Light absorption properties of black and brown carbon in winter over the North China Plain: Impacts of regional biomass burning

Abstract

Biomass burning (BB) is an important source of brown carbon (BrC) and black carbon (BC), which are two key highly absorbent substances in atmospheric particles and can have a substantial positive impact on the climate radiative forcing. This study presents the light absorption properties of BC and BrC in PM2.5 during the winter in Beijing, with a discussion on the regional transportation of the light absorption of BC and BrC. Relatively high levels of the light absorption coefficient (Absλ) of BC, BrC, and the chemical compounds were found during haze episodes. The average AbsBC at λ = 880 and AbsBrC at λ = 370 during the haze period were as high as 4.4 and 2.9 times higher than those during the clean periods. The biomass burning tracer levoglucosan was significantly correlated with AbsBC880 (R2 = 0.53, P < 0.001), AbsBrC370 (R2 = 0.47, P < 0.001) and AbsBC(BB) (R2 = 0.69, P < 0.001). The average contributions of biomass burning to organic carbon (OC) and AbsBC were 33% and 48%, respectively, indicating that biomass burning was an important source of light-absorbing substances in the atmosphere. Concentration-weighted trajectory (CWT) analyses using TrajStat software also demonstrated that regional transport of biomass burning emissions from the northwestern and southwestern areas, which cover the intense fire spots from VIIRS, had a considerable influence on the light absorption properties of PM2.5 and even haze formation in Beijing during the winter.