Light absorption of black and brown carbon aerosols: comparison of an inventory-based model estimate and observations

Abstract:

Spectrally resolved absorption measurements have been used to attribute the absorption and radiative effects due to brown carbon (BrC), and suggest a significant contribution. Since black carbon (BC) and BrC are co-emitted from combustion and burning processes, BrC absorption in global models has either been implicitly included in absorption by BC or more recently, characterized by a global constant refractive index. An inventory-based optical treatment for the brown carbon absorption has been developed for primary organic aerosol emissions. Results of a simple radiative transfer model with a global emission inventory show that the BrC absorptivity leads to a ∼27% reduction in the cooling effect by organic aerosols compared to the non-absorbing assumption. Here we implement the wavelength-dependent absorption properties of brown carbon parameterized as a function of BC to organic carbon ratio into a global climate model (CAM5) for different fuel emission sectors and biomass burning. This version of CAM5 also simulates the aging of freshly emitted BC and BrC into the aged accumulation-mode aerosols due to condensation of sulfate and organics. The calculated aerosol light absorption properties and spectral dependence will be compared with ground-based AERONET measurements and field observations available. Sensitivity studies of BrC radiative effects based on a global constant refractive index and the inventory-based method in this study will be discussed.