Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Carbonaceous Aerosol Absorption In The Po Valley, Stefania Gilardoni, Paola Massoli, Angela Marinoni, Claudio Mazzoleni, Andrew Freedman, Giovanni Lonati, Silvana De Iuliis, Vorne Gianelle

Michigan Tech Publications

Knowledge gaps in the optical properties of carbonaceous aerosols account for a significant fraction of the uncertainty of aerosol-light interactions in climate models. Both black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC) can display a range of optical properties in ambient aerosol due to different sources and chemical transformation pathways. This study investigates the optical absorption properties of BC and BrC at an urban and a rural site in the Po Valley (Italy), a known European pollution hot spot. We observed spatial and seasonal variability of aerosol absorption coefficients, with the highest values measured in winter at the urban site of …