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    Optical properties of aerosol mixtures derived from sun-sky radiometry during SAMUM-2
    (Milton Park : Taylor & Francis, 2017) Toledano, C.; Wiegner, M.; Groß, S.; Freudenthaler, V.; Gasteiger, J.; Müller, D.; Müller, T.; Schladitz, A.; Weinzierl, B.; Torres, B.; O’neill, N.T.
    The SAMUM-2 experiment took place in the Cape Verde is lands in January–February 2008. The colocated ground-based and airborne instruments allow the study of desert dust optical and microphysical properties in a closure experiment. The Meteorological Institute of the University of Munich deployed one sun-sky photometer and two tropospheric lidar systems. A travelling AERONET-Cimel sun-sky radiometer was also deployed. During the measurement period the aerosol scenario over Cape Verde mostly consisted of a dust layer below 2 km and a smoke-dust layer above 2–4 km a.s.l. The Saharan dust arrived at the site from the NE, whereas the smoke originated in the African equatorial region. This paper describes the main results of the Sun photometer observations, supported by lidar information. An analysis of the variations in the aerosol optical depth (AOD) in the range 340–1550 nm, the Ångström exponent, volume size distributions and single scattering albedo is presented. The aerosol mixtures are analysed by means of the fine mode fraction of the AOD provided by the sun-sky inversion data and the Spectral Deconvolution Algorithm. The mean AOD (500 nm) was 0.31, with associated low ångström exponent of 0.46. Several types of events were detected within the data set, with prevalence of dust or mixtures as characterized by the Ångstr¨om exponents of extinction and absorption and the fine mode fraction. Aerosol properties derived from sunphotometry were compared to in situ measurements of size distribution, effective radius and single scattering albedo.
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    Sources and mixing state of size-resolved elemental carbon particles in a European megacity: Paris
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2012) Healy, R.M.; Sciare, J.; Poulain, L.; Kamili, K.; Merkel, M.; Müller, T.; Wiedensohler, A.; Eckhardt, S.; Stohl, A.; Sarda-Estève, R.; McGillicuddy, E.; O'Connor, I.P.; Sodeau, J.R.; Wenger, J.C.
    An Aerosol Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometer (ATOFMS) was deployed to investigate the size-resolved chemical composition of single particles at an urban background site in Paris, France, as part of the MEGAPOLI winter campaign in January/February 2010. ATOFMS particle counts were scaled to match coincident Twin Differential Mobility Particle Sizer (TDMPS) data in order to generate hourly size-resolved mass concentrations for the single particle classes observed. The total scaled ATOFMS particle mass concentration in the size range 150–1067 nm was found to agree very well with the sum of concurrent High-Resolution Time-of-Flight Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (HR-ToF-AMS) and Multi-Angle Absorption Photometer (MAAP) mass concentration measurements of organic carbon (OC), inorganic ions and black carbon (BC) (R2 = 0.91). Clustering analysis of the ATOFMS single particle mass spectra allowed the separation of elemental carbon (EC) particles into four classes: (i) EC attributed to biomass burning (ECbiomass), (ii) EC attributed to traffic (ECtraffic), (iii) EC internally mixed with OC and ammonium sulfate (ECOCSOx), and (iv) EC internally mixed with OC and ammonium nitrate (ECOCNOx). Average hourly mass concentrations for EC-containing particles detected by the ATOFMS were found to agree reasonably well with semi-continuous quantitative thermal/optical EC and optical BC measurements (r2 = 0.61 and 0.65–0.68 respectively, n = 552). The EC particle mass assigned to fossil fuel and biomass burning sources also agreed reasonably well with BC mass fractions assigned to the same sources using seven-wavelength aethalometer data (r2 = 0.60 and 0.48, respectively, n = 568). Agreement between the ATOFMS and other instrumentation improved noticeably when a period influenced by significantly aged, internally mixed EC particles was removed from the intercomparison. 88% and 12% of EC particle mass was apportioned to fossil fuel and biomass burning respectively using the ATOFMS data compared with 85% and 15% respectively for BC estimated from the aethalometer model. On average, the mass size distribution for EC particles is bimodal; the smaller mode is attributed to locally emitted, mostly externally mixed EC particles, while the larger mode is dominated by aged, internally mixed ECOCNOx particles associated with continental transport events. Periods of continental influence were identified using the Lagrangian Particle Dispersion Model (LPDM) "FLEXPART". A consistent minimum between the two EC mass size modes was observed at approximately 400 nm for the measurement period. EC particles below this size are attributed to local emissions using chemical mixing state information and contribute 79% of the scaled ATOFMS EC particle mass, while particles above this size are attributed to continental transport events and contribute 21% of the EC particle mass. These results clearly demonstrate the potential benefit of monitoring size-resolved mass concentrations for the separation of local and continental EC emissions. Knowledge of the relative input of these emissions is essential for assessing the effectiveness of local abatement strategies.
