Importance of size representation and morphology in modelling optical properties of black carbon: comparison between laboratory measurements and model simulations

Romshoo, Baseerat; Pöhlker, Mira; Wiedensohler, Alfred; Pfeifer, Sascha; Saturno, Jorge; Nowak, Andreas; Ciupek, Krzysztof; Quincey, Paul; Vasilatou, Konstantina; Ess, Michaela N.; Gini, Maria; Eleftheriadis, Konstantinos; Robins, Chris; Gaie-Levrel, François; Müller, Thomas

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022

Articles | Volume 15, issue 23

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022

© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 15, issue 23

Research article

|

06 Dec 2022

Research article |

| 06 Dec 2022

Importance of size representation and morphology in modelling optical properties of black carbon: comparison between laboratory measurements and model simulations

Baseerat Romshoo, Mira Pöhlker, Alfred Wiedensohler, Sascha Pfeifer, Jorge Saturno, Andreas Nowak, Krzysztof Ciupek, Paul Quincey, Konstantina Vasilatou, Michaela N. Ess, Maria Gini, Konstantinos Eleftheriadis, Chris Robins, François Gaie-Levrel, and Thomas Müller

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-6965-2022-supplement

Model code and software

A multiple sphere T-matrix FORTRAN code for use on parallel computer clusters, Version 3.0 D. W. Mackowski https://eng.auburn.edu/users/dmckwski/scatcodes/

Comparison of methods to derive morphological parameters of multi-fractal samples of particle aggregates from TEM images (https://sites.google.com/view/fabriceonofri/aggregates/fractal-like-aggregates-diffusion-model) M. Wozniak, F. R. A. Onofri, S. Barbosa, J. Yon, and J. Mroczka https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaerosci.2011.12.008

Short summary

Black carbon (BC) is often assumed to be spherically shaped, causing uncertainties in its optical properties when modelled. This study investigates different modelling techniques for the optical properties of BC by comparing them to laboratory measurements. We provide experimental support for emphasizing the use of appropriate size representation (polydisperse size method) and morphological representation (aggregate morphology) for optical modelling and parameterization scheme development of BC.