Aerosols can both absorb and scatter light in the atmosphere and there is a lot of uncertainty in their net effect on warming of the climate due to their complicated optical properties. In this project, a new highly sensitive photoacoustic instrument is developed, which can measure aerosol absorption coefficient directly from aerosol flow. In contrast, the absorption is conventionally studied by collecting an aerosol sample on a filter, where the material properties of the filter itself affect the measurement results. The new instrument is used to study absorption properties of black carbon and mineral dust, two aerosols with high impact on climate and air quality.

2024

2028