An evaluation of three methods for measuring black carbon in Alert, Canada

Sharma, Sangeeta; Leaitch, W. Richard; Huang, Lin; Veber, Daniel; Kolonjari, Felicia; Zhang, Wendy; Hanna, Sarah J.; Bertram, Allan K.; Ogren, John A.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15225-2017

Articles | Volume 17, issue 24

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15225-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-15225-2017

© Author(s) 2017. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Articles | Volume 17, issue 24

Research article

|

22 Dec 2017

Research article |

| 22 Dec 2017

An evaluation of three methods for measuring black carbon in Alert, Canada

Sangeeta Sharma, W. Richard Leaitch, Lin Huang, Daniel Veber, Felicia Kolonjari, Wendy Zhang, Sarah J. Hanna, Allan K. Bertram, and John A. Ogren

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Final revised paper (published on 22 Dec 2017)
Supplement to the final revised paper
Preprint (discussion started on 19 May 2017)
Supplement to the preprint

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

AC: Author comment | RC: Referee comment | SC: Short comment | EC: Editor comment

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- Supplement

RC1: 'review of Sharma et al.', Anonymous Referee #2, 16 Jun 2017
- AC1: 'Reply to reviewer #2, anonymous is as follows on “An Evaluation of three methods for measuring black carbon at Alert, Canada” by Sangeeta Sharma et al.', Sangeeta Sharma, 07 Sep 2017
RC2: 'Manuscript Review - Reviewer 1', Darrel Baumgardner, 20 Jul 2017
- AC2: 'Referee D. Baumgardner on “An Evaluation of three methods for measuring black carbon at Alert, Canada” by Sangeeta Sharma et al.', Sangeeta Sharma, 07 Sep 2017

Peer-review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision

AR by Sangeeta Sharma on behalf of the Authors (07 Sep 2017) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Reconsider after minor revisions (Editor review) (28 Sep 2017) by Willy Maenhaut

The authors have reasonably addressed the comments of the two anonymous referees and they have modified their manuscript accordingly. However, the comments given below should be addressed and numerous alterations are needed for the Main text and Supplemental section before the manuscript can be published in ACP.

Main text:
Page 1, line 14, and further throughout the manuscript: Replace "e.g. " by "e.g., ".
Page 1, line 24: Replace "is difficult" by "are difficult".
Page 2, line 3: Replace "of BC" by "of the BC".
Page 3, line 28: Replace "in three" by "at three".
Page 4, line 12: Replace "of instruments" by "of the instruments".
Page 4, line 25: Replace "summarizes list" by "provides a list".
Page 5, line 5: Abbreviations and acronyms, here PSAP, should only be defined once within the text. PSAP was already defined on page 3, lines 28-29.
Page 5, line 14: Replace "of Aethalometer" by "of the Aethalometer".
Page 5, line 18: Replace "by single" by "by a single".
Page 6, line 7: Replace "applied to" by "applied to the".
Page 6, line 8: Replace "to best" by "to the best".
Page 6, line 9: Replace "And that how" by "It is further determined how".
Page 6, line 10: Replace "to total" by "to the total".
Page 6, line 16: Replace "1- hour" by "1-hour".
Page 6, line 19: Abbreviations and acronyms, here PSAP, should only be defined once within the text. PSAP was already defined on page 3, lines 28-29.
Page 6, line 21: Replace "operation to the" by "operation as the".
Page 7, line 3: Replace "to scattering measurements. Scattering" by "to the scattering measurements. The scattering".
Page 7, line 4: Replace "to absorption" by "to the absorption".
Page 7, line 6: Replace "by using" by "by using the".
Page 7, line 29: Replace "on calibration" by "on a calibration".
Page 7, line 29: The source or origin of the Aquadag particles should be provided.
Page 8, line 3: Replace "concentrations" by "concentration".
Page 8, line 8: Replace "are shown" by "is shown".
Page 8, line 16: Abbreviations and acronyms, here VED, should be defined (written full-out) when first used within the text. I do realize that it is defined in the caption of Fig. 2, but it should also be defined here.
Page 8, line 24: Replace "1μm" by "1 μm".
Page 9, line 6: Replace "from analysis" by "from the analysis".
Page 10, line 2: Replace "Louisse" by "Liousse".
Page 10, line 14: Replace "in flowmeter" by "in the flowmeter".
Page 10, line 22: Replace "1- ω" by "1 - ω" and replace "from" by "from the".
Page 11, line 2: Replace "and uncertainties" by "and the uncertainties".
Page 11, line 5: Replace "range" by "ranges".
Page 11, lines 5 and 7-8: It is unclear to me why two values are given in each of these cases and what they denote. This should be clarified.
Page 11, line 8, and further throughout the manuscript: Replace "i.e. " by "i.e., ".
Page 11, line 9: Replace "for time-period" by "for a time period".
Page 11, line 13: Replace "from SP2" by "from the SP2" and replace "arise" by "arises".
Page 11, line 16: Replace "uncertainty the" by "uncertainty in the".
Page 11, line 25: Replace "from uncertainty" by "from the uncertainty".
Page 12, line 11: Replace "47mm" by "47 mm".
Page 12, line 20: Replace "from field" by "from the field" and replace "of sampling" by "of the sampling".
Page 12, line 21: Replace "of total" by "of the total".
Page 12, line 25: Replace "of EC" by "of the EC".
Page 13, line 4: Replace "Time series" by "The time series".
Page 13, line 30: Replace "on differences in these" by "the differences in the".
Page 14, line 1: Replace "approxim. a" by "approximately a".
Page 14, line 30: Replace "2.26-" by "2.26 -".
Page 15, line 1: Replace "1.5-0.0i" by "1.5 - 0.0i".
Page 15, line 18: Replace "particle." by "particles.".
Page 15, line 25: Replace "As rBC" by "As the rBC".
Page 15, line 30: Replace "of rBC" by "of the rBC" and replace "Fig. 6" by "Fig. 7".
Page 16, line 13: The "=" should not be in subscript.
Page 16, line 15: Replace "and for" by "and for a".
Page 17, line 20: Replace "Figure_Supplemental_1b" by "Supplemental_Fig1b.
Page 18, line 2: Replace "measurements mass" by "measurement mass".
Page 18, line 12: Replace "with POC" by "with the POC".
Page 18, line 14: Replace "that eludes" by "that elutes".
Page 18, line 16: Replace "from POC+CC" by "from the POC+CC".
Page 18, line 17: Replace "symbol" by "symbols" twice and replace "data could" by "data (Fig. 8) could".
Page 18, line 19: Replace "symbol" by "symbols".
Page 18, line 23: Replace "by SP2" by "by the SP2".
Page 18, line 24: Replace "relatively to" by "relative to".
Page 19, line 11: Replace "As above" by "As indicated above".
Page 19, line 15: Replace "to their" by "to the".
