Annual behavior of Angstrom exponent of the aerosol absorption coefficients in the visible wavelength range upon the results of measurements at the aerosol station of IAO SB RAS

Author(s):  
Valerii Kozlov ◽  
Helen Yausheva ◽  
Mikhail Panchenko ◽  
Vladimir Shmargunov
2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (8) ◽  
pp. 5235-5252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosalie H. Shepherd ◽  
Martin D. King ◽  
Amelia A. Marks ◽  
Neil Brough ◽  
Andrew D. Ward

Abstract. Optical trapping combined with Mie spectroscopy is a new technique used to record the refractive index of insoluble organic material extracted from atmospheric aerosol samples over a wide wavelength range. The refractive index of the insoluble organic extracts was shown to follow a Cauchy equation between 460 and 700 nm for organic aerosol extracts collected from urban (London) and remote (Antarctica) locations. Cauchy coefficients for the remote sample were for the Austral summer and gave the Cauchy coefficients of A = 1.467 and B = 1000 nm2 with a real refractive index of 1.489 at a wavelength of 589 nm. Cauchy coefficients for the urban samples varied with season, with extracts collected during summer having Cauchy coefficients of A=1.465±0.005 and B=4625±1200 nm2 with a representative real refractive index of 1.478 at a wavelength of 589 nm, whilst samples extracted during autumn had larger Cauchy coefficients of A = 1.505 and B = 600 nm2 with a representative real refractive index of 1.522 at a wavelength of 589 nm. The refractive index of absorbing aerosol was also recorded. The absorption Ångström exponent was determined for woodsmoke and humic acid aerosol extract. Typical values of the Cauchy coefficient for the woodsmoke aerosol extract were A=1.541±0.03 and B=14800±2900 nm2, resulting in a real refractive index of 1.584 ± 0.007 at a wavelength of 589 nm and an absorption Ångström exponent of 8.0. The measured values of refractive index compare well with previous monochromatic or very small wavelength range measurements of refractive index. In general, the real component of the refractive index increases from remote to urban to woodsmoke. A one-dimensional radiative-transfer calculation of the top-of-the-atmosphere albedo was applied to model an atmosphere containing a 3 km thick layer of aerosol comprising pure water, pure insoluble organic aerosol, or an aerosol consisting of an aqueous core with an insoluble organic shell. The calculation demonstrated that the top-of-the-atmosphere albedo increases by 0.01 to 0.04 for pure organic particles relative to water particles of the same size and that the top-of-the-atmosphere albedo increases by 0.03 for aqueous core-shell particles as volume fraction of the shell material increases to 25 %.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 187
Author(s):  
Dapeng Zhao ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
Chao Liu ◽  
Chunsong Lu ◽  
Xiaofeng Xu

The aerosol absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) is widely used to indicate aerosol absorption spectrum variations and is an important parameter for characterizing aerosol optical absorption properties. This study discusses the relationship between aerosol AAEs and their colors numerically. By combining light scattering simulations, a two-stream radiative transfer model, and an RGB (Red, Green, and Blue) color model, aerosol colors that can be sensed by human eyes are numerically generated with both the solar spectrum and human eye response taken into account. Our results indicate that the responses of human eyes to visible light might be more significant than the incident spectrum in the simulation of aerosol color in the atmosphere. Using the improved numerical simulation algorithm, we obtain the color change of absorption aerosols with different AAEs. When the AAE value is small, the color of the aerosol is generally black and gray. When the AAE value increases to approximately 2 and the difference between the light transmittances at wavelengths of 400 nm and 730 nm is greater than 0.2, the aerosol will appear brown or yellow.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 9195-9210 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mallet ◽  
O. Dubovik ◽  
P. Nabat ◽  
F. Dulac ◽  
R. Kahn ◽  
...  

