to represent the absorption properties of BB aerosol originating from wildfires in Siberia. We found that observations of AAEs and SSA can provide efficient constraints not only on the BrC contribution to the total absorption but also on both the imaginary part of the refractive index and the mass absorption efficiency of OA. The subsequent application of our method to the original multi-annual data from Siberian AERONET sites, along with the supplementary analysis of possible biases in the a posteriori estimates of the inferred absorption properties, indicates that the contribution of BrC to the overall light absorption by BB aerosol in Siberia at the 440 nm wavelength is most likely to range, on average, from about 15 % to 21 %, although it is highly variable and, in some cases, can exceed 40 %. Based on the analysis of the AERONET data, we also derived simple nonlinear parameterizations for the absorption characteristics of BB OA in Siberia as functions of the AAE.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inferring the absorption properties of organic aerosol in Siberian biomass burning plumes from remote optical observations

et al. 2021

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“…The organic shell was assumed to be nonabsorbing, that is, the contribution of brown carbon (BrC) to absorption was neglected. Available estimates of BrC absorption in Siberian BB plumes indicate that it is highly variable [49,58] but, on average, is rather weak within the visible wavelength range. Hence, the BrC absorption is unlikely to be a key factor determining the evolution of the radiative forcing efficiency of Siberian BB aerosol, although the impact of BrC on the radiative properties of Siberian BB aerosol needs yet to be clarified in future dedicated studies.…”

Section: Simulations Of the Bb Aerosol Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the Atmospheric Photochemical Evolution of the Organic Component of Biomass Burning Aerosol on Its Radiative Forcing Efficiency: A Box Model Analysis

et al. 2021

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We present the first box model simulation results aimed at identification of possible effects of the atmospheric photochemical evolution of the organic component of biomass burning (BB) aerosol on the aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) and its efficiency (ARFE). The simulations of the dynamics of the optical characteristics of the organic aerosol (OA) were performed using a simple parameterization developed within the volatility basis set framework and adapted to simulate the multiday BB aerosol evolution in idealized isolated smoke plumes from Siberian fires (without dilution). Our results indicate that the aerosol optical depth can be used as a good proxy for studying the effect of the OA evolution on the ARF, but variations in the scattering and absorbing properties of BB aerosol can also affect its radiative effects, as evidenced by variations in the ARFE. Changes in the single scattering albedo (SSA) and asymmetry factor, which occur as a result of the BB OA photochemical evolution, may either reduce or enhance the ARFE as a result of their competing effects, depending on the initial concentration OA, the ratio of black carbon to OA mass concentrations and the aerosol photochemical age in a complex way. Our simulation results also reveal that (1) the ARFE at the top of the atmosphere is not significantly affected by the OA oxidation processes compared to the ARFE at the bottom of the atmosphere, and (2) the dependence of ARFE in the atmospheric column and on the BB aerosol photochemical ages almost mirrors the corresponding dependence of SSA.

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“…The absorption spectrum of BrC increases with decreasing wavelength from the visible range to the UV range [5][6] . Smoldering forest and peat fires are an important source of BrC entering the atmosphere [7][8][9][10][11][12] . Absorbing solar radiation, BC heats the atmosphere due to positive direct radiative forcing 13 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microphysical extrapolation method in studying optical characteristics of smoke

Veretennikov,

Men’shchikova

2023

29th International Symposium on Atmospheric and Ocean Optics: Atmospheric Physics

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The results are presented of reconstructing the characteristics of scattering and absorption of light by smoke aerosol from the data on the microstructure and refractive index of smoke particles. The microphysical characteristics were obtained by inverting the spectral and angular measurements of the polarization scattering phase functions and the extinction coefficients of light in smoke aerosol formed as a result of the thermal decomposition of wood materials in the big aerosol chamber of the IAO SB RAS. As a result, the optical characteristics of smoke were determined, which were not measured experimentally (microphysical extrapolation method), such as the angular and spectral dependences of the scattering phase functions, the asymmetry parameter (the mean cosine of the scattering angle), the spectral dependences of the scattering and absorption coefficients, and the single scattering albedo. The temporal variability of the reconstructed optical characteristics of the smoke is presented.

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Analysis of Brown Carbon Content and Evolution in Smokes from Siberian Forest Fires Using AERONET Measurements

Cited by 6 publications

References 34 publications

Inferring the absorption properties of organic aerosol in Siberian biomass burning plumes from remote optical observations

Inferring the absorption properties of organic aerosol in Siberian biomass burning plumes from remote optical observations

Impact of the Atmospheric Photochemical Evolution of the Organic Component of Biomass Burning Aerosol on Its Radiative Forcing Efficiency: A Box Model Analysis

Microphysical extrapolation method in studying optical characteristics of smoke

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