Critical role of single-particle partial coating fractions in reproducing black carbon absorption and refining climate simulations
8 affiliations
- 1College of Communication Engineering, Hangzhou Dianzi University
- 2Zhejiang Academy of Emergency Management Science and Technology
- 3State Key Laboratory of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth & Key Laboratory of Satellite Remote Sensing of Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences
- 4Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Silviculture, Protection and Utilization, Guangdong Academy of Forestry
- 5State Key Laboratory of Fire Science, University of Science and Technology of China
- 6The Administrative Center for China’s Agenda 21
- 7Department of Earth System Science, Stanford University
- 8College of Energy Environment and Safety Engineering, China Jiliang University
Abstract
Black carbon (BC) significantly influences global warming, but uncertainties in its absorption enhancement (E abs) cause large discrepancies in radiative forcing estimates. This study aims to explain the low absorption enhancement observations in the field that current models tend to overestimate by identifying incomplete particle coating, quantified by coating fraction F, as a key regulator. Observations show environmental constraints maintain F ≪ 1, reducing lensing efficiency. A new unified mixing framework incorporates a size-resolved parameterization linking F and coating-to-core mass ratio R coating, bridging model-observation gaps. Integrating empirical F distributions into Mie-based models retains complex simulation accuracy while reducing computational cost drastically, enabling scalable climate model implementation. Validation with single-particle soot photometer data confirms reduced absorption overestimation across diverse regimes. Including F distributions lowers global BC direct radiative forcing by ~40% (from +0.53 ± 0.13 to +0.32 ± 0.08 W m−2) relative to uniform mixing models. This establishes particle-scale coating coverage as a critical missing variable in BC forcing assessment, providing an observationally anchored pathway to reduce climate projection uncertainties.
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BibTeX
@article{luo2026critical,
title = {{Critical role of single-particle partial coating fractions in reproducing black carbon absorption and refining climate simulations}},
author = {Jie Luo and Congcong Li and Zhengqiang Li and Yangpeng Liu and Qixing Zhang and Zheng Shi and Weizhen Hou and Chenchong Zhang and Hao He and Dongmei Huang and Miao Hu},
journal = {npj Climate and Atmospheric Science},
year = {2026},
month = jun,
doi = {10.1038/s41612-026-01470-0},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-026-01470-0},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Critical role of single-particle partial coating fractions in reproducing black carbon absorption and refining climate simulations
AU - Jie Luo
AU - Congcong Li
AU - Zhengqiang Li
AU - Yangpeng Liu
AU - Qixing Zhang
AU - Zheng Shi
AU - Weizhen Hou
AU - Chenchong Zhang
AU - Hao He
AU - Dongmei Huang
AU - Miao Hu
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/06/01
JO - npj Climate and Atmospheric Science
DO - 10.1038/s41612-026-01470-0
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-026-01470-0
AB - Black carbon (BC) significantly influences global warming, but uncertainties in its absorption enhancement (E abs) cause large discrepancies in radiative forcing estimates. This study aims to explain the low absorption enhancement observations in the field that current models tend to overestimate by identifying incomplete particle coating, quantified by coating fraction F, as a key regulator. Observations show environmental constraints maintain F ≪ 1, reducing lensing efficiency. A new unified mixing framework incorporates a size-resolved parameterization linking F and coating-to-core mass ratio R coating, bridging model-observation gaps. Integrating empirical F distributions into Mie-based models retains complex simulation accuracy while reducing computational cost drastically, enabling scalable climate model implementation. Validation with single-particle soot photometer data confirms reduced absorption overestimation across diverse regimes. Including F distributions lowers global BC direct radiative forcing by ~40% (from +0.53 ± 0.13 to +0.32 ± 0.08 W m−2) relative to uniform mixing models. This establishes particle-scale coating coverage as a critical missing variable in BC forcing assessment, providing an observationally anchored pathway to reduce climate projection uncertainties.
SN - 2397-3722
ER -