scholarly journals Overview of aerosol optical properties over southern West Africa from DACCIWA aircraft measurements

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 4735-4756 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyrielle Denjean ◽  
Thierry Bourrianne ◽  
Frederic Burnet ◽  
Marc Mallet ◽  
Nicolas Maury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Carbon Particles ◽  
Biomass Burning Particles

Abstract. Southern West Africa (SWA) is an African pollution hotspot but a relatively poorly sampled region of the world. We present an overview of in situ aerosol optical measurements collected over SWA in June and July 2016 as part as of the DACCIWA (Dynamics-Aerosol-Chemistry-Clouds Interactions in West Africa) airborne campaign. The aircraft sampled a wide range of air masses, including anthropogenic pollution plumes emitted from the coastal cities, long-range transported biomass burning plumes from central and southern Africa and dust plumes from the Sahara and Sahel region, as well as mixtures of these plumes. The specific objective of this work is to characterize the regional variability of the vertical distribution of aerosol particles and their spectral optical properties (single scattering albedo: SSA, asymmetry parameter, extinction mass efficiency, scattering Ångström exponent and absorption Ångström exponent: AAE). The first findings indicate that aerosol optical properties in the planetary boundary layer were dominated by a widespread and persistent biomass burning loading from the Southern Hemisphere. Despite a strong increase in aerosol number concentration in air masses downwind of urban conglomerations, spectral SSA were comparable to the background and showed signatures of the absorption characteristics of biomass burning aerosols. In the free troposphere, moderately to strongly absorbing aerosol layers, dominated by either dust or biomass burning particles, occurred occasionally. In aerosol layers dominated by mineral dust particles, SSA varied from 0.81 to 0.92 at 550 nm depending on the variable proportion of anthropogenic pollution particles externally mixed with the dust. For the layers dominated by biomass burning particles, aerosol particles were significantly more light absorbing than those previously measured in other areas (e.g. Amazonia, North America), with SSA ranging from 0.71 to 0.77 at 550 nm. The variability of SSA was mainly controlled by variations in aerosol composition rather than in aerosol size distribution. Correspondingly, values of AAE ranged from 0.9 to 1.1, suggesting that lens-coated black carbon particles were the dominant absorber in the visible range for these biomass burning aerosols. Comparison with the literature shows a consistent picture of increasing absorption enhancement of biomass burning aerosol from emission to remote location and underscores that the evolution of SSA occurred a long time after emission. The results presented here build a fundamental basis of knowledge about the aerosol optical properties observed over SWA during the monsoon season and can be used in climate modelling studies and satellite retrievals. In particular and regarding the very high absorbing properties of biomass burning aerosols over SWA, our findings suggest that considering the effect of internal mixing on absorption properties of black carbon particles in climate models should help better assess the direct and semi-direct radiative effects of biomass burning particles.

scholarly journals Light absorption properties of aerosols over Southern West Africa

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cyrielle Denjean ◽  
Thierry Bourrianne ◽  
Frederic Burnet ◽  
Marc Mallet ◽  
Nicolas Maury ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Absorption Properties ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Carbon Particles ◽  
Biomass Burning Aerosol ◽  
Biomass Burning Particles

