Carbonaceous aerosols from different tropical biomass burning sources

Abstract

FOLLOWING a repetitive pattern, biomass burning affects the intertropical belt on a continental scale during the dry season1. The importance of these anthropogenic activities with regard to carbonaceous-component emissions into the global atmosphere is now well recognized2-4. It has been suggested that large injections of black carbon aerosols from the Tropics are of potential importance for the radiative and chemical balance of the troposphere5-10. Studies on carbonaceous aerosols have indicated that, on an annual basis, the intensity of the emissions from tropical biomass burning could compare with that of emissions from fossil-fuel burning in industrial countries7,8. Also, results from combustion chamber experiments have determined the important range of the emission factor for both the organic and the black carbon components of the aerosol11-16. Following on from our earlier studies on total atmospheric particulate carbon (Ct) and isotopic composition (δ13C) (ref. 2), we now present new data on the black carbon content (Cb) of atmospheric particles sampled during the biomass-burning season in the wooden savannah of the Ivory Coast. The Cb/Ct ratio is generally lower than expected and highly variable. This variability indicates that there are drastic changes in source apportionment, which from our isotope studies may be ascribed to the variety of vegetation fuel and also to the mode of combustion. Therefore the Cb/Ct ratio can potentially discriminate biomass-burning emissions from different tropical ecosystems. © 1989 Nature Publishing Group.