Articles | Volume 20, issue 2
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1105-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-1105-2020
Research article
 | 
28 Jan 2020
Research article |  | 28 Jan 2020

Molecular composition and photochemical lifetimes of brown carbon chromophores in biomass burning organic aerosol

Lauren T. Fleming, Peng Lin, James M. Roberts, Vanessa Selimovic, Robert Yokelson, Julia Laskin, Alexander Laskin, and Sergey A. Nizkorodov

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Cited articles

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We have explored the nature and stability of molecules that give biomass burning smoke its faint brown color. Different types of biomass fuels were burned and the resulting smoke was collected for a detailed chemical analysis. We found that brown molecules in smoke become less colored when they are irradiated by sunlight, but this photobleaching process is very slow. This means that biomass burning smoke will remain brown-colored for a long time and efficiently warm up the atmosphere.
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