Articles | Volume 22, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4827-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4827-2022
Research article
 | 
12 Apr 2022
Research article |  | 12 Apr 2022

The optical properties and in-situ observational evidence for the formation of brown carbon in clouds

Ziyong Guo, Yuxiang Yang, Xiaodong Hu, Xiaocong Peng, Yuzhen Fu, Wei Sun, Guohua Zhang, Duohong Chen, Xinhui Bi, Xinming Wang, and Ping'an Peng

Related authors

A comprehensive study about the in-cloud processing of nitrate through coupled measurements of individual cloud residuals and cloud water
Guohua Zhang, Xiaodong Hu, Wei Sun, Yuxiang Yang, Ziyong Guo, Yuzhen Fu, Haichao Wang, Shengzhen Zhou, Lei Li, Mingjin Tang, Zongbo Shi, Duohong Chen, Xinhui Bi, and Xinming Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9571–9582, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9571-2022,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9571-2022, 2022
Short summary

Related subject area

Subject: Aerosols | Research Activity: Field Measurements | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Chemistry (chemical composition and reactions)
High-resolution analyses of concentrations and sizes of refractory black carbon particles deposited in northwestern Greenland over the past 350 years – Part 2: Seasonal and temporal trends in refractory black carbon originated from fossil fuel combustion and biomass burning
Kumiko Goto-Azuma, Yoshimi Ogawa-Tsukagawa, Kaori Fukuda, Koji Fujita, Motohiro Hirabayashi, Remi Dallmayr, Jun Ogata, Nobuhiro Moteki, Tatsuhiro Mori, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, Makoto Koike, Sumito Matoba, Moe Kadota, Akane Tsushima, Naoko Nagatsuka, and Teruo Aoki
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 657–683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-657-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-657-2025, 2025
Short summary
Significant role of biomass burning in heavy haze formation in Nanjing, a megacity in China: molecular-level insights from intensive PM2.5 sampling on winter hazy days
Mingjie Kang, Mengying Bao, Wenhuai Song, Aduburexiati Abulimiti, Changliu Wu, Fang Cao, Sönke Szidat, and Yanlin Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 73–91, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-73-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-73-2025, 2025
Short summary
Widespread trace bromine and iodine in remote tropospheric non-sea-salt aerosols
Gregory P. Schill, Karl D. Froyd, Daniel M. Murphy, Christina J. Williamson, Charles A. Brock, Tomás Sherwen, Mat J. Evans, Eric A. Ray, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Alan J. Hills, Jeff Peischl, Thomas B. Ryerson, Chelsea R. Thompson, Ilann Bourgeois, Donald R. Blake, Joshua P. DiGangi, and Glenn S. Diskin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 45–71, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-45-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-45-2025, 2025
Short summary
Formation and chemical evolution of secondary organic aerosol in two different environments: a dual-chamber study
Andreas Aktypis, Dontavious J. Sippial, Christina N. Vasilakopoulou, Angeliki Matrali, Christos Kaltsonoudis, Andrea Simonati, Marco Paglione, Matteo Rinaldi, Stefano Decesari, and Spyros N. Pandis
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13769–13791, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13769-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13769-2024, 2024
Short summary
Technical note: Quantified organic aerosol subsaturated hygroscopicity by a simple optical scatter monitor system through field measurements
Jie Zhang, Tianyu Zhu, Alexandra Catena, Yaowei Li, Margaret J. Schwab, Pengfei Liu, Akua Asa-Awuku, and James Schwab
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13445–13456, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13445-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13445-2024, 2024
Short summary

Cited articles

Berto, S., De Laurentiis, E., Tota, T., Chiavazza, E., Daniele, P. G., Minella, M., Isaia, M., Brigante, M., and Vione, D.: Properties of the humic-like material arising from the photo-transformation of L-tyrosine, Sci. Total Environ., 545–546, 434–444, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.12.047, 2016. 
Bianco, A., Voyard, G., Deguillaume, L., Mailhot, G., and Brigante, M.: Improving the characterization of dissolved organic carbon in cloud water: Amino acids and their impact on the oxidant capacity, Sci. Rep., 6, 37420, https://doi.org/10.1038/srep37420, 2016a. 
Bianco, A., Passananti, M., Deguillaume, L., Mailhot, G., and Brigante, M.: Tryptophan and tryptophan-like substances in cloud water: Occurrence and photochemical fate, Atmos. Environ., 137, 53–61, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2016.04.034, 2016b. 
Bikkina, S. and Sarin, M.: Brown carbon in the continental outflow to the North Indian Ocean, Environ. Sci. Process. Impacts, 21, 970–987, https://doi.org/10.1039/c9em00089e, 2019. 
Birdwell, J. E. and Valsaraj, K. T.: Characterization of dissolved organic matter in fogwater by excitation-emission matrix fluorescence spectroscopy, Atmos. Environ., 44, 3246–3253, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2010.05.055, 2010. 
Download
Short summary
We show that in-cloud aqueous processing facilitates the formation of brown carbon (BrC), based on the simultaneous measurements of the light-absorption properties of the cloud residuals, cloud interstitial, and cloud-free particles. While extensive laboratory evidence indicated the formation of BrC in aqueous phase, our study represents the first attempt to show the possibility in real clouds, which would have potential implications in the atmospheric evolution and radiation forcing of BrC.
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint