Articles | Volume 16, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3033-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-3033-2016
© Author(s) 2016. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.
Research article
| 
09 Mar 2016
Research article |
| 09 Mar 2016
Brown carbon aerosols from burning of boreal peatlands: microphysical properties, emission factors, and implications for direct radiative forcing
Rajan K. Chakrabarty
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Aerosol Impacts and Research (AIR) Laboratory, Department
of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in
St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Madhu Gyawali
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Reddy L. N. Yatavelli
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
California Air Resources Board, El Monte, CA 91731,
USA
Apoorva Pandey
Aerosol Impacts and Research (AIR) Laboratory, Department
of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in
St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
Adam C. Watts
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Joseph Knue
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Lung-Wen A. Chen
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health,
University of Nevada Las Vegas, Las Vegas, NV 89154, USA
Robert R. Pattison
United States Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research
Station, Anchorage, AK 99501, USA
Anna Tsibart
Department of Landscape Geochemistry and Soil Geography,
Moscow State University, Moscow, Russian Federation
Vera Samburova
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
Hans Moosmüller
Desert Research Institute, Nevada System of Higher
Education, Reno, NV 89512, USA
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Short summary
Brown carbon aerosols dominate particulate emissions from the burning of Alaskan and Siberian peatlands. They physically occur as amorphous "tar balls" with negligible black carbon mixing. They absorb very strongly in the shorter visible wavelengths, characterized by a mean Ångström coefficient of ≈ 9. These aerosols could result in a net warming of the atmosphere, provided the albedo of the underlying surface is greater than 0.6.
Brown carbon aerosols dominate particulate emissions from the burning of Alaskan and Siberian...
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