Abstract. Aerosol absorption properties are of high importance to assess aerosol impact on regional climate. This study presents an analysis of aerosol absorption products obtained over the Mediterranean basin or land stations in the region from multi-year ground-based AERONET observations with a focus on the Absorbing Aerosol Optical Depth (AAOD), Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and their spectral dependence. The AAOD and Absorption Angström Exponent (AAE) dataset is composed of daily averaged AERONET level 2 data from a total of 22 Mediterranean stations having long time series, mainly under the influence of urban-industrial aerosols and/or soil dust. This dataset covers the 17-yr period 1996–2012 with most data being from 2003–2011 (~89% of level-2 AAOD data). Since AERONET level-2 absorption products require a high aerosol load (AOD at 440 nm > 0.4), which is most often related to the presence of desert dust, we also consider level-1.5 SSA data, despite their higher uncertainty, and filter out data with an Angström exponent < 1.0 in order to study absorption by carbonaceous aerosols. The SSA dataset includes AERONET level-2 products. Sun-photometer observations show that values of AAOD at 440 nm vary between 0.024 ± 0.01 (resp. 0.040 ± 0.01) and 0.050 ± 0.01 (0.055 ± 0.01) for urban (dusty) sites. Analysis shows that the Mediterranean urban-industrial aerosols appear "moderately" absorbing with values of SSA close to ~0.94–0.95 ± 0.04 (at 440 nm) in most cases except over the large cities of Rome and Athens, where aerosol appears more absorbing (SSA ~0.89–0.90 ± 0.04). The aerosol Absorption Angström Exponent (AAE, estimated using 440 and 870 nm) is found to be larger than 1 for most sites over the Mediterranean, a manifestation of mineral dust (iron) and/or brown carbon producing the observed absorption. AERONET level-2 sun-photometer data indicate a possible East-West gradient, with higher values over the eastern basin (AAEEast = 1.39/AAEWest = 1.33). The North-South AAE gradient is more pronounced, especially over the western basin. Our additional analysis of AERONET level-1.5 data also shows that organic absorbing aerosols significantly affect some Mediterranean sites. These results indicate that current climate models treating organics as nonabsorbing over the Mediterranean certainly underestimate the warming effect due to carbonaceous aerosols.


2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (15) ◽  
pp. 20911-20956 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. L. Schuster ◽  
O. Dubovik ◽  
A. Arola ◽  
T. F. Eck ◽  
B. N. Holben

Abstract. Recently, some authors have suggested that the absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) can be used to deduce the component aerosol absorption optical depths (AAOD) of carbonaceous aerosols in the AERONET database. This "AAE approach" presumes that AAE &amp;ll; 1 for soot carbon, which contrasts the traditional small particle limit of AAE = 1 for soot carbon. Thus, we provide an overview of the AERONET retrieval, and investigate how the microphysics of carbonaceous aerosols can be interpreted in the AERONET AAE product. We find that AAE &amp;ll; 1 in the AERONET database requires large coarse mode fractions and/or imaginary refractive indices that increase with wavelength. Neither of these characteristics are consistent with the current definition of soot carbon, so we explore other possibilities for the cause of AAE &amp;ll; 1. We note that AAE is related to particle size, and that coarse mode particles have a smaller AAE than fine mode particles for a given aerosol mixture of species. We also note that the mineral goethite has an imaginary refractive index that increases with wavelength, is very common in dust regions, and can easily contribute to AAE &amp;ll; 1. We find that AAE &amp;ll; 1 can not be caused by soot carbon, unless soot carbon has an imaginary refractive index that increases with wavelength throughout the visible and near infrared spectrums. Finally, AAE is not a robust parameter for separating carbonaceous absorption from dust aerosol absorption in the AERONET database.


2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 9267-9317 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Mallet ◽  
O. Dubovik ◽  
P. Nabat ◽  
F. Dulac ◽  
R. Kahn ◽  
...  

