Light absorption properties and composition of water-soluble brown carbon in North China Plain: implication for an enhancing role of nitrogenous organic compounds
- 1East China Normal University (Shanghai, China)
Abstract
Brown carbon (BrC), an efficiently light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol, exerts significant impacts on the global energy budget and regional climate, attracting growing scientific attention. To advance understanding of the spatial variability of atmospheric BrC and its dominant formation pathways in the North China Plain (NCP), light absorption properties, chemical composition and formation process of the water-soluble BrC in 2023 winter were investigated by conducting simultaneous measurements at five sites across the NCP, namely, Beijing, Tianjin, Luancheng (rural site), Handan and Jinan. Our results showed that the average light absorption coefficient at 365 nm (abs ₃₆₅ ) in Luancheng was approximately 1.1–3.5 times higher than those in urban ones. However, mass absorption efficiency displayed a distinctly different spatial pattern, with the strongest light-absorptivity (1.40 ± 0.02 m ² g ⁻¹ ) recorded in Jinan. Notably, average abs ₃₆₅ in four urban sites exhibited a decline of ∼ 45 % from 2018 to 2023 compared to those previous observations. Furthermore, the light-absorptivity of water-soluble BrC was enhanced from clean to haze period at the most sampling sites along with the increasing N:C ratio, indicating that nitrogenous organic compounds (NOCs) were important chromophores of water-soluble BrC in the NCP. Additionally, These NOCs were found to be closely associated with aqueous reactions, in which ammonia played an important role. These results elucidate the substantial contribution of NOCs to atmospheric BrC in the NCP, and further suggest a potentially important role of NH ₃ emission control in alleviating wintertime haze and BrC pollution under moist conditions in this region.
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BibTeX
@article{wu2026light,
title = {{Light absorption properties and composition of water-soluble brown carbon in North China Plain: implication for an enhancing role of nitrogenous organic compounds}},
author = {Can Wu and Huijun Zhang and Kehan Sun and Rongjie Li and Ziting Yan and Yubao Chen and Zheng Li and Binyu Xiao and Yanqin Ren and Gehui Wang},
journal = {Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.5194/acp-26-14229-2026},
url = {https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/26/14229/2026/},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Light absorption properties and composition of water-soluble brown carbon in North China Plain: implication for an enhancing role of nitrogenous organic compounds
AU - Can Wu
AU - Huijun Zhang
AU - Kehan Sun
AU - Rongjie Li
AU - Ziting Yan
AU - Yubao Chen
AU - Zheng Li
AU - Binyu Xiao
AU - Yanqin Ren
AU - Gehui Wang
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/09
JO - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
DO - 10.5194/acp-26-14229-2026
UR - https://acp.copernicus.org/articles/26/14229/2026/
AB - Brown carbon (BrC), an efficiently light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosol, exerts significant impacts on the global energy budget and regional climate, attracting growing scientific attention. To advance understanding of the spatial variability of atmospheric BrC and its dominant formation pathways in the North China Plain (NCP), light absorption properties, chemical composition and formation process of the water-soluble BrC in 2023 winter were investigated by conducting simultaneous measurements at five sites across the NCP, namely, Beijing, Tianjin, Luancheng (rural site), Handan and Jinan. Our results showed that the average light absorption coefficient at 365 nm (abs ₃₆₅ ) in Luancheng was approximately 1.1–3.5 times higher than those in urban ones. However, mass absorption efficiency displayed a distinctly different spatial pattern, with the strongest light-absorptivity (1.40 ± 0.02 m ² g ⁻¹ ) recorded in Jinan. Notably, average abs ₃₆₅ in four urban sites exhibited a decline of ∼ 45 % from 2018 to 2023 compared to those previous observations. Furthermore, the light-absorptivity of water-soluble BrC was enhanced from clean to haze period at the most sampling sites along with the increasing N:C ratio, indicating that nitrogenous organic compounds (NOCs) were important chromophores of water-soluble BrC in the NCP. Additionally, These NOCs were found to be closely associated with aqueous reactions, in which ammonia played an important role. These results elucidate the substantial contribution of NOCs to atmospheric BrC in the NCP, and further suggest a potentially important role of NH ₃ emission control in alleviating wintertime haze and BrC pollution under moist conditions in this region.
SN - 1680-7324
ER -