Completion of Second Black Carbon Aerosol Experiment by Boston College and Aerodyne

Summary

Office of Science-supported investigators have completed a three-week in-situ comparison of the major state-of-the-art instruments for ambient measurement of Black Carbon (BC) aerosols. The role that these carbon particles from natural and anthropogenic sources play in climate forcing, due to their light-absorption properties, has gained increased attention due to key developments and several high-profile studies. This study measured the mass-specific absorption coefficients for soot generated over a range of typical conditions. The experiment will allow exploration of the effects of organic, inorganic, and water coatings on the absorption, particle morphology, and measurements of black carbon soot. Boston College provided flame apparatus and aerosol sampling equipment to generate stable and well-characterized soot particles with a wide range of sizes, shapes, and coatings. In addition to Boston College and Aerodyne, other participants included the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory, DOE Brookhaven and Los Alamos National Laboratories, University of California – Davis, University of Illinois at Urbana, University of Hawaii, and Droplet Measurement Technologies.