Abstract. Aerosol absorption properties are of high importance to assess aerosol impact on regional climate. This study presents an analysis of aerosol absorption products obtained over the Mediterranean Basin or land stations in the region from multi-year ground-based AERONET and satellite observations with a focus on the Absorbing Aerosol Optical Depth (AAOD), Single Scattering Albedo (SSA) and their spectral dependence. The AAOD and Absorption Angström Exponent (AAE) data set is composed of daily averaged AERONET level 2 data from a~total of 22 Mediterranean stations having long time series, mainly under the influence of urban-industrial aerosols and/or soil dust. This data set covers the 17 yr period 1996–2012 with most data being from 2003–2011 (~89% of level-2 AAOD data). Since AERONET level-2 absorption products require a high aerosol load (AOD at 440 nm > 0.4), which is most often related to the presence of desert dust, we also consider level-1.5 SSA data, despite their higher uncertainty, and filter out data with an Angström exponent <1.0 in order to study absorption by carbonaceous aerosols. The SSA data set includes both AERONET level-2 and satellite level-3 products. Satellite-derived SSA data considered are monthly level 3 products mapped at the regional scale for the spring and summer seasons that exhibit the largest aerosol loads. The satellite SSA dataset includes the following products: (i) Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) over 2000–2011, (ii) Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) near-UV algorithm over 2004–2010, and (iii) MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Deep-Blue algorithm over 2005–2011, derived only over land in dusty conditions. Sun-photometer observations show that values of AAOD at 440 nm vary between 0.024 ± 0.01 (resp. 0.040 ± 0.01) and 0.050 ± 0.01 (0.055 ± 0.01) for urban (dusty) sites. Analysis shows that the Mediterranean urban-industrial aerosols appear "moderately" absorbing with values of SSA close to ~0.94–0.95 ± 0.04 (at 440 nm) in most cases except over the large cities of Rome and Athens, where aerosol appears more absorbing (SSA ~0.89–0.90 ± 0.04). The aerosol Absorption Angström Exponent (AAE, estimated using 440 and 870 nm) is found to be larger than 1 for most sites over the Mediterranean, a manifestation of mineral dust (iron) and/or brown carbon producing the observed absorption. AERONET level-2 sun-photometer data indicate the existence of a moderate East–West gradient, with higher values over the eastern basin (AAEEast. = 1.39/AAEWest. = 1.33) due to the influence of desert dust. The North–South AAE gradient is more pronounced, especially over the western basin. Our additional analysis of AERONET level-1.5 data also shows that organic absorbing aerosols significantly affect some Mediterranean sites. These results indicate that current climate models treating organics as nonabsorbing over the Mediterranean certainly underestimate the warming effect due to carbonaceous aerosols. A~comparative analysis of the regional SSA variability has been attempted using satellite data. OMI and MODIS data show an absorbing zone (SSA ~0.90 at 470–500 nm) over Northeastern Africa that does not appear in the MISR retrievals. In contrast, MISR seems able to observe the East–West SSA gradient during summer, as also detected by AERONET. Also, the analysis of SSA provided by satellites indicates that the aerosol over the Mediterranean Sea appears less absorbing during spring (MAM) than summer (JJA).


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (16) ◽  
pp. 9701-9711 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolin Zhang ◽  
Mao Mao ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
Shihao Tang

Abstract. The aerosol absorption Ångstrom exponent (AAE) is a crucial optical parameter for apportionment and characterization. Due to considerable inconsistences associated with observations, numerical research is a powerful means to give a better understanding of the AAE of aged black carbon (BC) aerosols. Numerical studies of the AAE of polydisperse BC aggregates with brown coatings using the exact multiple-sphere T-matrix method (MSTM) are performed. The objective of the study is to thoroughly assess the AAE of coated BC influenced by their observation-based detailed microphysics and then provide a new AAE parameterization for application. At odds with our expectations, more large-sized BC particles coated by thin brown carbon can have an AAE smaller than 1.0, indicating that BC aerosols internally mixing with brown carbon can even show lower AAE than pure BC particles. The AAE of BC with brown coatings is highly sensitive to the absorbing volume fraction of the coating, coated volume fraction of BC, shell ∕ core ratio, and particle size distribution with a wide variation, whereas the impacts of BC geometry and BC position within the coating are negligible. The AAE of BC with brown coatings can be larger than 3.0 if there are plenty of small-sized coated BC particles, heavy coating, or a large amount of brown carbon. However, the AAE of BC with non-absorbing coating appears to be weakly sensitive to particle microphysics with values around 1.0 (i.e., 0.7–1.4), suggesting the substantial role of the absorbing volume fraction of the coating in AAE determination. With more realistic BC geometries, our study also indicates that the occurrence of brown carbon may not be confidently determined unless AAE > 1.4. The currently popular core–shell Mie model reasonably approximates the AAE of fully coated BC by brown carbon, whereas it underestimates the AAE of partially coated or externally attached BC and underestimates more for a lower coated volume fraction of BC. In addition, we present a parameterization of the AAE of coated BC with a size distribution on the basis of numerical results, which can act as a guide for the AAE response to the absorbing volume fraction of the coating, coated volume fraction of BC, and shell ∕ core ratio. The proposed parameterization of coated BC AAE generates a decent prediction for moderate BC microphysics, whereas caution should be taken in applying it for extreme cases, such as externally attached coated BC morphology. Our findings could improve the understanding and application of the AAE of BC with brown coatings.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaolin Zhang ◽  
Mao Mao ◽  
Shihao Tang

Abstract. Aerosol absorption Angstrom exponent (AAE) is a crucial optical parameter for their apportionment and characterization. Due to considerable inconsistences associated with observations, a numerical research is a powerful means to give better understanding of the AAE of aged BC aerosols. Numerical studies of the AAE of polydisperse BC aggregates with brown coatings using the exact multiple-sphere T-matrix method (MSTM) are performed. The objective of the study is to thoroughly assess the AAE of coated BC influenced by their observation-based detailed microphysics and then provide a new AAE parameterization for application. At odds with our expectations, BC coated by thin brown carbon with more large particles can have an AAE smaller than 1.0, indicating that BC aerosols internally mixing with brown carbon can even show lower AAE than pure BC particles. The AAE of BC with brown coatings is highly sensitive to absorbing volume fraction of coating, coated volume fraction of BC, shell / core ratio, and particle size distribution with a wide variation, whereas the impacts of BC geometry and BC position within coating are trivial. The AAE of BC with brown coatings can be larger than 3.0, if there are more small coated BC particles, heavy coating, or more brown carbon. However, the AAE of BC with non-absorbing coating shows weakly sensitive to particle microphysics with values around 1.0 (i.e., 0.7–1.4), suggesting the substantial role of absorbing volume fraction of coating in the AAE determination. With more realistic BC geometries, our study also indicates that occurrence of brown carbon may be made confidently unless AAE > 1.4. In addition, we present a parameterization of the AAE of coated BC with a size distribution on the basis of numerical results, which can act as a guide for the AAE response to absorbing volume fraction of coating, coated volume fraction of BC, and shell / core ratio. Our findings can improve the understanding and application of the AAE of BC with brown coatings.


2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 2587-2601 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gyawali ◽  
W. P. Arnott ◽  
R. A. Zaveri ◽  
C. Song ◽  
H. Moosmüller ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the laboratory and ambient photoacoustic (PA) measurement of aerosol light absorption coefficients at ultraviolet wavelength (i.e., 355 nm) and compare with measurements at 405, 532, 870, and 1047 nm. Simultaneous measurements of aerosol light scattering coefficients were achieved by the integrating reciprocal nephelometer within the PA's acoustic resonator. Absorption and scattering measurements were carried out for various laboratory-generated aerosols, including salt, incense, and kerosene soot to evaluate the instrument calibration and gain insight on the spectral dependence of aerosol light absorption and scattering. Ambient measurements were obtained in Reno, Nevada, between 18 December 2009 and 18 January 2010. The measurement period included days with and without strong ground level temperature inversions, corresponding to highly polluted (freshly emitted aerosols) and relatively clean (aged aerosols) conditions. Particulate matter (PM) concentrations were measured and analyzed with other tracers of traffic emissions. The temperature inversion episodes caused very high concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 μm and 10 μm, respectively) and gaseous pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The diurnal change of absorption and scattering coefficients during the polluted (inversion) days increased approximately by a factor of two for all wavelengths compared to the clean days. The spectral variation in aerosol absorption coefficients indicated a significant amount of absorbing aerosol from traffic emissions and residential wood burning. The analysis of single scattering albedo (SSA), Ångström exponent of absorption (AEA), and Ångström exponent of scattering (AES) for clean and polluted days provides evidences that the aerosol aging and coating process is suppressed by strong temperature inversion under cloudy conditions. In general, measured UV absorption coefficients were found to be much larger for biomass burning aerosol than for typical ambient aerosols.


