Improving Characterization of Aerosol Optical Properties: Combined Measurements of Angle-resolved Scattering and Ultraviolet-visible Absorption

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This project focuses on the development of new instrumentation for measuring the optical properties of atmospheric aerosol. These instruments will provide measurements of light scattering and absorption by aerosols and enable better characterization of soot particles and particles containing black and brown carbon. A better understanding of the optical properties of atmospheric aerosol is needed for more accurate ground-based and satellite retrievals of data on atmospheric aerosols and for developing improved global climate models.This research will: (1) build a portable 3-wavelength polar nephelometer to measure light scattering by particles as a function of angle and light polarization; (2) expand the capabilities for measuring ambient aerosol absorption by adding a near-IR channel to a photoacoustic spectrophotometer (PAS), building a UV PAS instrument, and constructing a thermodenuder to better measure the black and brown carbon components of absorption, and (3) more accurately measure the optical properties of soot (black and black carbon) and especially those properties associated with aerosol coatings.