Articles | Volume 14, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3707-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3707-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Modeled source apportionment of black carbon particles coated with a light-scattering shell
Atmospheric Composition Research, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland
Related authors
Anni Hartikainen, Mika Ihalainen, Deeksha Shukla, Marius Rohkamp, Arya Mukherjee, Quanfu He, Sandra Piel, Aki Virkkula, Delun Li, Tuukka Kokkola, Seongho Jeong, Hanna Koponen, Uwe Etzien, Anusmita Das, Krista Luoma, Lukas Schwalb, Thomas Gröger, Alexandre Barth, Martin Sklorz, Thorsten Streibel, Hendryk Czech, Benedikt Gündling, Markus Kalberer, Bert Buchholz, Andreas Hupfer, Thomas Adam, Thorsten Hohaus, Johan Øvrevik, Ralf Zimmermann, and Olli Sippula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 9275–9294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9275-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9275-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Photochemical reactions altered the properties of kerosene-operated jet engine burner exhaust emissions, which were studied in a laboratory using an oxidation flow reactor. Particle mass increased 300-fold as particles and gases became more oxidized. Light absorption increased, but the total direct radiative forcing efficiency was estimated to have shifted from positive to negative. The results highlight the importance of considering secondary aerosol formation when assessing the impacts of aviation.
Arya Mukherjee, Anni Hartikainen, Markus Somero, Viljami Luostari, Mika Ihalainen, Christopher P. Rüger, Timo Kekäläinen, Ville H. Nissinen, Luis M. F. Barreira, Hanna Koponen, Tuukka Kokkola, Delun Li, Lejish Vettikkat, Pasi Yli-Pirilä, Muhammad Shahzaib, Meri M. Ruppel, Ville Vakkari, Kerneels Jaars, Stefan J. Siebert, Angela Buchholz, Kajar Köster, Pieter G. van Zyl, Hilkka Timonen, Niko Kinnunen, Janne Jänis, Annele Virtanen, Aki Virkkula, and Olli Sippula
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2759, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2759, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Warming climate is predicted to increase boreal and peatland fires in Northern Eurasia. Limited studies have characterized light absorbing aerosol emissions from these biomasses, thus necessitating this work. Brown carbon (BrC) emitted from laboratory-scale biomass burning had weak light absorptivities based on their complex refractive index values. A combustion temperature dependent light absorptivity continuum existed for emitted BrC. Photochemical aging decreased BrC light absorptivity.
J. Tapio Elomaa, Krista Luoma, Sami D. Harni, Aki Virkkula, Hilkka Timonen, and Tuukka Petäjä
Aerosol Research, 3, 293–314, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-293-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-293-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) is a pollutant from combustion that affects the climate and is harmful to health. We tested four different small BC sensors with a reference in Helsinki. The sensors compared well with the reference. As a sensor network they were able to capture differences in BC. Changes in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) caused error in the measurements. To reduce the effects of T and RH on BC sensors, more robust boxes should be developed, or corrections should be applied.
Juho Karhu, Tommi Mikkonen, Joel Kuula, Aki Virkkula, Erkki Ikonen, Markku Vainio, Hilkka Timonen, and Tuomas Hieta
Aerosol Research, 3, 113–124, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-113-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-113-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new photoacoustic instrument for simultaneous measurement of aerosol light absorption at multiple wavelengths. High performance is reached by using an optically read cantilever microphone, which allows for highly sensitive absorption measurements at a compact size. Performance in field conditions is demonstrated with black carbon monitoring at an air quality measurement station, where our results agree well with reference instruments deployed at the site.
James Brean, David C. S. Beddows, Eija Asmi, Aki Virkkula, Lauriane L. J. Quéléver, Mikko Sipilä, Floortje Van Den Heuvel, Thomas Lachlan-Cope, Anna Jones, Markus Frey, Angelo Lupi, Jiyeon Park, Young Jun Yoon, Rolf Weller, Giselle L. Marincovich, Gabriela C. Mulena, Roy M. Harrison, and Manuel Dall'Osto
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1145–1162, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1145-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1145-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our results emphasise how understanding the geographical variation in surface types across the Antarctic is key to understanding secondary aerosol sources.