Page 19, line 28: "MAC" was already defined on page 3, line 5; it should not be defined again. Therefore; replace "The mass absorption coefficient (MAC) is" by "The MAC".
Page 20, line 7: Replace "during the" by "during".
Page 20, line 8: Replace "Uncertainty" by "The uncertainty".
Page 20, line 17: Is "less than 75%" correct here? Should it not be "greater than 75%"?
Page 20, line 19: Replace "respectively for" by "respectively, for".
Page 20, line 20: Replace "Evident in" by "As is evident in".
Page 20, line 22: Replace "Second, the" by "Secondly, the".
Page 20, line 23: Replace "reduce relative" by "reduce the relative".
Page 20, line 25: Replace "datum" by "data point".
Page 21, line 3: Abbreviations and acronyms, here OM, should be defined (written full-out) when first used within the text.
Page 21, line 22: Replace "shell-core" by "core-shell" for consistency.
Page 21, line 23: Replace "to presence" by "to the presence".
Page 22, line 2: Replace "over" by "over a".
Page 22, line 6: Replace "Alert, located" by "At Alert, located" and replace "a general" by "the general".
Page 22, line 12: Replace "from MAAP" by "from the MAAP".
Page 22, line 16: It is unclear who or what is meant by "They".
Page 22, line 18: Replace "Kondo et al., 2011" by "Kondo et al. (2011)".
Page 22, line 21: Replace "and the" by "and".
Page 22, line 27: Replace "for 2012" by "for the 2012".
Page 22, line 28: Replace "EBC from" by "EBC from the".
Page 23, line 25: Replace "to their" by "to the".
Page 24, line 12: Replace "uncertainty are" by "uncertainty and the results were".
Page 24, line 13: Replace "values are further" by "values were further".
Page 24, line 14: Replace "and obtained" by "and this resulted in".
Page 24, line 24: Replace "providing the assistance" by "providing assistance".
Page 24, line 26: Replace "Thanks to" by "Thanks are due to".
Pages 25-30, References: Titles of journal articles should all be in lower case; a few are incorrectly in Title case.
Page 25, line 10: Replace "submitted Atmos." by "submitted to Atmos.".
Page 29, line 13: Replace "Tellus" by "Tellus B".
Pages 31-33: The table headings belong above the tables.
Page 31, heading of Table 1: Replace "instrument" by "instruments".
Page 31, Table 1: Within the last column, replace "Mar 2012" by "Mar., 2012" for consistency.
Page 32, line 3: It is unclear to me why the term "difference" is used. Should "interquartile difference reported at 25 and 75 percentile" not simply be replaced by "25 and 75 percentile values"?
Page 32, last line: Replace "of values" by "of the values".
Page 33, line 4: Replace "for data" by "for the data".
Page 33, line 5: Replace "in comparison" by "in the comparison".
Page 33, line 6: Replace "in first" by "in the first".
Page 35, caption of Figure 2, line 2: Replace "are response to" by "apply to the".
Page 35, caption of Figure 2, line 3: Replace "and in red circles are SP2 response to" by "and those in red circles to the".
Page 35, caption of Figure 2, line 4: Replace "shows volume" by "shows the volume".
Page 36, caption of Figure 3, line 6: Replace "shows mode" by "shows a mode".
Page 36, caption of Figure 3, line 7: Replace "giving smaller" by "giving a smaller".
Page 36, caption of Figure 3, line 8: Replace "diameter VED" by "diameter. VED" and replace "represents size" by "represent the size".
Page 37, caption of Figure 4, line 1: Replace "A typical" by "Typical".
Page 37, caption of Figure 4, line 4: Replace "however it" by "however, it".
Page 37, caption of Figure 4, line 5: Replace "determine OC" by "determine the OC".
Page 37, caption of Figure 4, line 6: Replace "of OC" by "of the OC".
Page 38, caption of Figure 5, line 2: Replace "from Aethalometer" by "from the Aethalometer".
Page 38, caption of Figure 5, line 3: Replace "mass and of" by "mass of".
Page 39, caption of Figure 6, line 7: Replace "as well as" by "as well as from".
Page 41, caption of Figure 8, line 1: Replace "A weak" by "The weak".
Page 41, caption of Figure 8, line 3: Replace "show some" by "shows some".
Page 41, caption of Figure 8, line 4: Replace "co-eluding thermal" by "co-eluting thermal".
Page 43, caption of Figure 10, line 3: Replace "circle) than November (green star), also" by "circles) than in November (green stars); also".
Page 43, caption of Figure 8, line 5: Replace "Bergstrom, 2006" by "Bergstrom (2006)".