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    Long term measurements of aerosol optical properties at a primary forest site in Amazonia
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2013) Rizzo, L.V.; Artaxo, P.; Müller, T.; Wiedensohler, A.; Paixão, M.; Cirino, G.G.; Arana, A.; Swietlicki, E.; Roldin, P.; Fors, E.O.; Wiedemann, K.T.; Leal, L.S.M.; Kulmala, M.
    A long term experiment was conducted in a primary forest area in Amazonia, with continuous in-situ measurements of aerosol optical properties between February 2008 and April 2011, comprising, to our knowledge, the longest database ever in the Amazon Basin. Two major classes of aerosol particles, with significantly different optical properties were identified: coarse mode predominant biogenic aerosols in the wet season (January–June), naturally released by the forest metabolism, and fine mode dominated biomass burning aerosols in the dry season (July–December), transported from regional fires. Dry particle median scattering coefficients at the wavelength of 550 nm increased from 6.3 Mm−1 to 22 Mm−1, whereas absorption at 637 nm increased from 0.5 Mm−1 to 2.8 Mm−1 from wet to dry season. Most of the scattering in the dry season was attributed to the predominance of fine mode (PM2) particles (40–80% of PM10 mass), while the enhanced absorption coefficients are attributed to the presence of light absorbing aerosols from biomass burning. As both scattering and absorption increased in the dry season, the single scattering albedo (SSA) did not show a significant seasonal variability, in average 0.86 ± 0.08 at 637 nm for dry aerosols. Measured particle optical properties were used to estimate the aerosol forcing efficiency at the top of the atmosphere. Results indicate that in this primary forest site the radiative balance was dominated by the cloud cover, particularly in the wet season. Due to the high cloud fractions, the aerosol forcing efficiency absolute values were below −3.5 W m−2 in 70% of the wet season days and in 46% of the dry season days. Besides the seasonal variation, the influence of out-of-Basin aerosol sources was observed occasionally. Periods of influence of the Manaus urban plume were detected, characterized by a consistent increase on particle scattering (factor 2.5) and absorption coefficients (factor 5). Episodes of biomass burning and mineral dust particles advected from Africa were observed between January and April, characterized by enhanced concentrations of crustal elements (Al, Si, Ti, Fe) and potassium in the fine mode. During these episodes, median particle absorption coefficients increased by a factor of 2, whereas median SSA values decreased by 7%, in comparison to wet season conditions.
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    Soot reference materials for instrument calibration and intercomparisons: A workshop summary with recommendations
    (München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2012) Baumgardner, D.; Popovicheva, O.; Allan, J.; Bernardoni, V.; Cao, J.; Cavalli, F.; Cozic, J.; Courcoux, Y.; Diapouli, E.; Eleftheriadis, K.; Genberg, P.J.; Gonzalez, C.; Gysel, M.; John, A.; Kirchstetter, T.W.; Kuhlbusch, T.A.J.; Laborde, M.; Lack, D.; Müller, T.; Niessner, R.; Petzold, A.; Piazzalunga, A.; Putaud, J.P.; Schwarz, J.; Sheridan, P.; Subramanian, R.; Swietlicki, E.; Valli, G.; Vecchi, R.; Viana, M.
    Soot, which is produced from biomass burning and the incomplete combustion of fossil and biomass fuels, has been linked to regional and global climate change and to negative health problems. Scientists measure the properties of soot using a variety of methods in order to quantify source emissions and understand its atmospheric chemistry, reactivity under emission conditions, interaction with solar radiation, influence on clouds, and health impacts. A major obstacle currently limiting progress is the absence of established standards or reference materials for calibrating the many instruments used to measure the various properties of soot. The current state of availability and practicability of soot standard reference materials (SRMs) was reviewed by a group of 50 international experts during a workshop in June of 2011. The workshop was convened to summarize the current knowledge on soot measurement techniques, identify the measurement uncertainties and limitations related to the lack of soot SRMs, and identify attributes of SRMs that, if developed, would reduce measurement uncertainties. The workshop established that suitable SRMs are available for calibrating some, but not all, measurement methods. The community of users of the single-particle soot-photometer (SP2), an instrument using laser-induced incandescence, identified a suitable SRM, fullerene soot, but users of instruments that measure light absorption by soot collected on filters did not. Similarly, those who use thermal optical analysis (TOA) to analyze the organic and elemental carbon components of soot were not satisfied with current SRMs. The workshop, and subsequent, interactive discussions, produced a number of recommendations for the development of new SRMs, and their implementation, that would be suitable for the different soot measurement methods.