Joel Kuula, Juho Karhu, Tommi Mikkonen, Patrick Grahn, Aki Virkkula, Hilkka Timonen, Tuomas Hieta, and Markku Vainio
Aerosol Research, 3, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new method to measure how particles absorb light as they change in size, which is critical for understanding their climate impact. Our approach uses a sensitive instrument that measures light absorption directly from particles in real time. By pairing this with a device that sorts particles by size, we achieved accurate size-resolved measurements. Our findings closely match theoretical models, offering a promising tool for future research into how particles influence climate.
Satish Basnet, Anni Hartikainen, Aki Virkkula, Pasi Yli-Pirilä, Miika Kortelainen, Heikki Suhonen, Laura Kilpeläinen, Mika Ihalainen, Sampsa Väätäinen, Juho Louhisalmi, Markus Somero, Jarkko Tissari, Gert Jakobi, Ralf Zimmermann, Antti Kilpeläinen, and Olli Sippula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3197–3215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3197-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Brown carbon (BrC) emissions were estimated, for residential wood combustion (RWC) from various northern European appliances, utilizing an extensive seven-wavelength aethalometer dataset and thermal–optical carbon analysis. The contribution of BrC370–950 to the absorption of visible light varied between 1 % and 21 %, and was linked with fuel moisture content and combustion efficiency. This study provides important information required for assessing the climate effects of RWC emissions.
Aki Virkkula, Henrik Grythe, John Backman, Tuukka Petäjä, Maurizio Busetto, Christian Lanconelli, Angelo Lupi, Silvia Becagli, Rita Traversi, Mirko Severi, Vito Vitale, Patrick Sheridan, and Elisabeth Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5033–5069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5033-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5033-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Optical properties of surface aerosols at Dome C, Antarctica, in 2007–2013 and their potential source areas are presented. The equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations were compared with eBC measured at three other Antarctic sites: the South Pole (SPO) and two coastal sites, Neumayer and Syowa. Transport analysis suggests that South American BC emissions are the largest contributor to eBC at Dome C.
Hanna K. Lappalainen, Tuukka Petäjä, Timo Vihma, Jouni Räisänen, Alexander Baklanov, Sergey Chalov, Igor Esau, Ekaterina Ezhova, Matti Leppäranta, Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Jukka Pumpanen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Mikhail Arshinov, Eija Asmi, Jianhui Bai, Igor Bashmachnikov, Boris Belan, Federico Bianchi, Boris Biskaborn, Michael Boy, Jaana Bäck, Bin Cheng, Natalia Chubarova, Jonathan Duplissy, Egor Dyukarev, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Martin Forsius, Martin Heimann, Sirkku Juhola, Vladimir Konovalov, Igor Konovalov, Pavel Konstantinov, Kajar Köster, Elena Lapshina, Anna Lintunen, Alexander Mahura, Risto Makkonen, Svetlana Malkhazova, Ivan Mammarella, Stefano Mammola, Stephany Buenrostro Mazon, Outi Meinander, Eugene Mikhailov, Victoria Miles, Stanislav Myslenkov, Dmitry Orlov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Roberta Pirazzini, Olga Popovicheva, Jouni Pulliainen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Torsten Sachs, Vladimir Shevchenko, Andrey Skorokhod, Andreas Stohl, Elli Suhonen, Erik S. Thomson, Marina Tsidilina, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Petteri Uotila, Aki Virkkula, Nadezhda Voropay, Tobias Wolf, Sayaka Yasunaka, Jiahua Zhang, Yubao Qiu, Aijun Ding, Huadong Guo, Valery Bondur, Nikolay Kasimov, Sergej Zilitinkevich, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4413–4469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We summarize results during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, especially from Russia, and introduce recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China. Although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate–Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures and integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis.
