Stabilization of the Mass Absorption Cross Section of Black Carbon for Filter-Based Absorption Photometry by the use of a Heated Inlet

In principle, mass concentrations of black carbon (BC) (M BC) can be estimated by the measurement of the light absorption coefficient of BC. Filter-based methods, which quantify the absorption coefficient (b abs) from the change in transmission through a filter loaded with particles, have been widely used to measure M BC. However, reliable determination of M BC has been very difficult because of the large variability in the mass absorption cross section (C abs), which is the conversion factor from b abs to M BC. Coating of BC by volatile compounds and the co-existence of light-scattering particles contribute to the variability of C abs. In order to overcome this difficulty, volatile aerosol components were removed before collection of BC particles on filters by heating a section of the inlet to 400°C. We made simultaneous measurements of b abs by two types of photometers (Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and Continuous Soot Monitoring System (COSMOS)) together with M BC by an EC-OC analyzer to determine C abs at 6 locations in Asia. C abs was stable at 10.5 ± 0.7 m2 g −1 at a wavelength of 565 nm for BC strongly impacted by emissions from vehicles and biomass burning. The stable C abs value provides a firm basis for its use in estimating M BC by COSMOS and PSAP with an accuracy of about 10%. For the quantitative interpretation of the ratio of the C abs to the model-calculated C abs∗, we measured C abs for mono-disperse nigrosin particles in the laboratory. The C abs/C abs∗ ratio was 1.4–1.9 at the 100–200 nm diameters, explaining the ratio of 1.8 for ambient BC.