Articles | Volume 16, issue 19
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12733-2016
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12733-2016
Research article
 | 
13 Oct 2016
Research article |  | 13 Oct 2016

Deriving brown carbon from multiwavelength absorption measurements: method and application to AERONET and Aethalometer observations

Xuan Wang, Colette L. Heald, Arthur J. Sedlacek, Suzane S. de Sá, Scot T. Martin, M. Lizabeth Alexander, Thomas B. Watson, Allison C. Aiken, Stephen R. Springston, and Paulo Artaxo

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Cited articles

Adachi, K., Chung, S. H., and Buseck, P. R.: Shapes of soot aerosol particles and implications for their effects on climate, J. Geophys. Res., 115, D15206, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD012868, 2010.
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Akagi, S. K., Craven, J. S., Taylor, J. W., McMeeking, G. R., Yokelson, R. J., Burling, I. R., Urbanski, S. P., Wold, C. E., Seinfeld, J. H., Coe, H., Alvarado, M. J., and Weise, D. R.: Evolution of trace gases and particles emitted by a chaparral fire in California, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 1397–1421, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-1397-2012, 2012.
Alexander, D. T. L., Crozier, P. A., and Anderson, J. R.: Brown Carbon Spheres in East Asian Outflow and Their Optical Properties, Science, 321, 833–836, 2008.
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Short summary
We describe a new approach to estimate the absorption of brown carbon (BrC) from multiple-wavelength absorption measurements. By applying this method to column and surface observations globally, we find that BrC contributes up to 40 % of the absorption measured at 440 nm. The analysis of two surface sites also suggests that BrC absorptivity decreases with photochemical aging in biomass burning plumes, but not in typical urban conditions.
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