Krista Luoma, Aki Virkkula, Pasi Aalto, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Tuukka Petäjä, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6419–6441, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents a comparison of three absorption photometers that measured ambient aerosol particles at a boreal forest site. The study aims to better understand problems related to filter-based measurements. Results show how different correction algorithms, which are used to produce the data, affect the derived optical properties of aerosol particles.
Eija Asmi, John Backman, Henri Servomaa, Aki Virkkula, Maria I. Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Thomas Müller, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Antti Hyvärinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5397–5413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Absorbing aerosols are warming the planet and accurate measurements of their concentrations in pristine environments are needed. We applied eight different absorbing-aerosol measurement methods in a field campaign at the Arctic Pallas station. The filter-based techniques were found to be the most sensitive to detect the minuscule amounts of black carbon present, showing a 40 % agreement between them. Our results help to reduce uncertainties in absorbing aerosol measurements.
Krista Luoma, Jarkko V. Niemi, Minna Aurela, Pak Lun Fung, Aku Helin, Tareq Hussein, Leena Kangas, Anu Kousa, Topi Rönkkö, Hilkka Timonen, Aki Virkkula, and Tuukka Petäjä
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1173–1189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1173-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1173-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study combined black carbon measurements from 15 Finnish sites that represented different environments (traffic, detached housing area, urban background, and regional background). The seasonal and diurnal variations in the black carbon concentration were associated with local emissions from traffic and residential wood burning. The study observed decreasing trends in the black carbon concentration and associated them with decreases in traffic emissions.
Anni Hartikainen, Mika Ihalainen, Deeksha Shukla, Marius Rohkamp, Arya Mukherjee, Quanfu He, Sandra Piel, Aki Virkkula, Delun Li, Tuukka Kokkola, Seongho Jeong, Hanna Koponen, Uwe Etzien, Anusmita Das, Krista Luoma, Lukas Schwalb, Thomas Gröger, Alexandre Barth, Martin Sklorz, Thorsten Streibel, Hendryk Czech, Benedikt Gündling, Markus Kalberer, Bert Buchholz, Andreas Hupfer, Thomas Adam, Thorsten Hohaus, Johan Øvrevik, Ralf Zimmermann, and Olli Sippula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 9275–9294, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9275-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9275-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Photochemical reactions altered the properties of kerosene-operated jet engine burner exhaust emissions, which were studied in a laboratory using an oxidation flow reactor. Particle mass increased 300-fold as particles and gases became more oxidized. Light absorption increased, but the total direct radiative forcing efficiency was estimated to have shifted from positive to negative. The results highlight the importance of considering secondary aerosol formation when assessing the impacts of aviation.
Arya Mukherjee, Anni Hartikainen, Markus Somero, Viljami Luostari, Mika Ihalainen, Christopher P. Rüger, Timo Kekäläinen, Ville H. Nissinen, Luis M. F. Barreira, Hanna Koponen, Tuukka Kokkola, Delun Li, Lejish Vettikkat, Pasi Yli-Pirilä, Muhammad Shahzaib, Meri M. Ruppel, Ville Vakkari, Kerneels Jaars, Stefan J. Siebert, Angela Buchholz, Kajar Köster, Pieter G. van Zyl, Hilkka Timonen, Niko Kinnunen, Janne Jänis, Annele Virtanen, Aki Virkkula, and Olli Sippula
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2759, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2759, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Warming climate is predicted to increase boreal and peatland fires in Northern Eurasia. Limited studies have characterized light absorbing aerosol emissions from these biomasses, thus necessitating this work. Brown carbon (BrC) emitted from laboratory-scale biomass burning had weak light absorptivities based on their complex refractive index values. A combustion temperature dependent light absorptivity continuum existed for emitted BrC. Photochemical aging decreased BrC light absorptivity.