Supplemental section:
There are a number of literature references in this section. A Reference list is therefore needed.
Page 1, line 4: Replace "of Aerosol" by "of the Aerosol".
Page 1, first line below equation (1): On two occasions, replace "is absorption" by "is the absorption".
Page 1, fourth line below equation (1): Replace "determine combined" by "determine the combined".
Page 1, sixth line below equation (1): Replace "2 has also" by "2 and has also".
Page 1, line 5 from below: Replace "Fig_Supplemental_1a" by "Supplemental_Fig1a".
Page 2, line 4: Replace "i.e." by "i.e.,".
Page 2, line 6: Replace "Fig._Supplemental_1b" by "Supplemental_Fig1b".
Page 2, last line: Replace "Fig._Supplemental_1b" by "Supplemental_Fig1b".
Page 4, caption of Figure, line 2: Replace "by optical technique such as" by "by an optical technique such as the".

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AR by Sangeeta Sharma on behalf of the Authors (02 Oct 2017)

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (21 Oct 2017) by Willy Maenhaut

A number of alterations are still needed for the Main text and Supplemental section before the manuscript can be published in ACP.

Main text:
Page 11, line 9: Replace "for time-period" by "for a time period".
Page 13, line 2: Replace "of EC" by "of the EC".
Page 13, line 7: Replace "3.1 The time series and seasonal variations" by "3.1 Time series and seasonal variation".
Page 14, line 4: Replace "elucidate on the" by "elucidate the".
Page 14, line 5: Replace "i.e." by ", i.e.,".
Page 16, line 4: Replace "of rBC particles" by "of the rBC particles".
Page 17, line 26: Replace ", i.e." by ", i.e.,".
Page 20, line 16: Replace "(i.e." by "(i.e.,".
Page 20, line 20: Replace "greaterthan" by "greater than".
Page 20, line 23: Replace "respectively for" by "respectively, for".
Page 21, lines 26 and 29: Replace "shell-core" by "core-shell" for consistency.
Page 22, line 18: Replace "from MAAP" by "from the MAAP".
Page 22, line 22: Replace "study report" by "study reports".
Page 24, line 21: Replace "inwinter" by "in winter".
Pages 25-31, References: Titles of journal articles should all be in lower case; a few are incorrectly in Title Case.
Page 29, line 5: Replace "61B" by "61".
Page 43, caption of Figure 10, line 3: Replace "black circle" by "black circles".

Supplemental section:
Why does this section start with page number "45"? If it is meant to continue the page numbering from the Main text, then it should start with page number "44". However, I strongly suggest to start with numbering the pages of this section with "1" or "S1" as the numbering in the Main text may be different in the published ACP version. Also, the last three pages have the same page number "45".
Page 45, reference to "Ogren, 2010": The title of the journal article should be in lower case and not in Title Case.
Page 45, line 2 of reference to "Ogren, 2010": Delete "1608" at the end of the line.
Page 45, line 3 of reference to "Ogren, 2010": Delete "2010.1609,".
Page 45, line 3 of reference to "Petzold et al., 2009": Replace "61B" by "61".
Last page, caption of Figure, line 2: Replace "such as" by "such as the".

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AR by Sangeeta Sharma on behalf of the Authors (23 Oct 2017) Manuscript

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (27 Oct 2017) by Willy Maenhaut

AR by Sangeeta Sharma on behalf of the Authors (27 Oct 2017) Author's response Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (03 Nov 2017) by Willy Maenhaut

AR by Sangeeta Sharma on behalf of the Authors (10 Nov 2017)

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Short summary

A new and unique data set on BC properties at the highest latitude observatory in the world, at Alert, Canada, evaluates three techniques for estimating black carbon (BC) and gives seasonal best estimates of the BC mass concentrations and BC mass absorption coefficients (MAC) for 2.5 years of data. As a short-lived climate forcer, better estimates of the properties of BC are necessary to ensure accurate modelling of aerosol climate forcing of the Arctic atmosphere for mitigation purposes.