Journal
JOURNAL OF ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
Volume 45, Issue 1, Pages 25-33Publisher
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL
DOI: 10.1023/A:1024060428172
Keywords
OH radical; cloud water; humic-like substances; polymerization; aromatic acids; light absorption; complex refractive index of water
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Current climate models seem to underestimate the flux of solar energy absorbed by the global troposphere. All of these models are constrained with the assumption that cloud droplets consist of pure water. Here we demonstrate in a simple laboratory experiment that aromatic hydroxy-cids which are found in continental fine aerosol can react with hydroxyl radicals under typical conditions prevalent in cloud water influenced by biomass burning. The reactions yield colored organic species which do absorb solar radiation. We also suggest that the products of such reactions may be humic-like substances whose presence in continental aerosol has been confirmed but their source mechanisms are still much sought after. We also attempt to give a first order estimate of the enhancement of water absorption at a visible wavelength under atmospheric conditions.
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