J. Tapio Elomaa, Krista Luoma, Sami D. Harni, Aki Virkkula, Hilkka Timonen, and Tuukka Petäjä
Aerosol Research, 3, 293–314, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-293-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-293-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) is a pollutant from combustion that affects the climate and is harmful to health. We tested four different small BC sensors with a reference in Helsinki. The sensors compared well with the reference. As a sensor network they were able to capture differences in BC. Changes in temperature (T) and relative humidity (RH) caused error in the measurements. To reduce the effects of T and RH on BC sensors, more robust boxes should be developed, or corrections should be applied.
Juho Karhu, Tommi Mikkonen, Joel Kuula, Aki Virkkula, Erkki Ikonen, Markku Vainio, Hilkka Timonen, and Tuomas Hieta
Aerosol Research, 3, 113–124, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-113-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-113-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We present a new photoacoustic instrument for simultaneous measurement of aerosol light absorption at multiple wavelengths. High performance is reached by using an optically read cantilever microphone, which allows for highly sensitive absorption measurements at a compact size. Performance in field conditions is demonstrated with black carbon monitoring at an air quality measurement station, where our results agree well with reference instruments deployed at the site.
James Brean, David C. S. Beddows, Eija Asmi, Aki Virkkula, Lauriane L. J. Quéléver, Mikko Sipilä, Floortje Van Den Heuvel, Thomas Lachlan-Cope, Anna Jones, Markus Frey, Angelo Lupi, Jiyeon Park, Young Jun Yoon, Rolf Weller, Giselle L. Marincovich, Gabriela C. Mulena, Roy M. Harrison, and Manuel Dall'Osto
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1145–1162, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1145-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1145-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Our results emphasise how understanding the geographical variation in surface types across the Antarctic is key to understanding secondary aerosol sources.
Joel Kuula, Juho Karhu, Tommi Mikkonen, Patrick Grahn, Aki Virkkula, Hilkka Timonen, Tuomas Hieta, and Markku Vainio
Aerosol Research, 3, 1–13, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-1-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/ar-3-1-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a new method to measure how particles absorb light as they change in size, which is critical for understanding their climate impact. Our approach uses a sensitive instrument that measures light absorption directly from particles in real time. By pairing this with a device that sorts particles by size, we achieved accurate size-resolved measurements. Our findings closely match theoretical models, offering a promising tool for future research into how particles influence climate.
Satish Basnet, Anni Hartikainen, Aki Virkkula, Pasi Yli-Pirilä, Miika Kortelainen, Heikki Suhonen, Laura Kilpeläinen, Mika Ihalainen, Sampsa Väätäinen, Juho Louhisalmi, Markus Somero, Jarkko Tissari, Gert Jakobi, Ralf Zimmermann, Antti Kilpeläinen, and Olli Sippula
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3197–3215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3197-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3197-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Brown carbon (BrC) emissions were estimated, for residential wood combustion (RWC) from various northern European appliances, utilizing an extensive seven-wavelength aethalometer dataset and thermal–optical carbon analysis. The contribution of BrC370–950 to the absorption of visible light varied between 1 % and 21 %, and was linked with fuel moisture content and combustion efficiency. This study provides important information required for assessing the climate effects of RWC emissions.
Aki Virkkula, Henrik Grythe, John Backman, Tuukka Petäjä, Maurizio Busetto, Christian Lanconelli, Angelo Lupi, Silvia Becagli, Rita Traversi, Mirko Severi, Vito Vitale, Patrick Sheridan, and Elisabeth Andrews
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5033–5069, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5033-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5033-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Optical properties of surface aerosols at Dome C, Antarctica, in 2007–2013 and their potential source areas are presented. The equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations were compared with eBC measured at three other Antarctic sites: the South Pole (SPO) and two coastal sites, Neumayer and Syowa. Transport analysis suggests that South American BC emissions are the largest contributor to eBC at Dome C.
