Aerosol Absorption

We have designed and built three unique photoacoustic spectrometers (PASs) for measuring aerosol absorption.

These PASs operate free from artifacts associated with filter-based instruments.

Multiple wavelengths allows us to measure the shape of absorption spectra.

Black carbon (aka "soot") and brown carbon (absorbing organics) have different absorption spectra.

The difference between black carbon and brown carbon absorption is greatest in the UV/blue region.

We use absorption measurements from the PASs to infer the contributions from black and brown carbon.

We've studied how absorption measured by offline filter-extraction compares to online PAS measurements.

We are also actively developing improved correction strategies for commerically-available filter-based absorption instruments.