Mixing State and Fractal Dimension of Soot Particles at a Remote Site in the Southeastern Tibetan Plateau

The mixing state and fractal dimension (D-f) of soot particles are two major factors affecting their absorption capacity and their climate effects. Here we investigated these factors of soot particles found in a typical valley of the southeastern Tibetan Plateau where wood burning in local villages was one major source of soot particles. Our motivation revealed D-f and the aging property of soot particles in remote air and discussed their regional climatic implications. We found that 64% of total analyzed particles by number were soot-bearing particles and most of them aged with sulfate or organic coating. The D-f sequence is bare-like soot (1.75 +/- 0.08) < partly coated soot (1.82 +/- 0.05) < embedded soot (1.88 +/- 0.05). The aging process enlarged the overall size of the soot-bearing particles and increased the compactness of soot. Soot aging critically depended on high relative humidity (RH) during nighttime. Besides emission sources and coating processes, the coating aerosol phase under different RHs is another important factor affecting the soot D-f.