10th International Aerosol Conference September 2 - September 7, 2018 America's Center Convention Complex St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Abstract View
Field Measurements of Black and Brown Carbon Optical Properties from the 2017 Wildfire Season
KATIE FOSTER, Rudra Pokhrel, Matthew Burkhart, Shane Murphy, University of Wyoming
Abstract Number: 566 Working Group: Carbonaceous Aerosol
Abstract Biomass burning is known to have a significant impact on the Earth’s radiative balance, and the measurement of aerosol optical properties from wildfires is both limited and bears a high degree of uncertainty. The University of Wyoming deployed a suite of aerosol instruments in a mobile laboratory to three different fires during the fall of 2017. A complementary suite of instruments for determining the optical properties of black and brown carbon consisted of: a multiwavelength Photo-acoustic Absorption Spectrometer operating at 405 nm and 660 nm in both dry and thermally denuded phases, two Cavity Attenuated Phase Shift – Single Scattering Albedo instruments at 450 nm and 660 nm, an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer, and two Scanning Mobility Particle Sizers. Single Scattering Albedo, Absorption Angstrom Exponent, Mass Absorption Coefficient, chemical composition, and volatility of organic aerosols are analyzed from multiple wildfires. The mobile lab sampled air from the Rice Ridge fire near Seeley Lake, MT as well as the Tubbs Fire of Santa Rosa, CA and the Lion Fire near Kernville, CA. The relationship between absorption enhancement by lensing, volatility, and aging will be discussed. Preliminary results suggest that low volatility organics are responsible for the majority of aerosol absorption at 405 nm.