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Enhanced light absorption by mixed source black and brown carbon particles in UK winter

Author

Listed:
  • Shang Liu

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory
    University of Colorado)

  • Allison C. Aiken

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • Kyle Gorkowski

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory
    Carnegie Mellon University)

  • Manvendra K. Dubey

    (Los Alamos National Laboratory)

  • Christopher D. Cappa

    (University of California)

  • Leah R. Williams

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Scott C. Herndon

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Paola Massoli

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Edward C. Fortner

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Puneet S. Chhabra

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.
    University of Texas at Austin)

  • William A. Brooks

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Timothy B. Onasch

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.
    Boston College)

  • John T. Jayne

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Douglas R. Worsnop

    (Aerodyne Research, Inc.)

  • Swarup China

    (Michigan Technological University)

  • Noopur Sharma

    (Michigan Technological University)

  • Claudio Mazzoleni

    (Michigan Technological University)

  • Lu Xu

    (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Nga L. Ng

    (School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology
    School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology)

  • Dantong Liu

    (School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester)

  • James D. Allan

    (School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Science, University of Manchester
    National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Manchester)

  • James D. Lee

    (Wolfson Atmospheric Chemistry Laboratory and National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of York)

  • Zoë L. Fleming

    (National Centre for Atmospheric Science, University of Leicester)

  • Claudia Mohr

    (University of Washington
    Institute for Meteorology and Climate Research, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)

  • Peter Zotter

    (Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute
    Lucerne School of Engineering and Architecture, Bioenergy Research, Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts)

  • Sönke Szidat

    (University of Bern)

  • André S. H. Prévôt

    (Laboratory of Atmospheric Chemistry, Paul Scherrer Institute)

Abstract

Black carbon (BC) and light-absorbing organic carbon (brown carbon, BrC) play key roles in warming the atmosphere, but the magnitude of their effects remains highly uncertain. Theoretical modelling and laboratory experiments demonstrate that coatings on BC can enhance BC’s light absorption, therefore many climate models simply assume enhanced BC absorption by a factor of ∼1.5. However, recent field observations show negligible absorption enhancement, implying models may overestimate BC’s warming. Here we report direct evidence of substantial field-measured BC absorption enhancement, with the magnitude strongly depending on BC coating amount. Increases in BC coating result from a combination of changing sources and photochemical aging processes. When the influence of BrC is accounted for, observationally constrained model calculations of the BC absorption enhancement can be reconciled with the observations. We conclude that the influence of coatings on BC absorption should be treated as a source and regionally specific parameter in climate models.

Suggested Citation

  • Shang Liu & Allison C. Aiken & Kyle Gorkowski & Manvendra K. Dubey & Christopher D. Cappa & Leah R. Williams & Scott C. Herndon & Paola Massoli & Edward C. Fortner & Puneet S. Chhabra & William A. Bro, 2015. "Enhanced light absorption by mixed source black and brown carbon particles in UK winter," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 6(1), pages 1-10, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:6:y:2015:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms9435
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9435
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    Cited by:

    1. Jiandong Wang & Jiaping Wang & Runlong Cai & Chao Liu & Jingkun Jiang & Wei Nie & Jinbo Wang & Nobuhiro Moteki & Rahul A. Zaveri & Xin Huang & Nan Ma & Ganzhen Chen & Zilin Wang & Yuzhi Jin & Jing Cai, 2023. "Unified theoretical framework for black carbon mixing state allows greater accuracy of climate effect estimation," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.
    2. Payton Beeler & Joshin Kumar & Joshua P. Schwarz & Kouji Adachi & Laura Fierce & Anne E. Perring & J. M. Katich & Rajan K. Chakrabarty, 2024. "Light absorption enhancement of black carbon in a pyrocumulonimbus cloud," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.

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