Uncertainties in thermal-optical measurements of black carbon: Insights from source and ambient samples.

Abstract Black carbon (BC) is important due to its complex influences on the environment and on climate in particular. However, reported BC data are largely dependent on measurement techniques due to the multitude of measurement principles. Here we focused on thermal-optical method which has been widely used to determine BC mass (as elemental carbon, EC). Several factors influencing EC measurement were investigated. Results from source samples representing vehicle engine emissions pointed to a continuum of EC components in thermal stability and provided direct observational evidence for the premature evolution of EC in inert atmosphere. It was also found that EC masses may be substantially underestimated for the vehicle exhaust samples if the adopted protocol requires an oxidizing atmosphere to define the split point between organic carbon (OC) and EC. Results from a field campaign conducted during winter in Beijing showed that the optical attenuation (ATN; i.e., the filter transmittance signal, I) was largely saturated for the samples with relatively high loadings, indicating their EC results were unreliable. Improved measurement of EC was achieved by extracting these heavily loaded filters using methanol, given that ATN was considerably reduced by the extraction and, moreover, saturation of ATN (or I) became not evident for the extracted samples. The methanol extraction also significantly reduced the transformation of OC to char-OC, by removing the majority (i.e., ~85%) of the deposited organic aerosols. Higher EC were measured for the extracted samples compared with the untreated ones, indicating that EC tends to be underestimated due to the charring-induced uncertainties. In addition, the methanol extraction largely reduced the inter-protocol discrepancy in the EC measurement results. Similar effects of methanol extraction have been observed during summer in Beijing, despite the seasonal variations of aerosol sources and compositions. This study indicates the potential benefits of methanol extraction for EC measurement. Graphical abstract Unlabelled Image Highlights • There likely exists a continuum of EC components in thermal stability. • The ATN vs. EC loading dependence is an useful indicator for evaluating EC results. • EC measurements can be highly uncertain for heavily-loaded filters. • Methanol extraction of heavily-loaded filters leads to more reliable EC results. • Refined EC measurements have implications for SOA estimation by EC tracer method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]