Hanna K. Lappalainen, Tuukka Petäjä, Timo Vihma, Jouni Räisänen, Alexander Baklanov, Sergey Chalov, Igor Esau, Ekaterina Ezhova, Matti Leppäranta, Dmitry Pozdnyakov, Jukka Pumpanen, Meinrat O. Andreae, Mikhail Arshinov, Eija Asmi, Jianhui Bai, Igor Bashmachnikov, Boris Belan, Federico Bianchi, Boris Biskaborn, Michael Boy, Jaana Bäck, Bin Cheng, Natalia Chubarova, Jonathan Duplissy, Egor Dyukarev, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Martin Forsius, Martin Heimann, Sirkku Juhola, Vladimir Konovalov, Igor Konovalov, Pavel Konstantinov, Kajar Köster, Elena Lapshina, Anna Lintunen, Alexander Mahura, Risto Makkonen, Svetlana Malkhazova, Ivan Mammarella, Stefano Mammola, Stephany Buenrostro Mazon, Outi Meinander, Eugene Mikhailov, Victoria Miles, Stanislav Myslenkov, Dmitry Orlov, Jean-Daniel Paris, Roberta Pirazzini, Olga Popovicheva, Jouni Pulliainen, Kimmo Rautiainen, Torsten Sachs, Vladimir Shevchenko, Andrey Skorokhod, Andreas Stohl, Elli Suhonen, Erik S. Thomson, Marina Tsidilina, Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen, Petteri Uotila, Aki Virkkula, Nadezhda Voropay, Tobias Wolf, Sayaka Yasunaka, Jiahua Zhang, Yubao Qiu, Aijun Ding, Huadong Guo, Valery Bondur, Nikolay Kasimov, Sergej Zilitinkevich, Veli-Matti Kerminen, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4413–4469, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4413-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We summarize results during the last 5 years in the northern Eurasian region, especially from Russia, and introduce recent observations of the air quality in the urban environments in China. Although the scientific knowledge in these regions has increased, there are still gaps in our understanding of large-scale climate–Earth surface interactions and feedbacks. This arises from limitations in research infrastructures and integrative data analyses, hindering a comprehensive system analysis.
Krista Luoma, Aki Virkkula, Pasi Aalto, Katrianne Lehtipalo, Tuukka Petäjä, and Markku Kulmala
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6419–6441, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6419-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The study presents a comparison of three absorption photometers that measured ambient aerosol particles at a boreal forest site. The study aims to better understand problems related to filter-based measurements. Results show how different correction algorithms, which are used to produce the data, affect the derived optical properties of aerosol particles.
Eija Asmi, John Backman, Henri Servomaa, Aki Virkkula, Maria I. Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Thomas Müller, Sho Ohata, Yutaka Kondo, and Antti Hyvärinen
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 5397–5413, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-5397-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Absorbing aerosols are warming the planet and accurate measurements of their concentrations in pristine environments are needed. We applied eight different absorbing-aerosol measurement methods in a field campaign at the Arctic Pallas station. The filter-based techniques were found to be the most sensitive to detect the minuscule amounts of black carbon present, showing a 40 % agreement between them. Our results help to reduce uncertainties in absorbing aerosol measurements.
Krista Luoma, Jarkko V. Niemi, Minna Aurela, Pak Lun Fung, Aku Helin, Tareq Hussein, Leena Kangas, Anu Kousa, Topi Rönkkö, Hilkka Timonen, Aki Virkkula, and Tuukka Petäjä
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 1173–1189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1173-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-1173-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This study combined black carbon measurements from 15 Finnish sites that represented different environments (traffic, detached housing area, urban background, and regional background). The seasonal and diurnal variations in the black carbon concentration were associated with local emissions from traffic and residential wood burning. The study observed decreasing trends in the black carbon concentration and associated them with decreases in traffic emissions.
Cited articles
Andreae, M. O. and Gelencsér, A.: Black carbon or brown carbon? The nature of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 6, 3131–3148, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-6-3131-2006, 2006.
Arola, A., Schuster, G., Myhre, G., Kazadzis, S., Dey, S., and Tripathi, S. N.: Inferring absorbing organic carbon content from AERONET data, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 215–225, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-215-2011, 2011.
Bergstrom, R. W., Pilewskie, P., Russell, P. B., Redemann, J., Bond, T. C., Quinn, P. K., and Sierau, B.: Spectral absorption properties of atmospheric aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 7, 5937–5943, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-7-5937-2007, 2007.
