Traditional gas and particle phase chemical markers used to identify the presence of biomass burning (BB) emissions were measured for a large forest fire near Boulder, Colorado. Correlation of the organic matter mass spectroscopic m/z 60 with measured particle light absorption properties found no link at 532 nm, and a strong correlation at 404 nm. Non-black carbon absorption at 404 nm was well correlated to the ratio of the mass fractions of particulate organic matter (POM) that was m/z 60 (f60) to m/z 44 (f44). The f60 to f44 ratio did not fully explain the variability in non-BC absorption, due to contributions of brown carbon (BrC) absorption and absorption due to internal mixing of POM with black carbon (BC). The absorption Ångstrom exponent (ÅAbs) showed a good correlation to f 60/f44 however the best correlation resulted from the mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of BrC at 404 nm (MAEPOM-404 nm) and f 60/f44. This result indicates that the absorption of POM at low visible and UV wavelengths is linked to emissions of organic matter that contribute to the m/z 60 mass fragment, although they do not contribute to 532 nm absorption. m/z 60 is often attributed to levoglucosan and related compounds. The linear relationship between MAEPOM-404 nm and f60/f44 suggests that the strength of BrC absorption for this fire can be predicted by emissions of f60-related organic matter. © 2013 Author(s).
CITATION STYLE
Lack, D. A., Bahreini, R., Langridge, J. M., Gilman, J. B., & Middlebrook, A. M. (2013). Brown carbon absorption linked to organic mass tracers in biomass burning particles. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 13(5), 2415–2422. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-2415-2013
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