Eighth Conference on Atmospheric Chemistry

1.5

A Brief History of Aerosol Carbon Analytical Methods

Jeffrey S. Gaffney, ANL, Argonne, IL; and N. A. Marley

The history of carbonaceous aerosol characterization will be examined and reviewed with particular attention given to work done before 1985. The methods used that have led to the terms, black carbon, elemental carbon, and graphitic carbon will be described, and some of the past and current difficulties with the analytical characterization of an organic heterogeneous mixture discussed. Highlighted will be past work making use of thermal evolution methods, optical absorption, and spectroscopic characterization. Also the use of stable and radioisotopic measurements to aid in source determination will be reviewed in this talk.

This work was supported by the US Dept. of Energy's Atmospheric Science Program. The authors wish to thank Mr. Rick Petty of the U.S. DOE for his continuing support and encouragement.

extended abstract  Extended Abstract (192K)

Session 1, Aerosols—Radiative Impacts and Visibility Reduction
Monday, 30 January 2006, 9:00 AM-11:45 AM, A408

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