Light absorption properties of black and brown carbon during the prescribed burning season at an urban background site in Brisbane, Australia

Abstract

Light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols primarily comprise black carbon (BC) and brown carbon (BrC), and they play a key role in atmospheric radiative forcing and global climate. Here, we present the light absorption, potential sources, and health risks of BC and BrC during the prescribed burning season at an urban background site in Brisbane based on the measurements with a seven-wavelength aethalometer. The enhancements in light absorption at 880 nm were potentially governed by the transport of prescribed burning emissions. Source apportionment results revealed that fossil-fuel (FF) combustion contributed more to the total equivalent BC (eBC) (67%) over the entire measurement period as compared to biomass burning (BB). The percentages of secondary BrC to BrC for BB- and FF-dominated periods were 60% and 21%, respectively, indicating the greater potential of BB emissions to form secondary BrC compared to FF emissions. The diurnal trend showed that the peaks of secondary BrC occurred at nighttime with high relative humidity, implying that the formation of secondary BrC was potentially associated with aqueous reactions. Potential source contribution function (PSCF) results suggested that air masses originating from southern and northern Brisbane were the potential pollution sources, where BB and traffic emissions were dominant. In addition, the health risks of eBC (based on equivalent numbers of passively smoked cigarettes) remarkably increased for periods with elevated eBC emissions, potentially originating from prescribed burns. These findings contribute to our understanding of the impact of BB on the light absorption properties of BC and BrC and could serve as a reference for government officials when performing prescribed burns with reduced environmental and health effects.