Abstract. Thermal–optical analysis is widely adopted for the quantitative
determination of total (TC), organic (OC), and elemental (EC) carbon in
atmospheric aerosol sampled by suitable filters. Nevertheless, the
methodology suffers from several uncertainties and artifacts such as the well-known
issue of charring affecting the OC–EC separation. In the standard approach,
the effect of the possible presence of brown carbon, BrC, in the sample is
neglected. BrC is a fraction of OC, usually produced by biomass burning with
a thermic behavior intermediate between OC and EC. BrC is optically active:
it shows an increasing absorbance when the wavelength moves to the blue–UV
region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Definitively, the thermal–optical
characterization of carbonaceous aerosol should be reconsidered to address
the possible BrC content in the sample under analysis. We introduce here a modified Sunset Lab Inc. EC–OC analyzer. Starting from a
standard commercial instrument, the unit has been modified at the physics
department of the University of Genoa (Italy), making possible the
alternative use of the standard laser diode at λ=635 nm and of
a new laser diode at λ=405 nm. In this way, the optical
transmittance through the sample can be monitored at both wavelengths. Since
at shorter wavelengths the BrC absorbance is higher, a better sensitivity to
this species is gained. The modified instrument also gives the possibility
to quantify the BrC concentration in the sample at both wavelengths. The new
unit has been thoroughly tested, with both artificial and real-world aerosol
samples: the first experiment, in conjunction with the multi-wavelength
absorbance analyzer (MWAA; Massabò et al., 2013, 2015), resulted in
the first direct determination of the BrC mass absorption coefficient (MAC)
at λ=405 nm: MAC =23±1 m2 g−1.
Two-wavelength thermal–optical determination of light-absorbing carbon in atmospheric aerosols
