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Updated: Oct 24, 2025

Split Point Analysis and Uncertainty Quantification of Thermal-Optical Organic/Elemental Carbon Measurements
Published on: September 7, 2019
Spatial and temporal variability of brown carbon in United States: implications for direct radiative effects
Nicole June1, Xuan Wang2, L-W Antony Chen3
1Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK, USA.
Abstract:
A newly developed dataset from the Interagency Monitoring of PROtected Visual Environments (IMPROVE) observation network, combined with a 3-D chemical transport model, is used to evaluate the spatial and temporal variability of brown carbon (BrC) in the United States. The model with BrC emitted from biomass burning and biofuel emissions agrees with the seasonal and spatial variability of BrC planetary boundary layer (PBL) absorption aerosol optical depth (AAOD) observations within a factor of 2. The model without whitening, the tendency for absorption to decrease with aerosol aging, overestimates the observed BrC PBL AAOD, and does not reflect the measured BrC PBL AAOD spatial variability. The model shows higher absorption direct radiative effects (DRE) from BrC at northern high latitudes than at mid-latitudes in spring and summer, due to boreal fire emissions, long whitening lifetimes and high surface albedos. These findings highlight the need to study BrC over the Arctic region.
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