Bond, T. C. and Bergstrom, R. W.: Light Absorption by Carbonaceous
Particles: An Investigative Review, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 40, 27–67, 2006.
Bond, T. C., Doherty, S. J., Fahey, D. W., Forster, P. M., Berntsen, T.,
DeAngelo, B. J., Flanner, M. G., Ghan, S., Kärcher, B., Koch, D., Kinne,
S., Kondo, Y., Quinn, P. K., Sarofim, M. C., Schultz, M. G., Schulz, M.,
Venkataraman, C., Zhang, H., Zhang, S., Bellouin, N., Guttikunda, S. K.,
Hopke, P. K., Jacobson, M. Z., Kaiser, J. W., Klimont, Z., Lohmann, U.,
Schwarz, J. P., Shindell, D., Storelvmo, T., Warren, S. G., and Zender,
C.S.: Bounding the role of black carbon in the climate system: A scientific
assessment, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 5380–5552, https://doi.org/10.1002/jgrd.50171, 2013.
Cazorla, A., Bahadur, R., Suski, K. J., Cahill, J. F., Chand, D., Schmid, B., Ramanathan, V., and Prather, K. A.: Relating aerosol absorption due to soot, organic carbon, and dust to emission sources determined from in-situ chemical measurements, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 9337–9350, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-9337-2013, 2013.
Chung, C., Ramanathan, V., and Decremer, D.: Observationally constrained
estimates of carbonaceous aerosol radiative forcing, P. Natl. Acad. Sci.
USA, 109, 11624–11629, 2012.
Chylek, P., Lee, J. E., Romonosky, D. E., Gallo, F., Lou, S., Shrivastava, M., Carrico, C. M., Aiken, A. C., and Dubey, M. K.: Mie scattering captures observed optical properties of ambient
biomass burning plumes assuming uniform black, brown, and organic carbon
mixtures, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 124, 11406–11427, https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JD031224, 2019.
Devi, J. J., Bergin, M., McKenzie, M., Schauer, J. J., and Weber, R.:
Contribution of particulate brown carbon to light absorption in the rural
and urban Southeast US, Atmos. Environ., 136, 95–104, 2016.
Feng, Y., Ramanathan, V., and Kotamarthi, V. R.: Brown carbon: a significant atmospheric absorber of solar radiation?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 8607–8621, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-8607-2013, 2013.
Fuller, G. W., Tremper, A. H., Baker, T. D., Yttri, K. E., and Butterfield, D.: Contribution of wood burning to PM10 in London, Atmos. Environ., 87, 87–94, 2014.
Gyawali, M., Arnott, W. P., Lewis, K., and Moosmüller, H.: In situ aerosol optics in Reno, NV, USA during and after the summer 2008 California wildfires and the influence of absorbing and non-absorbing organic coatings on spectral light absorption, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 8007–8015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-8007-2009, 2009.
Harrison, R. M., Beddows, D. C., Jones, A. M., Calvo, A., Alves, C., and Pio, C.:
An evaluation of some issues regarding the use of aethalometers to measure
woodsmoke concentrations, Atmos. Environ., 80, 540–548, 2013.
Healy, R., Sofowote, U., Su, Y., Debosz, J., Noble, M., Jeong, C.-H., Wang,
J., Hilker, N., Evans, G., and Doerksen, G.: Ambient measurements and source
apportionment of fossil fuel and biomass burning black carbon in Ontario,
Atmos. Environ., 161, 34–47, 2017.
Helin, A., Niemi, J., Virkkula, A., Pirjola, L., Teinilä, K., Backman,
J., Aurela, M., Saarikoski, S., Rönkkö, T., Asmi, E., and Timonen, H.: Characteristics and source apportionment of black carbon in the Helsinki
metropolitan area, Finland, Atmos. Environ., 190, 87–98, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2018.07.022, 2018.
