Burning conditions and transportation pathways determine biomass-burning aerosol properties in the Ascension Island marine boundary layer

Abstract

African biomass-burning aerosol (BBA) in the southeast Atlantic Ocean (SEA) marine boundary layer (MBL) is an important contributor to Earth's radiation budget, yet its representation remains poorly constrained in regional and global climate models. Data from the Layered Atlantic Smoke Interactions with Clouds (LASIC) field campaign on Ascension Island (7.95 S, 14.36 W) provide insight into how burning conditions, fuel type, transport pathways, and atmospheric processing affect the chemical, microphysical, and optical properties of BBA between June and September 2017. A total of 10 individual plume events characterize the seasonal evolution of the BBA properties. Early-season inefficient fires, determined by low refractory black carbon to above-background carbon monoxide mixing ratios (rBC :1CO), led to enhanced concentrations of organic- and sulfate-rich aerosols. Mid-season efficient fires, determined by higher rBC :1CO values, led to rBC-enriched BBA. A mix of efficient and inefficient fires later in the season resulted in conflicting BBA properties. Prolonged transport (10 d) through the MBL and lower free troposphere (FT) facilitated chemical and aqueous-phase processing, which led to a reduction in organic aerosol mass concentrations. This resulted in lower organic aerosol (OA) to rBC (OA: rBC) mass ratios (2-5) in the MBL compared to higher values (5-15) in the nearby FT. These atmospheric and cloud oxidation processes yield more light-absorbing BBA and explain the notably low single-scattering albedo at 530 nm (SSA530) values (<0.80) observed in the MBL. This study establishes a robust correlation between SSA530 and OA: rBC across the MBL and FT, underscoring the dependency of optical properties on chemical composition. Author(s) 2025.