Examining the relationship among atmospheric aerosols and light scattering and extinction in the Grand Canyon area

Abstract

During the winter and summer months of 1990 a special study called Project MOHAVE (measurement of haze and visual effects) was carried out with the principle objective of attributing aerosol species to extinction and scattering and the aerosol species to sources and/or source regions. The study area included much of southern California and Nevada, Arizona, and Utah; however, the intensive monitoring sites and primary focus of the study was on the Colorado Plateau of northern Arizona, southern Nevada, and Utah. This paper reports on the apportionment of various aerosol species to measured fine and coarse mass concentrations and these species to scattering and extinction. The study is unique in that a number of “ambient” integrating nephelometers were operated to measure the ambient scattering coefficient, while transmissometers were used to measure atmospheric extinction. Comparison of measured scattering, extinction, and aerosol species concentration, both statistically and theoretically, allows for an estimate of scattering and absorption efficiencies. Analysis suggests that using elemental carbon, derived from thermal optical techniques, to estimate absorption may significantly underestimate absorption. Using elemental carbon, absorption is estimated to be 5% of extinction, while direct measurements of absorption suggest that it is about 30% of measured extinction. Furthermore, because light absorption by soil is usually not accounted for, soil extinction is underestimated by about 30%.