Herich, H., Hueglin, C., and Buchmann, B.: A 2.5 year's source apportionment study of black carbon from wood burning and fossil fuel combustion at urban and rural sites in Switzerland, Atmos. Meas. Tech., 4, 1409–1420, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-4-1409-2011, 2011.
Kirchstetter, T. W. and Thatcher, T. L.: Contribution of organic carbon to wood smoke particulate matter absorption of solar radiation, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 6067–6072, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-6067-2012, 2012.
Kirchstetter, T. W., Novakov, T., and Hobbs, P. V.: Evidence that the
spectral dependence of light absorption by aerosols is affected by organic
carbon, J. Geophys. Res., 109, D21208, https://doi.org/10.1029/2004JD004999, 2004.
Kondo, Y., Sahu, L., Moteki, N., Khan, F., Takegawa, N., Liu, X., Koike, M., and Miyakawa,
T.: Consistency and traceability of black carbon measurements made
by laser-induced incandescence, thermal-optical transmittance, and
filter-based photo-absorption techniques, Aerosol Sci. Technol., 45,
295–312, https://doi.org/10.1080/02786826.2010.533215, 2011.
Lack, D. A. and Cappa, C. D.: Impact of brown and clear carbon on light absorption enhancement, single scatter albedo and absorption wavelength dependence of black carbon, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 4207–4220, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-4207-2010, 2010.
Lack, D. A. and Langridge, J. M.: On the attribution of black and brown carbon light absorption using the Ångström exponent, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 10535–10543, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-10535-2013, 2013.
Lack, D. A., Langridge, J. M., Bahreini, R., Cappa, C. D., Middlebrook, A.
M., and Schwarz, J. P.: Brown carbon and internal mixing in biomass burning
particles, P. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109, 14802–14807, 2012.
Laskin, A., Laskin, J., and Nizkorodov, S. A.: Chemistry of Atmospheric
Brown Carbon, Chem. Rev., 115, 4335–4382,
https://doi.org/10.1021/cr5006167, 2015.
Liu, C., Chung, C. E., Yin, Y., and Schnaiter, M.: The absorption Ångström exponent of black carbon: from numerical aspects, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6259–6273, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6259-2018, 2018.
Moosmüller, H., Chakrabarty, R. K., Ehlers, K. M., and Arnott, W. P.: Absorption Ångström coefficient, brown carbon, and aerosols: basic concepts, bulk matter, and spherical particles, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 1217–1225, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-1217-2011, 2011.
Moteki, N., Kondo, Y., Miyazaki, Y., Takegawa, N., Komazaki, Y., Kurata, G.,
Shirai, T., Blake, D. R., Miyakawa, T., and Koike, M.: Evolution of mixing state
of black carbon particles: Aircraft measurements over the western Pacific in
March 2004, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L11803, https://doi.org/10.1029/2006GL028943, 2007.
Russell, P. B., Bergstrom, R. W., Shinozuka, Y., Clarke, A. D., DeCarlo, P. F., Jimenez, J. L., Livingston, J. M., Redemann, J., Dubovik, O., and Strawa, A.: Absorption Angstrom Exponent in AERONET and related data as an indicator of aerosol composition, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 10, 1155–1169, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-1155-2010, 2010.
Saleh, R., Hennigan, C. J., McMeeking, G. R., Chuang, W. K., Robinson, E. S., Coe, H., Donahue, N. M., and Robinson, A. L.: Absorptivity of brown carbon in fresh and photo-chemically aged biomass-burning emissions, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 7683–7693, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-7683-2013, 2013.
Sandradewi, J., Prevot, A. S. H., Szidat, S., Perron, N., Alfarra, M. R.,
Lanz, V. A., Weingartner, E., and Baltensperger, U.: Using aerosol light
absorption measurements for the quantitative determination of wood burning
and traffic emission contributions to particulate matter, Environ. Sci.
Technol., 42, 3316–3323, 2008a.
