Measurement report: Quantifying source contribution and radiative forcing of fossil fuel and biomass burning black carbon aerosol in the southeastern margin of Tibetan Plateau

Black carbon (BC) aerosol plays a vital role in disturbing the balance of ecosystem and climate stability of Tibetan Plateau (TP). An intensive campaign was carried out from 14th March to 12th May 2018 in the southeastern margin of TP to investigate the sources of BC and their radiative effects. To do so, an improved aethalometer model was used to distinguish and apportion BC into fossil fuel combustion source and biomass burning source. To minimize the uncertainty associated with the aethalometer model, a receptor model coupling multi-wavelength absorption with chemical species was used to retrieve the site-dependent Ångström exponent (AAE) and BC mass absorption cross-section (MAC). The results show that the AAEs and BC MACs at wavelength of 880 nm were 0.9 and 12.3 m2 g−1 for fossil fuel source and 1.7 and 10.4 m2 g−1 for biomass burning, respectively. Based on these parameters, the fossil fuel source-related BC (BCfossil) was estimated 43 % of the total BC and the rest 57 % was from biomass burning (BCbiomass) during the campaign. The results from a regional chemical dynamical model reveal that high BCbiomass was contributed from the northeastern India and northern Burma, and the Southeast Asia can explain 40 % of BCbiomass. The high BCfossil was mainly identified from the southeast of sampling site. A radiative transfer model estimated that the atmospheric directive radiative forcing of BC was +4.6 ± 2.4 W m−2 on average, including +2.5 ± 1.8 W m−2 from BCbiomass, and +2.1 ± 0.9 W m−2 from BCfossil, which correspond to and heating rates of 0.07 ± 0.05 and 0.06 ± 0.02 K day−1, respectively. Our study will be useful for improving our understanding in BC sources on the TP and their climatic effect.