Visibility deterioration and hygroscopic growth of biomass burning aerosols over a tropical coastal city: a case study over Singapore's airport

Biomass burning in the Maritime Continent frequently results in region-wide haze pollution, causing concerns for aviation and maritime navigation. Indonesian peat smoke is high in sulfates and water soluble organic carbon, and we show that in Singapore, particle hygroscopic growth results in a strongly non-linear relationship between visibility and aerosol concentration under humid conditions. Thus, even for a tropical coastal city, the consideration of ambient relative humidity is desirable when forecasting for visibility deterioration caused by haze aerosols.