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Title: Measurement and modeling of the multiwavelength optical properties of uncoated flame-generated soot

Journal Article · · Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online)
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [3];  [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7];  [8]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [3];  [10]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
  2. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica, MA (United States); Boston College, MA (United States)
  3. Aerodyne Research Inc., Billerica, MA (United States)
  4. NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  5. Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
  6. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  7. Michigan Technological Univ., Houghton, MI (United States)
  8. Univ. of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada)
  9. Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
  10. Boston College, MA (United States)

Optical properties of flame-generated black carbon (BC) containing soot particles were quantified at multiple wavelengths for particles produced using two different flames: a methane diffusion flame and an ethylene premixed flame. Measurements were made for (i) nascent soot particles,(ii) thermally denuded nascent particles, and (iii) particles that were coated and then thermally denuded, leading to the collapse of the initiallylacy, fractal-like morphology. The measured mass absorption coefficients(MACs) depended on soot maturity and generation but were similar between flames for similar conditions. For mature soot, here corresponding to particles with volume-equivalent diameters > ~ 160 nm, the MAC and absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) values were independent of particle collapse while the single-scatter albedo increased. The MAC values for these larger particles were also size-independent. The mean MAC value at 532nm for larger particles was 9.1±1.1m2g-1, about 17% higher than that recommended by Bond and Bergstrom (2006), and the AAE was close to unity. Effective, theory-specific complex refractive index(RI) values are derived from the observations with two widely used methods:Lorenz–Mie theory and the Rayleigh–Debye–Gans (RDG) approximation. Mietheory systematically underpredicts the observed absorption cross sections at all wavelengths for larger particles (with x>0.9) independent of the complex RI used, while RDG provides good agreement. (The dimensionless size parameter x = π d p / λ , where dp is particle diameter and λ is wavelength.) Importantly, this implies that the use of Mie theory within air quality and climate models, as is common, likely leads to under predictions in the absorption by BC, with the extent of underprediction depending on the assumed BC size distribution and complex RI used. We suggest that it is more appropriate to assume a constant,size-independent (but wavelength-specific) MAC to represent absorption by uncoated BC particles within models.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC). Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001; FG02-05ER63995; SC0006980; SC0011935
OSTI ID:
1557768
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-22772
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (Online), Vol. 18, Issue 16; ISSN 1680-7324
Publisher:
European Geosciences UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 31 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (15)

Evidence in biomass burning smoke for a light-absorbing aerosol with properties intermediate between brown and black carbon text January 2019
The influence of photochemical aging on light absorption of atmospheric black carbon and aerosol single-scattering albedo journal January 2018
Radiative Properties of Atmospheric Black Carbon (Soot) Particles with Complex Structures book June 2019
Light Absorption by Ambient Black and Brown Carbon and its Dependence on Black Carbon Coating State for Two California, USA, Cities in Winter and Summer journal February 2019
Biomass-burning-derived particles from a wide variety of fuels – Part 1: Properties of primary particles journal January 2020
Evidence in biomass burning smoke for a light-absorbing aerosol with properties intermediate between brown and black carbon text January 2019
Universal relations between soot effective density and primary particle size for common combustion sources text January 2019
Universal relations between soot effective density and primary particle size for common combustion sources text January 2019
Review of recent literature on the light absorption properties of black carbon: Refractive index, mass absorption cross section, and absorption function journal October 2019
A Review of the Representation of Aerosol Mixing State in Atmospheric Models journal March 2019
Optical Modeling of Black Carbon With Different Coating Materials: The Effect of Coating Configurations journal December 2019
Universal relations between soot effective density and primary particle size for common combustion sources journal March 2019
The unprecedented 2017–2018 stratospheric smoke event: decay phase and aerosol properties observed with the EARLINET journal January 2019
Evidence in biomass burning smoke for a light-absorbing aerosol with properties intermediate between brown and black carbon journal May 2019
Radiative absorption enhancements by black carbon controlled by particle-to-particle heterogeneity in composition journal February 2020

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