2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steigvilė Byčenkienė ◽  
Vidmantas Ulevicius ◽  
Vadimas Dudoitis ◽  
Julija Pauraitė

One-year continuous measurements of aerosol black carbon (BC) at the background site Preila (55°55′N, 21°00′E, 5 m a.s.l., Lithuania) were performed. Temporal and spatial evolution and transport of biomass burning (BB) and volcanic aerosols observed within this period were explained by the air mass backward trajectory analysis in conjunction with the fire detection data produced by the MODIS Rapid Response System and AERONET database. The surface measurements and analysis of the Angström exponent of the absorption coefficient done separately for shorter and longer wavelengths (i.e.,α=370–520 nm andα=660–950 nm) showed that high levels of aerosol BC were related to the transport of air masses rich in BB products from Ukraine caused by active grass burning. During the events the highest mean values of the Angström exponent of the absorption coefficientsα370–520andα590–950 nm were observed (2.4±0.1and1.5±0.1, resp.). The ash plume of the Grimsvötn eruption on May 21, 2011 offered an exceptional opportunity to characterize the volcanic aerosols. The largest ash plume (in terms of aerosol optical thickness) over Lithuania was observed at May 24/25, 2011. The highest values of the Angström exponent of the absorption coefficientsα370–520andα590–950 nm were reached (1.3±0.1and1.4±0.1, resp.).


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (9) ◽  
pp. 25063-25098 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Gyawali ◽  
W. P. Arnott ◽  
R. A. Zaveri ◽  
C. Song ◽  
H. Moosmüller ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present the first laboratory and ambient photoacoustic (PA) measurement of aerosol light absorption coefficients at ultraviolet (UV) wavelength (i.e. 355 nm) and compare with measurements at 405, 532, 870, and 1047 nm. Simultaneous measurements of aerosol light scattering coefficients were achieved by the integrating reciprocal nephelometer within the PA's acoustic resonator. Absorption and scattering measurements were carried out for various laboratory-generated aerosols, including salt, incense, and kerosene soot to evaluate the instrument calibration and gain insight on the spectral dependence of aerosol light absorption and scattering. Exact T-matrix method calculations were used to model the absorption and scattering characteristics of fractal-like agglomerates of different compactness and varying number of monomers. With these calculations, we attempted to estimate the number of monomers and fractal dimension of laboratory generated kerosene soot. Ambient measurements were obtained in Reno, Nevada, between 18 December 2009, and 18 January 2010. The measurement period included days with and without strong ground level temperature inversions, corresponding to highly polluted (freshly emitted aerosols) and relatively clean (aged aerosols) conditions. Particulate matter (PM) concentrations were measured and analyzed with other tracers of traffic emissions. The temperature inversion episodes caused very high concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 μm and 10 μm, respectively) and gaseous pollutants: carbon monoxide (CO), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The diurnal change of absorption and scattering coefficients during the polluted (inversion) days increased approximately by a factor of two for all wavelengths compared to the clean days. The spectral variation in aerosol absorption coefficients indicated a significant amount of absorbing aerosol from traffic emissions and residential wood burning. The analysis of single scattering albedo (SSA), Ångström exponent of absorption (AEA), and Ångström exponent of scattering (AES) for clean and polluted days provides evidences that the aerosol aging and coating process is suppressed by strong temperature inversion under cloudy conditions. In general, measured UV absorption coefficients were found to be much larger for biomass burning aerosol than for typical ambient aerosols.


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