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Numerical investigation on the Ångström exponent of black carbon aerosol
Author(s) -
Li Ji,
Liu Chao,
Yin Yan,
Kumar K. Raghavendra
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2015jd024718
Subject(s) - angstrom exponent , fractal , spheres , fractal dimension , extinction (optical mineralogy) , exponent , physics , aerosol , particle (ecology) , particle size , wavelength , rayleigh scattering , carbon black , geometry , materials science , optics , chemistry , mathematics , composite material , mathematical analysis , linguistics , philosophy , oceanography , natural rubber , astronomy , meteorology , geology
Black carbon (BC) plays an important role on the global and regional climate, whereas there are significant uncertainties on its optical properties. Among various optical properties, the Ångström exponent (AE) indicates the spectral variation of the particle‐optic interaction and is widely used to understand the aerosol properties. We consider the influence of BC geometry on its optical properties and assess the sensitivity of the AE to particle geometry and size distribution. The fractal aggregates with different fractal dimensions are used to represent realistic BC particles, and popular equivalent volume spherical and spheroidal models are also considered for comparison. Even if the fractal aggregates become highly compact and spherical, their optical properties are still significantly different from those of equivalent volume spheres or spheroids. Meanwhile, the Rayleigh‐Debye‐Gans approximation can hardly provide accurate results for all optical quantities of aggregates with different dimensions. The extinction Ångström exponent (EAE) and absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) are sensitive to both particle geometry and size distribution. With BC becoming more compact (from fractal aggregate to spheroid and to sphere), the AE becomes more sensitive to particle size distribution. The EAE and AAE of aggregates with different size distributions vary between 1.10–1.63 and 0.87–1.50, respectively, whereas those of the spheres or spheroids have wider ranges. Furthermore, the AE at smaller wavelengths (between 0.35 µm and 0.55 µm) is more sensitive to geometry and size distribution than that given by optical properties at larger wavelengths (between 0.55 µm and 0.88 µm).