Articles | Volume 18, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2653-2018
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-2653-2018
Research article
 | 
23 Feb 2018
Research article |  | 23 Feb 2018

Size distribution and coating thickness of black carbon from the Canadian oil sands operations

Yuan Cheng, Shao-Meng Li, Mark Gordon, and Peter Liu

Related authors

Technical note: Towards a stronger observational support for haze pollution control by interpreting carbonaceous aerosol results derived from different measurement approaches
Yuan Cheng, Ying-jie Zhong, Zhi-qing Zhang, Xu-bing Cao, and Jiu-meng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8493–8505, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8493-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8493-2025, 2025
Short summary
Exploring the sources of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols by integrating observational and modeling results: insights from Northeast China
Yuan Cheng, Xu-bing Cao, Sheng-qiang Zhu, Zhi-qing Zhang, Jiu-meng Liu, Hong-liang Zhang, Qiang Zhang, and Ke-bin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 9869–9883, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9869-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-9869-2024, 2024
Short summary
Measurement report: Diurnal variations of brown carbon during two distinct seasons in a megacity in northeast China
Yuan Cheng, Xu-bing Cao, Jiu-meng Liu, Ying-jie Zhong, Qin-qin Yu, Qiang Zhang, and Ke-bin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6241–6253, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6241-2023,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6241-2023, 2023
Short summary
Comprehensive characterization of particulate intermediate-volatility and semi-volatile organic compounds (I/SVOCs) from heavy-duty diesel vehicles using two-dimensional gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry
Xiao He, Xuan Zheng, Shaojun Zhang, Xuan Wang, Ting Chen, Xiao Zhang, Guanghan Huang, Yihuan Cao, Liqiang He, Xubing Cao, Yuan Cheng, Shuxiao Wang, and Ye Wu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13935–13947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13935-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13935-2022, 2022
Short summary
Dramatic changes in Harbin aerosol during 2018–2020: the roles of open burning policy and secondary aerosol formation
Yuan Cheng, Qin-qin Yu, Jiu-meng Liu, Xu-bing Cao, Ying-jie Zhong, Zhen-yu Du, Lin-lin Liang, Guan-nan Geng, Wan-li Ma, Hong Qi, Qiang Zhang, and Ke-bin He
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15199–15211, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15199-2021,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15199-2021, 2021
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Source-dependent optical properties and molecular characteristics of atmospheric brown carbon
Jinghao Zhai, Yin Zhang, Pengfei Liu, Yujie Zhang, Antai Zhang, Yaling Zeng, Baohua Cai, Jingyi Zhang, Chunbo Xing, Honglong Yang, Xiaofei Wang, Jianhuai Ye, Chen Wang, Tzung-May Fu, Lei Zhu, Huizhong Shen, Shu Tao, and Xin Yang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7959–7972, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7959-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7959-2025, 2025
Short summary
Multi-year black carbon observations and modeling close to the largest gas flaring and wildfire regions in the Western Siberian Arctic
Olga B. Popovicheva, Marina A. Chichaeva, Nikolaos Evangeliou, Sabine Eckhardt, Evangelia Diapouli, and Nikolay S. Kasimov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 7719–7739, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7719-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-7719-2025, 2025
Short summary
Pollution affects Arabian and Saharan dust optical properties in the eastern Mediterranean
Marilena Teri, Josef Gasteiger, Katharina Heimerl, Maximilian Dollner, Manuel Schöberl, Petra Seibert, Anne Tipka, Thomas Müller, Sudharaj Aryasree, Konrad Kandler, and Bernadett Weinzierl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6633–6662, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6633-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6633-2025, 2025
Short summary
Phase matrix characterization of long-range-transported Saharan dust using multiwavelength-polarized polar imaging nephelometry
Elena Bazo, Daniel Pérez-Ramírez, Antonio Valenzuela, J. Vanderlei Martins, Gloria Titos, Alberto Cazorla, Fernando Rejano, Diego Patrón, Arlett Díaz-Zurita, Francisco José García-Izquierdo, David Fuertes, Lucas Alados-Arboledas, and Francisco José Olmo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6325–6352, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6325-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6325-2025, 2025
Short summary
Measurement report: The influence of particle number size distribution and hygroscopicity on the microphysical properties of cloud droplets at a mountain site
Xiaojing Shen, Quan Liu, Junying Sun, Wanlin Kong, Qianli Ma, Bing Qi, Lujie Han, Yangmei Zhang, Linlin Liang, Lei Liu, Shuo Liu, Xinyao Hu, Jiayuan Lu, Aoyuan Yu, Huizheng Che, and Xiaoye Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 5711–5725, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5711-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-5711-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Alberta Energy: Oil Sands Production Profile: 2004–2014, available at: https://open.alberta.ca/dataset/cd892173-c37f-4c68-bf5d-f79ef7d49e72/resource/ebd6b451-dfda-4218-b855-1416d94306fd/download/InitiativeOSPP.pdf (last access: 15 February 2018), 2016. 
Alberta Energy: Oil Sands Facts and Statistics, available at: http://www.energy.alberta.ca/OS/AOS/Pages/FAS.aspx (last access: 15 February 2018), 2017. 
Andreae, M. O. and Gelencsér, A.: Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 3131–3148, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-3131-2006, 2006. 
Baumgardner, D., Kok, G., and Raga, G.: Warming of the Arctic lower stratosphere by light absorbing particles, Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, L06117, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003GL018883, 2004. 
Bond, T. C. and Bergstrom, R. W.: Light absorption by carbonaceous particles: an investigative review, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 40, 27–67, 2006. 
Download
Short summary
An aircraft campaign was conducted over the Athabasca oil sands (OS) region to characterize refractory black carbon (rBC) particles as they were emitted from the sources and as they were transported downwind; rBC size distributions were consistent at different downwind distances from the source area whereas coating thicknesses on the rBC cores increased considerably as the OS plumes were transported downwind. These results provide insights into the evolution of BC aerosol in the real atmosphere.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint