Black carbon absorption at the global scale is affected by particle-scale diversity in composition

Fierce, Laura; Bond, Tami C.; Bauer, Susanne E.; Mena, Francisco; Riemer, Nicole

doi:10.1038/ncomms12361

Title: Black carbon absorption at the global scale is affected by particle-scale diversity in composition

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Nature Communications

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms12361· OSTI ID:1623842

Fierce, Laura ^[1]; Bond, Tami C. ^[2]; Bauer, Susanne E. ^[3]; Mena, Francisco ^[2]; Riemer, Nicole ^[4]

Brookhaven National Lab. (BNL), Upton, NY (United States). Dept. of Environmental and Climate Sciences; Univ. Corp. for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO (United States). Visiting Scientists Program
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
NASA Goddard Inst. for Space Studies (GISS), New York, NY (United States); City Univ. of New York (CUNY), NY (United States); Columbia Univ., New York, NY (United States). The Earth Inst.
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States). Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences

Atmospheric black carbon (BC) exerts a strong, but uncertain, warming effect on the climate. BC that is coated with non-absorbing material absorbs more strongly than the same amount of BC in an uncoated particle, but the magnitude of this absorption enhancement (E_abs) is not well constrained. Modelling studies and laboratory measurements have found stronger absorption enhancement than has been observed in the atmosphere. Here, using a particle-resolved aerosol model to simulate diverse BC populations, we show that absorption is overestimated by as much as a factor of two if diversity is neglected and population-averaged composition is assumed across all BC-containing particles. If, instead, composition diversity is resolved, we find E_abs=1-1.5 at low relative humidity, consistent with ambient observations. This study offers not only an explanation for the discrepancy between modelled and observed absorption enhancement, but also demonstrates how particle-scale simulations can be used to develop relationships for global-scale models.

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Research Organization:: Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC)

Grant/Contract Number:: FG02-08ER64533; R83504201; NNX09AK66G

OSTI ID:: 1623842

Journal Information:: Nature Communications, Vol. 7, Issue 1; ISSN 2041-1723

Publisher:: Nature Publishing GroupCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 90 works

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