Characterizing and Understanding Aerosol Optical Properties: CARES - Final Report
The scientific focus of this study was to use ambient measurements to develop new insights into the understanding of the direct radiative forcing by atmospheric aerosol particles. The study used data collected by the PI’s and others as part of both the 2010 U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored Carbonaceous Aerosols and Radiative Effects Study (CARES), which took place in and around Sacramento, CA, and the 2012 Clean Air for London (ClearfLo) study. We focus on measurements that were made of aerosol particle optical properties, namely the wavelength-dependent light absorption, scattering and extinction. Interpretation of these optical property measurements is facilitated through consideration of complementary measurements of the aerosol particle chemical composition and size distributions. With these measurements, we addressed the following general scientific questions: 1. How does light scattering and extinction by atmospheric aerosol particles depend on particle composition, water uptake, and size? 2. To what extent is light absorption by aerosol particles enhanced through the mixing of black carbon with other particulate components? 3. What relationships exist between intensive aerosol particle optical properties, and how do these depend on particle source and photochemical aging? 4. How well do spectral deconvolution methods, which are commonly used in remote sensing, retrieve information about particle size distributions?
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER). Earth and Environmental Systems Science Division
- DOE Contract Number:
- SC0008937
- OSTI ID:
- 1413654
- Report Number(s):
- DOE-UCD-SC0008937
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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