Brown carbon in tar balls from smoldering biomass combustion

Chakrabarty, Rajan K.; Moosmüller, Hans; Chen, L.-W. Antony; Lewis, K.; Arnott, W. P.; Mazzoleni, Cláudio; Dubey, Manvendra K.; Wold, Cyle; Hao, Wei Min; Kreidenweis, Sonia M.

doi:10.5194/acp-10-6363-2010

Cited by 464 publications

(460 citation statements)

References 44 publications

(60 reference statements)

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“…These compositional differences likely resulted in a significantly higher Ångström exponent for the various particles formed in slow-burning processes at low temperature than that for laboratory-generated "pure" tar balls with a C / O ratio of about 10 and distinctive morphology (Hoffer et al, 2016). The C / O ratio and optical properties of the different duff smoke particles studied by Chakrabarty et al (2010) resembled the properties of humic-like substances which are watersoluble and are on the less absorbing side of the BrC continuum.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Brown carbon absorption in the red and near-infrared spectral region

Hoffer¹,

Tóth

Pósfai

et al. 2017

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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Abstract. Black carbon (BC) aerosols have often been assumed to be the only light-absorbing carbonaceous particles in the red and near-infrared spectral regions of solar radiation in the atmosphere. Here we report that tar balls (a specific type of organic aerosol particles from biomass burning) do absorb red and near-infrared radiation significantly. Tar balls were produced in a laboratory experiment, and their chemical and optical properties were measured. The absorption of these particles in the range between 470 and 950 nm was measured with an aethalometer, which is widely used to measure atmospheric aerosol absorption. We find that the absorption coefficient of tar balls at 880 nm is more than 10 % of that at 470 nm. The considerable absorption of red and infrared light by tar balls also follows from their relatively low absorption Ångström coefficient (and significant mass absorption coefficient) in the spectral range between 470 and 950 nm. Our results support the previous finding that tar balls may play an important role in global warming. Due to the non-negligible absorption of tar balls in the near-infrared region, the absorption measured in the field at near-infrared wavelengths cannot solely be due to soot particles.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Brown carbon absorption in the red and near-infrared spectral region

Hoffer¹,

Tóth

Pósfai

et al. 2017

Atmos. Meas. Tech.

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“…Biomass burning, especially high-temperature flaming combustion may also generate substantial NO x . Wood combustion is known to contain humiclike substances (Hoffer et al, 2006) or BrC (Chakrabarty et al, 2010) that strongly absorbs in the UV regions while BC emission from traffic exhibits inverse wavelength dependence of light absorption (Bond and Bergstron, 2006). These evidences have been used to identify the influence of wood burning and traffic emissions using the concurrent multispectral aerosol optical measurements and gaseous pollutant concentration measurements (Sandradewi et al, 2008 a, b).…”

Section: Particulate Matter (Pm) and Gaseous Pollutant Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While BC aerosols absorb strongly over the entire solar spectrum, some OA absorbs efficiently in the UV and blue regions (Barnard et al, 2008;Bergstrom et al, 2007;Bond, 2001;Chakrabarty et al, 2010;Jacobson, 1999;Kirchstetter et al, 2004;Martins et al, 2009;Roden et al, 2006). These organic materials appear yellowish/brownish and are known as "brown carbon" (Andreae and Gelencsér, 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Photoacoustic optical properties at UV, VIS, and near IR wavelengths for laboratory generated and winter time ambient urban aerosols

et al. 2012

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Abstract. We present the laboratory and ambient photoacoustic (PA) measurement of aerosol light absorption coefficients at ultraviolet wavelength (i.e., 355 nm) and compare with measurements at 405, 532, 870, and 1047 nm. Simultaneous measurements of aerosol light scattering coefficients were achieved by the integrating reciprocal nephelometer within the PA's acoustic resonator. Absorption and scattering measurements were carried out for various laboratorygenerated aerosols, including salt, incense, and kerosene soot to evaluate the instrument calibration and gain insight on the spectral dependence of aerosol light absorption and scattering. Ambient measurements were obtained in Reno, Nevada, between 18 December 2009 and 18 January 2010. The measurement period included days with and without strong ground level temperature inversions, corresponding to highly polluted (freshly emitted aerosols) and relatively clean (aged aerosols) conditions. Particulate matter (PM) concentrations were measured and analyzed with other tracers of traffic emissions. The temperature inversion episodes caused very high concentration of PM 2.5 and PM 10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 µm and 10 µm, respectively) and gaseous pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ). The diurnal change of absorption and scattering coefficients during the polluted (inversion) days increased approximately by a factor of two for all wavelengths compared to the clean days.The spectral variation in aerosol absorption coefficients indicated a significant amount of absorbing aerosol from traffic emissions and residential wood burning. The analysis of single scattering albedo (SSA),Ångström exponent of absorption (AEA), andÅngström exponent of scattering (AES) for clean and polluted days provides evidences that the aerosol aging and coating process is suppressed by strong temperature inversion under cloudy conditions. In general, measured UV absorption coefficients were found to be much larger for biomass burning aerosol than for typical ambient aerosols.

