Abstract
A two-month sampling campaign was carried out from 1 November to 30 December 2019, to investigate the light absorption of aerosols at coastal sites in Qingdao. The average values and standard deviations of the absorption coefficient (OAC) at λ = 1064 nm during the measurement period were 18.52 ± 13.31 Mm−1. Combined with the backward trajectory model, the aerosol absorption coefficient and gas pollution concentration of six possible air mass trajectories were obtained and calculated. The maximum absorption coefficient of local air masses was approximately 20.4 Mm−1 and anthropogenic pollution originated from mainly local sources in the Jiaozhou area. In our measurements at this site, the results also showed that there was a positive correlation between relative humidity (RH) and aerosol absorption. Without considering other factors, the size of aerosol particles grew with the increasing of RH, which changed the nonlinear relationship between the size and the absorption cross section of aerosol particles subsequently. In addition, the correlations between gas pollutants and OAC were calculated. The atmospheric environment is complex in sea–land intersection areas, especially in coastal cities. Analysis of various aerosol sources, meteorological conditions, and gas precursors enhances the study of aerosol optical absorption.
Highlights
Aerosol light absorption plays an important role in the Earth’s radiation budget in terms of direct and semidirect radiative forcing [1,2,3,4]
The characteristics of aerosol light absorption are largely dependent on its size and chemical composition [7,8,9], which are further modified by several factors, including aerosol sources, morphology, and secondary aerosol production [3,10,11]
Carbonaceous aerosols include anthropogenic aerosols, which consist of two major components: black carbon (BC) and organic aerosol (OC) [17]
Summary
Aerosol light absorption plays an important role in the Earth’s radiation budget in terms of direct and semidirect radiative forcing [1,2,3,4]. Carbonaceous aerosols include anthropogenic aerosols, which consist of two major components: black carbon (BC) and organic aerosol (OC) [17]. Both BC and OC are predominantly the result of traffic and wood burning, in urban areas during wintertime, when biological and photochemical activities are negligible [18]. One important aspect of atmospheric sea salt requiring further research is its mixing with gaseous pollutants [27]
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