Sandradewi, J., Prevot, A. S. H., Weingartner, E., Schmidhauser, R., Gysel,
M., and Baltensperger, U.: A study of wood burning and traffic aerosols in
an Alpine valley using a multi-wavelength Aethalometer, Atmos. Environ., 42,
101–112, 2008b.
Schuster, G. L., Dubovik, O., Arola, A., Eck, T. F., and Holben, B. N.: Remote sensing of soot carbon – Part 2: Understanding the absorption Ångström exponent, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 1587–1602, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-1587-2016, 2016.
Schwarz, J. P., Gao, R. S., Spackman, J. R., Watts, L. A., Thomson, D. S.,
Fahey, D. W., Ryerson, T. B., Peischl, J., Holloway, J. S., Trainer, M.,
Frost, G. J., Baynard, T., Lack, D. A., de Gouw, J. A., Warneke, C., and Del
Negro, L. A.: Measurement of the mixing state, mass, and optical size of
individual black carbon particles in urban and biomass burning emissions,
Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L13810, https://doi.org/10.1029/2008GL033968, 2008.
Shen, Y., Virkkula, A., Ding, A., Wang, J., Chi, X., Nie, W., Qi, X., Huang, X., Liu, Q., Zheng, L., Xu, Z., Petäjä, T., Aalto, P. P., Fu, C., and Kulmala, M.: Aerosol optical properties at SORPES in Nanjing, east China, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 5265–5292, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-5265-2018, 2018.
Shiraiwa, M., Kondo, Y., Moteki, N., Takegawa, N., Sahu, L. K., Takami, A.,
Hatakeyama, S., Yonemura, S., and Blake, D. R.: Radiative impact of mixing state
of black carbon aerosol in Asian outflow, J. Geophys. Res., 113, D24210,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2008JD010546, 2008.
Valenzuela, A., Olmo, F. J., Lyamani, H., Antón, M., Titos, G., Cazorla,
A., and Alados-Arboledas, L.: Aerosol scattering and absorption Angström
exponents as indicators of dust and dust-free days over Granada (Spain),
Atmos. Res., 154, 1–13, 2015.
Voshchinnikov, N. V. and Mathis, J. S.: Calculating Cross Sections of Composite Interstellar Grains, Astrophys. J., 526, 257–264, https://doi.org/10.1086/307997, 1999 (code available at: http://www.astro.spbu.ru/staff/ilin2/SOFTWARE/nmie0.html, last access: 21 May 2021).
Wang, X., Heald, C. L., Sedlacek, A. J., de Sá, S. S., Martin, S. T., Alexander, M. L., Watson, T. B., Aiken, A. C., Springston, S. R., and Artaxo, P.: Deriving brown carbon from multiwavelength absorption measurements: method and application to AERONET and Aethalometer observations, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12733–12752, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12733-2016, 2016.
Wu, Z. P. and Wang, Y. P.: Electromagnetic scattering for multilayered spheres: recursive algorithms, Radio Science, 26, 1393–1401, 1991.
Zhang, X., Mao, M., Yin, Y., and Tang, S.: The absorption Ångstrom exponent of black carbon with brown coatings: effects of aerosol microphysics and parameterization, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 9701–9711, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-9701-2020, 2020.
Zotter, P., Herich, H., Gysel, M., El-Haddad, I., Zhang, Y., Močnik, G., Hüglin, C., Baltensperger, U., Szidat, S., and Prévôt, A. S. H.: Evaluation of the absorption Ångström exponents for traffic and wood burning in the Aethalometer-based source apportionment using radiocarbon measurements of ambient aerosol, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4229–4249, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4229-2017, 2017.
Short summary
The Aethalometer model is used widely for estimating the contributions of fossil fuel emissions and biomass burning to black carbon. The calculation is based on measured absorption Ångström exponents, which is ambiguous since it not only depends on the dominant absorber but also on the size and internal structure of the particles, core size, and shell thickness. The uncertainties of the fractions of absorption by eBC from fossil fuel and biomass burning are evaluated with a core–shell Mie model.
The Aethalometer model is used widely for estimating the contributions of fossil fuel emissions...