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www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/10669/2007/
doi:10.5194/acpd-7-10669-2007
© Author(s) 2007. This work is licensed
under a Creative Commons License.
Spectral absorption properties of atmospheric aerosols
1Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Sonoma, CA, USA
2Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO 80309-0311, USA
3NASA Ames Research Center. Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000, USA
4Bay Area Environmental Research Institute, Ventura, CA 93003, USA
5University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, IL, USA
6Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Seattle, Washington, USA
7Institute for Atmospheric and Climatic Studies, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
Abstract. We have determined the solar spectral absorption optical depth of atmospheric aerosols for specific case studies during several field programs (three cases have been reported previously; two are new results). We combined airborne measurements of the solar net radiant flux density and the aerosol optical depth with a detailed radiative transfer model for all but one of the cases. The field programs (SAFARI 2000, ACE Asia, PRIDE, TARFOX, INTEX-A) contained aerosols representing the major absorbing aerosol types: pollution, biomass burning, desert dust and mixtures. In all cases the spectral absorption optical depth decreases with wavelength and can be approximated with a power-law wavelength dependence (Absorption Angstrom Exponent or AAE). We compare our results with other recent spectral absorption measurements and discuss the limitations in using the AAE for calculating the solar absorption. We also discuss the resulting spectral single scattering albedo for these cases.
Discussion Paper (PDF, 498 KB) Interactive Discussion (Closed, 5 Comments) Final Revised Paper (ACP)
Notice on Discussion StatusCitation: Bergstrom, R. W., Pilewskie, P., Russell, P. B., Redemann, J., Bond, T. C., Quinn, P. K., and Sierau, B.: Spectral absorption properties of atmospheric aerosols, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 7, 10669-10686, doi:10.5194/acpd-7-10669-2007, 2007. Bibtex EndNote Reference Manager XML