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“…Nevertheless, the IMPROVE-TOR and NIOSH-TOT provide bounds for EC measurements and the ranges in concentrations are larger for some samples than others, depending on their charring potential and the extent of brown carbon. For example, brown carbon could be elevated and the charring substantial for smoldering-dominated samples (Chen et al, , 2011Chakrabarty et al, 2010). The NIOSH-TOT likely attributes more of the char and the brown carbon to OC than IMPROVE-TOR does, which may attribute these components more to EC a .The optical (BC e ) and the thermal methods with optical correction or water extraction gave mutually and internally consistent results with EC a /TC or BC e /TC ratios in the 0.04-0.08 range.…”

Section: Estimating the Ec And Bc Concentrationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of the carbon content of aerosols from the burning of biomass in the Brazilian Amazon using thermal, optical and thermal-optical analysis methods

Soto-Garcia

Andreae

et al. 2011

Atmos. Chem. Phys.

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Abstract. Aerosol samples were collected at a pasture site in the Amazon Basin as part of the project LBA-SMOCC-2002 (Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia -Smoke Aerosols, Clouds, Rainfall and Climate: Aerosols from Biomass Burning Perturb Global and Regional Climate). Sampling was conducted during the late dry season, when the aerosol composition was dominated by biomass burning emissions, especially in the submicron fraction. A 13-stage Dekati low-pressure impactor (DLPI) was used to collect particles with nominal aerodynamic diameters (D p ) ranging from 0.03 to 0.10 µm. Gravimetric analyses of the DLPI substrates and filters were performed to obtain aerosol mass concentrations. The concentrations of total, apparent elemental, and organic carbon (TC, EC a , and OC) were determined using thermal and thermal-optical analysis (TOA) methods. A light transmission method (LTM) was used to determine the concentration of equivalent black carbon (BC e ) or the absorbing fraction at 880 nm for the size-resolved samples.During the dry period, due to the pervasive presence of fires in the region upwind of the sampling site, concentrations of fine aerosols (D p < 2.5µm: average 59.8 µg m −3 ) were higher than coarse aerosols (D p > 2.5µm: 4.1 µg m −3 ). Carbonaceous matter, estimated as the sum of the particulate organic matter (i.e., OC × 1.8) plus BC e , comprisedCorrespondence to: O. L. Mayol-Bracero (omayol@ites.upr.edu) more than 90% to the total aerosol mass. Concentrations of EC a (estimated by thermal analysis with a correction for charring) and BC e (estimated by LTM) averaged 5.2 ± 1.3 and 3.1 ± 0.8 µg m −3 , respectively. The determination of EC was improved by extracting water-soluble organic material from the samples, which reduced the average light absorptionÅngström exponent of particles in the size range of 0.1 to 1.0 µm from >2.0 to approximately 1.2. The size-resolved BC e measured by the LTM showed a clear maximum between 0.4 and 0.6 µm in diameter. The concentrations of OC and BC e varied diurnally during the dry period, and this variation is related to diurnal changes in boundary layer thickness and in fire frequency.

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Brown carbon in tar balls from smoldering biomass combustion

Cited by 464 publications

References 44 publications

Brown carbon absorption in the red and near-infrared spectral region

Brown carbon absorption in the red and near-infrared spectral region

Photoacoustic optical properties at UV, VIS, and near IR wavelengths for laboratory generated and winter time ambient urban aerosols

Evaluation of the carbon content of aerosols from the burning of biomass in the Brazilian Amazon using thermal, optical and thermal-optical analysis methods

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