Sectoral and geographical contributions to summertime continental United States (CONUS) black carbon spatial distributions

Min Huang; Gregory R Carmichael; Sarika Kulkarni; David G Streets; Zifeng Lu; Qiang Zhang; R. Bradley Pierce; Yutaka Kondo; Jose L Jimenez; Michael J Cubison; Bruce Anderson; Armin Wisthaler

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.01.021

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Sectoral and geographical contributions to summertime continental United States (CONUS) black carbon spatial distributions

Journal article

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Sectoral and geographical contributions to summertime continental United States (CONUS) black carbon spatial distributions

Min Huang, Gregory R Carmichael, Sarika Kulkarni, David G Streets, Zifeng Lu, Qiang Zhang, R. Bradley Pierce, Yutaka Kondo, Jose L Jimenez, Michael J Cubison, …

Atmospheric environment (1994), Vol.51, pp.165-174

05/2012

DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.01.021

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Abstract

The sectoral and regional contributions from northern hemisphere anthropogenic and biomass burning emission sectors to black carbon (BC) distributions over the continental United States (CONUS) in summer 2008 are studied using the Sulfur Transport and dEposition Model (STEM). North American (NA) emissions heavily (>70% of total emissions) affect the BC levels from the surface to ∼5 km, while non-NA plumes compose more than half of the BC above ∼5 km. Among all sectors, NA and non-NA biomass burning, NA transportation and non-NA residential emissions are the major contributors. The sectoral contributions vary among ten regions defined by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA): NA anthropogenic emissions enhance northeastern US BC levels; biomass burning strongly impacts northern California and southeastern US; and the influence of extra-regional plumes is largest in the northwestern US but extends to eastern US. The mean contribution from non-NA sources to US surface BC is ∼0.05 μg m−3, with a maximum value of ∼0.11 μg m−3 in the northwestern US. The non-NA contributions to column BC are higher than to surface BC, ranging from 30% to 80%, depending on region. EPA region 8 is most sensitive to extra-regional BC, partially explaining the observed increasing BC trend there during the past decades associated with the increasing Asian BC emissions. Measurements from the June 24 DC-8 flight during the ARCTAS-CARB field campaign show that BC/(organic matter + nitrate + sulfate) mass ratios fairly well represent BC's warming potential over southern California, which can be approximated by BC/(organic matter + sulfate) and BC/sulfate for plumes affected and unaffected by fires, respectively. The responses of BC/(organic matter + sulfate) and BC/sulfate to removing each emission sector are further discussed, indicating that mitigating NA transportation emissions has the highest potential for regional air quality and climate co-benefits. ► Source contributions to summertime CONUS BC distributions vary among EPA regions. ► Ratios of BC/cooling aerosols can be used to represent plume warming potentials. ► EPA Region 10 receives highest amount of extra-regional BC. ► EPA Region 8 is most sensitive to extra-regional BC.

Black carbon

Sectoral and geographical contributions

Warming potential

Details

Title: Subtitle: Sectoral and geographical contributions to summertime continental United States (CONUS) black carbon spatial distributions
Creators: Min Huang - Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Gregory R Carmichael - Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
Sarika Kulkarni - Center for Global and Regional Environmental Research, The University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA
David G Streets - Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
Zifeng Lu - Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL, USA
Qiang Zhang - Center for Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
R. Bradley Pierce - NOAA/NESDIS, Madison, WI, USA
Yutaka Kondo - Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
Jose L Jimenez - CIRES and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Michael J Cubison - CIRES and Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
Bruce Anderson - NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA
Armin Wisthaler - University of Innsbruck, Innsbruck, Austria
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Atmospheric environment (1994), Vol.51, pp.165-174
DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2012.01.021
ISSN: 1352-2310
eISSN: 1873-2844
Publisher: Elsevier Ltd
Grant note: DOI: 10.13039/100000104, name: NASA, award: NNX08AH56G, NNX11AI52G; name: EPA, award: RD-83503701-0; DOI: 10.13039/100000104, name: NASA, award: NNX08AD39G; name: Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG-ALR); name: Tiroler Zukunftstiftung
Language: English
Date published: 05/2012
Academic Unit: Civil and Environmental Engineering; Nursing; Chemical and Biochemical Engineering
Record Identifier: 9984004192202771

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