Abstract. Southern West Africa (SWA) is an African pollution hotspot but a relatively poorly sampled region of the world. We present an overview of in-situ aerosol optical measurements collected over SWA in June and July 2016 as part as the DACCIWA (Dynamics–Aerosol–Chemistry–Clouds Interactions in West Africa) airborne campaign. The aircraft sampled a wide range of air masses, including anthropogenic pollution plumes emitted from the coastal cities, long-range transported biomass burning plumes from Central and Southern Africa and dust plumes from the Sahara and Sahel region, as well as mixtures of these plumes. The specific objective of this work is to characterize the regional variability of the vertical distribution of aerosol particles and their spectral optical properties (single scattering albedo: SSA, asymmetry parameter, extinction mass efficiency, scattering Ångström exponent and absorption Ångström exponent: AAE). First findings indicate that aerosol optical properties in the planetary boundary layer were dominated by a widespread and persistent biomass burning loading from the Southern Hemisphere. Despite a strong increase of aerosol number concentration in air masses downwind of urban conglomerations, spectral SSA were comparable to the background and showed signatures of the absorption characteristics of biomass burning aerosols. In the free troposphere, moderately to strongly absorbing aerosol layers, dominated by either dust or biomass burning particles, occurred occasionally. In aerosol layers dominated by mineral dust particles, SSA varied from 0.81 to 0.92 at 550 nm depending on the variable proportion of anthropogenic pollution particles externally mixed with the dust. Biomass burning aerosol particles were significantly more light absorbing than those previously measured in other areas (e.g. Amazonia, North America) with SSA ranging from 0.71 to 0.77 at 550 nm. The variability of SSA was mainly controlled by variations in aerosol composition rather than in aerosol size distribution. Correspondingly, values of AAE ranged from 0.9 to 1.1, suggesting that lens-coated black carbon particles were the dominant absorber in the visible range for these biomass burning aerosols. Comparison with literature shows a consistent picture of increasing absorption enhancement of biomass burning aerosol from emission to remote location and underscores that the evolution of SSA occurred a long time after emission. The results presented here build a fundamental basis of knowledge about the aerosol optical properties observed over SWA during the monsoon season and can be used in climate modelling studies and satellite retrievals. In particular and regarding the very high absorbing properties of biomass burning aerosols over SWA, our findings suggest that considering the effect of internal mixing on absorption properties of black carbon particles in climate models should help better assessing the direct and semi-direct radiative effects of biomass burning particles.

High resolution Aerosol Radiative Effects over Europe using detailed optical properties from the Chemical Transport Model PMCAMx

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marios Bruno Korras Carraca ◽  
Dimitris Manetas ◽  
David Patoulias ◽  
Spyros Pandis ◽  
Nikolaos Hatzianastassiou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Temporal Resolution ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Transport Model ◽  
Aerosol Particles ◽  
Chemical Transport ◽  
Chemical Transport Model ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Spatio Temporal

<p>Natural and anthropogenic aerosol particles are major drivers of the Earth’s radiation budget, which they affect directly (through scattering and absorption) and indirectly (through modification of cloud scattering and precipitation properties), while they semi-directly influence atmospheric stability and convection, mainly through modification of solar radiation absorption by the atmosphere. Despite the important climatic role of aerosols, large uncertainties in their radiative effects remain due to limited knowledge of the aerosol spatio-temporal distribution and physico-chemical properties. The interaction of aerosols with radiation is strongly dependent on their optical properties, which in turn are controlled by the particles’ size distribution, shape, chemical composition and mixing state. In order to accurately estimate the magnitude of the aerosol direct radiative effect (DRE), detailed knowledge of their optical properties with high spatial and temporal resolution is required.</p><p>The European continent is a region of particular interest for studying atmospheric aerosol effects, because of the presence of  numerous and varying sources of particles and their precursors, such as industries, large urban centers and biomass burning, especially when combined with high levels of solar insolation during summer. In this study, the aerosol DRE over Europe is examined using the FORTH deterministic spectral radiative transfer model (RTM) and aerosol data from the chemical transport model PMCAMx. Chemically and size resolved aerosol concentrations predicted by PMCAMx are combined with a Mie model to calculate key aerosol optical properties (i.e. vertically resolved aerosol optical depth, single scattering albedo and asymmetry parameter) that are necessary to compute aerosol DRE using the RTM. The Mie model takes into account concentrations of organics, black carbon, sulfate, nitrate, ammonium, chlorine, sodium, water, and crustal material, and calculates aerosol optical properties assuming that the aerosol particles of the same size are internally mixed. The DRE is estimated at the Earth’s surface, within the atmospheric column and at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), at high spatial and temporal resolution (36 × 36 km grids, 27 vertical layers, hourly), during June and July 2012.</p><p>Initial modelling results reveal that DREs exhibit significant spatio-temporal variability, due to the heterogeneity of source emissions rates, mostly with regard to wildfires, and the varying synoptic conditions. Emphasis is thus given to biomass burning aerosols, which are among the most significant radiative forcing agents in Europe during summer. Their relative forcing is computed by performing model computations with and without biomass burning emissions.</p>

scholarly journals Influence of biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions on ozone, carbon monoxide and black carbon concentrations at the Mt. Cimone GAW-WMO global station (Italy, 2165 m a.s.l.)

