Abstract
Carbonaceous aerosol particles emitted from biomass burning (BB) have a large impact on the global climate. In particular, tarball particles (TBs), which are spherical organic aerosol particles, account for a large proportion of aerosol particles from BB. In this study, we collected aerosol particles over the western North Pacific and analyzed them using transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDX) to reveal their shape and composition. We detected TBs and organic carbon particles originating from Siberian forest fires. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case in which a large number of TBs have been found over the Pacific Ocean far from the BB source. The spherical shapes of the TBs were maintained even after long-range transport. In addition, our individual analysis of TBs showed that the size and composition of TBs differ depending on the air mass origin. The occurrence and microphysical properties of TBs are important to accurately evaluate the impact of TBs on climate. Our results imply that TBs can be transported to the Arctic and have an influence on radiative forcing over the ocean and in the Arctic.
Highlights
Biomass burning (BB) emits large amounts of various aerosols and gases and has a significant impact on the global climate
Studies have reported that the occurrence of spherical organic particles refers to tarball particles (TBs) in BB smoke [4,5,6,7,8,9]
Siberian forest fires in samples collected over the western North Pacific, which is commonly affected by air masses originating from Siberian forest fires during summer [12]
Summary
Biomass burning (BB) emits large amounts of various aerosols and gases and has a significant impact on the global climate. Sedlacek et al [8] reported that TBs contributed to approximately 30% of the BB aerosol mass, indicating that TBs are one of the most abundant particles in BB smoke. Siberian forest fires in samples collected over the western North Pacific, which is commonly affected by air masses originating from Siberian forest fires during summer [12]. They were analyzed using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy with transmission electron microscopy (TEM-EDX). This study aims to analyze the occurrence of TBs that were found over the western North Pacific during a research cruise for implications on their climate impacts
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