Articles | Volume 22, issue 20
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13389-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13389-2022
Research article
 | 
18 Oct 2022
Research article |  | 18 Oct 2022

Examination of brown carbon absorption from wildfires in the western US during the WE-CAN study

Amy P. Sullivan, Rudra P. Pokhrel, Yingjie Shen, Shane M. Murphy, Darin W. Toohey, Teresa Campos, Jakob Lindaas, Emily V. Fischer, and Jeffrey L. Collett Jr.

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Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
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Cited articles

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. 
Arnott, W. P., Moosmüller, H., Rogers, C. F., Jin, T., and Bruch, R.: Photoacoustic spectrometer for measuring light absorption by aerosol: instrument description, Atmos. Environ., 33, 2845–2852, 1999. 
Campos, T.: Picarro G2401-m WS-CRDS CO2, CH4, CO and H2O in situ mixing ratio observations – ICARTT format, Version 1.2, UCAR/NCAR – Earth Observing Laboratory [data set], https://doi.org/10.26023/NNYM-Z18J-PX0Q, 2019 (data available at: http://data.eol.ucar.edu/master_lists/generated/we-can/, last access: 6 May 2019). 
Chakrabarty, R. K., Moosmüller, H., Chen, L.-W. A., Lewis, K., Arnott, W. P., Mazzoleni, C., Dubey, M. K., Wold, C. E., Hao, W. M., and Kreidenweis, S. M.: Brown carbon in tar balls from smoldering biomass combustion, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 6363–6370, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-6363-2010, 2010. 
Craig, L., Moharreri, A., Schanot, A., Rogers, D. C., Anderson, B., and Dhaniyala, S.: Characterizations of Cloud Droplet Shatter Artifacts in Two Airborne Aerosol Inlets, Aerosol Sci. Tech., 47, 662–671, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2013.780648, 2013a. 
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Short summary
During the WE-CAN (Western Wildfire Experiment for Cloud Chemistry, Aerosol Absorption and Nitrogen) study, brown carbon (BrC) absorption was measured on the NSF/NCAR C-130 aircraft using a particle-into-liquid sampler and photoacoustic aerosol absorption spectrometer. Approximately 45 % of the BrC absorption in wildfires was observed to be due to water-soluble species. The ratio of BrC absorption to WSOC or ΔCO showed no clear dependence on fire dynamics or the time since emission over 9 h.
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