Biomass burning is a major source of light-absorbing black and brown carbonaceous particles. Brown carbon is a poorly characterized mixture that includes tar balls (TBs), a type of carbonaceous particle apparently unique to biomass burning. Here we describe the first atmospheric observations of the formation and evolution of TBs from forest fires. Aerosol particles were collected on TEM grids during aircraft transects at various downwind distances from the Colockum Tarp wildland fire. TB mass fractions, derived from TEM and in-situ measurements, increased from < 1 % near the fire to 31–45 % downwind, with little change in TB diameter. Single-scattering albedo determined from scattering and absorption measurements increased slightly with downwind distance. Similar TEM and SSA results were observed sampling multiple wildfires. Mie calculations are consistent with weak light absorbance by TBs (m = 1.56–0.02i) but not consistent with order-of-magnitude stronger absorption observed in different settings. The field-derived TB mass fractions reported here indicate that this particle type should be accounted for in biomass-burn emission inventories.
Sedlacek III, Arthur J., et al. "Formation and evolution of Tar Balls from Northwestern US wildfires." Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online), vol. 2018, Jan. 2018. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-41
Sedlacek III, Arthur J., Buseck, Peter R., Adachi, Kouji, Onasch, Timothy B., Springston, Stephen R., & Kleinman, Lawrence (2018). Formation and evolution of Tar Balls from Northwestern US wildfires. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online), 2018. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-41
Sedlacek III, Arthur J., Buseck, Peter R., Adachi, Kouji, et al., "Formation and evolution of Tar Balls from Northwestern US wildfires," Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online) 2018 (2018), https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-2018-41
@article{osti_1424981,
author = {Sedlacek III, Arthur J. and Buseck, Peter R. and Adachi, Kouji and Onasch, Timothy B. and Springston, Stephen R. and Kleinman, Lawrence},
title = {Formation and evolution of Tar Balls from Northwestern US wildfires},
annote = {Biomass burning is a major source of light-absorbing black and brown carbonaceous particles. Brown carbon is a poorly characterized mixture that includes tar balls (TBs), a type of carbonaceous particle apparently unique to biomass burning. Here we describe the first atmospheric observations of the formation and evolution of TBs from forest fires. Aerosol particles were collected on TEM grids during aircraft transects at various downwind distances from the Colockum Tarp wildland fire. TB mass fractions, derived from TEM and in-situ measurements, increased from < 1 % near the fire to 31–45 % downwind, with little change in TB diameter. Single-scattering albedo determined from scattering and absorption measurements increased slightly with downwind distance. Similar TEM and SSA results were observed sampling multiple wildfires. Mie calculations are consistent with weak light absorbance by TBs (m = 1.56–0.02i) but not consistent with order-of-magnitude stronger absorption observed in different settings. The field-derived TB mass fractions reported here indicate that this particle type should be accounted for in biomass-burn emission inventories.},
doi = {10.5194/acp-2018-41},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1424981},
journal = {Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online)},
issn = {ISSN 1680-7375},
volume = {2018},
place = {United States},
publisher = {European Geosciences Union},
year = {2018},
month = {01}}
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23). Climate and Environmental Sciences Division; Global Environment Research Fund (Japan); Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)
Grant/Contract Number:
SC0012704; SC0014287
OSTI ID:
1424981
Report Number(s):
BNL--203199-2018-JAAM
Journal Information:
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online), Journal Name: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions (Online) Vol. 2018; ISSN 1680-7375