Articles | Volume 21, issue 9
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7235-2021
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7235-2021
Research article
 | 
12 May 2021
Research article |  | 12 May 2021

Complex refractive indices in the ultraviolet and visible spectral region for highly absorbing non-spherical biomass burning aerosol

Caroline C. Womack, Katherine M. Manfred, Nicholas L. Wagner, Gabriela Adler, Alessandro Franchin, Kara D. Lamb, Ann M. Middlebrook, Joshua P. Schwarz, Charles A. Brock, Steven S. Brown, and Rebecca A. Washenfelder

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Cited articles

Abo Riziq, A., Erlick, C., Dinar, E., and Rudich, Y.: Optical properties of absorbing and non-absorbing aerosols retrieved by cavity ring down (CRD) spectroscopy, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 1523–1536, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-1523-2007, 2007. 
Adler, G., Wagner, N. L., Lamb, K. D., Manfred, K. M., Schwarz, J. P., Franchin, A., Middlebrook, A. M., Washenfelder, R. A., Womack, C. C., Yokelson, R. J., and Murphy, D. M.: Evidence in biomass burning smoke for a light-absorbing aerosol with properties intermediate between brown and black carbon, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 53, 976–989, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2019.1617832, 2019. 
Attwood, A. R., Washenfelder, R. A., Brock, C. A., Hu, W., Baumann, K., Campuzano-Jost, P., Day, D. A., Edgerton, E. S., Murphy, D. M., Palm, B. B., McComiskey, A., Wagner, N. L., de Sá, S. S., Ortega, A., Martin, S. T., Jimenez, J. L., and Brown, S. S.: Trends in sulfate and organic aerosol mass in the Southeast U.S.: Impact on aerosol optical depth and radiative forcing, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 7701–7709, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014gl061669, 2014. 
Bahreini, R., Dunlea, E. J., Matthew, B. M., Simons, C., Docherty, K. S., DeCarlo, P. F., Jimenez, J. L., Brock, C. A., and Middlebrook, A. M.: Design and operation of a pressure-controlled inlet for airborne sampling with an aerodynamic aerosol lens, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 42, 465–471, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786820802178514, 2008. 
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Short summary
Microscopic particles interact with sunlight and affect the earth's climate in ways that are not fully understood. Aerosols from wildfire smoke present particular challenges due to their complexity in shape and composition. We demonstrate that we can experimentally measure aerosol optical properties for many types of smoke particles, using measurements of smoke from controlled burns, but that the method does not work well for smoke with high soot content.
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