Open AccessVisibility deterioration and hygroscopic growth of biomass burning aerosols over a tropical coastal city: a case study over Singapore's airport
Author(s) -
Lee ShaoYi,
Gan Christopher,
Chew Boon Ning
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
atmospheric science letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.951
H-Index - 45
ISSN - 1530-261X
DOI - 10.1002/asl.712
Subject(s) - haze , visibility , environmental science , aerosol , relative humidity , smoke , meteorology , tropical cyclone , atmospheric sciences , air pollution , biomass burning , climatology , geography , geology , chemistry , organic chemistry
Biomass burning in the Maritime Continent frequently results in region‐wide haze pollution, causing concerns for aviation and maritime navigation. Indonesian peat smoke is high in sulfates and water soluble organic carbon, and we show that in Singapore, particle hygroscopic growth results in a strongly non‐linear relationship between visibility and aerosol concentration under humid conditions. Thus, even for a tropical coastal city, the consideration of ambient relative humidity is desirable when forecasting for visibility deterioration caused by haze aerosols.