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 21399-21435 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Cristofanelli ◽  
F. Fierli ◽  
A. Marinoni ◽  
R. Duchi ◽  
J. Burkhart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Air Masses

Abstract. This work investigates the variability of ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and equivalent black carbon (BC) concentrations at the Italian Climate Observatory "O. Vittori" (ICO-OV), part of the Mt. Cimone global GAW-WMO station (Italy). For this purpose, ICO-OV observations carried out in the period January 2007–June 2009, have been analysed and correlated with the output of the FLEXPART Lagrangian dispersion model to specifically evaluate the influence of biomass burning (BB) and anthropogenic emissions younger than 20 days. During the investigation period, the average O3, CO and BC concentrations at ICO-OV were 54 ± 3 ppbv, 122 ± 7 ppbv and 213 ± 34 ng m−3 (mean ± expanded uncertainty with p<95%), with clear seasonal cycles characterized by summer maxima and winter minima for O3 and BC and spring maximum and summer minimum for CO. According to FLEXPART output, BB impact is maximized during the warm months from July to September but appeared to have a significant contribution to the observed tracer concentrations only during specific transport events. We characterised in detail five major events with respect to transport scales (i.e. global, regional and local), source regions and O3, CO and BC variations. For these events, very large variability of enhancement ratios O3/CO (from −0.22 to 0.71) and BC/CO (from 2.69 to 29.83 ng m−3 ppbv−1) were observed. CO related with anthropogenic emissions (COant) contributed to 17.4% of the mean CO value observed at ICO-OV, with the warm months appearing particularly affected by transport events of air-masses rich in anthropogenic pollution. The proportion of tracer variability that is described by FLEXPART COant peaked to 37% (in May–September) for CO, 19% (in May–September) for O3 and 32% (in January–April) for BC. During May–September, the analysis of the correlation among CO, O3 and BC as a function of the COant indicated that ICO-OV was influenced by air-masses rich in anthropogenic pollution transported from the regional to the global scale. On the other side, CO and O3 were negatively correlated during October–December, when FLEXPART does not show significant presence of recent anthropogenic emissions and only a few observations are characterized by enhanced BC. Such behaviour may be attributed to an ensemble of processes concurrent in enhancing O3 with low CO (upper troposphere/lower stratosphere intrusions) and O3 titration by NO in polluted air-masses along with lower photochemical activity. An intermediate situation occurs in January–April when CO and O3 were almost uncorrelated and BC enhancements were associated to relatively old (10 days) anthropogenic emissions.

scholarly journals Variability of aerosol vertical distribution in the Sahel

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (24) ◽  
pp. 12005-12023 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Cavalieri ◽  
F. Cairo ◽  
F. Fierli ◽  
G. Di Donfrancesco ◽  
M. Snels ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Vertical Distribution ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Dry Season ◽  
Aerosol Transport ◽  
Air Masses ◽  
Monsoon Flow ◽  
Biomass Burning Aerosol

Abstract. In this work, we have studied the seasonal and inter-annual variability of the aerosol vertical distribution over Sahelian Africa for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008, characterizing the different kind of aerosols present in the atmosphere in terms of their optical properties observed by ground-based and satellite instruments, and their sources searched for by using trajectory analysis. This study combines data acquired by three ground-based micro lidar systems located in Banizoumbou (Niger), Cinzana (Mali) and M'Bour (Senegal) in the framework of the African Monsoon Multidisciplinary Analysis (AMMA), by the AEROsol RObotic NETwork (AERONET) sun-photometers and by the space-based Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) onboard the CALIPSO satellite (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Observations). During winter, the lower levels air masses arriving in the Sahelian region come mainly from North, North-West and from the Atlantic area, while in the upper troposphere air flow generally originates from West Africa, crossing a region characterized by the presence of large biomass burning sources. The sites of Cinzana, Banizoumbou and M'Bour, along a transect of aerosol transport from East to West, are in fact under the influence of tropical biomass burning aerosol emission during the dry season, as revealed by the seasonal pattern of the aerosol optical properties, and by back-trajectory studies. Aerosol produced by biomass burning are observed mainly during the dry season and are confined in the upper layers of the atmosphere. This is particularly evident for 2006, which was characterized by a large presence of biomass burning aerosols in all the three sites. Biomass burning aerosol is also observed during spring when air masses originating from North and East Africa pass over sparse biomass burning sources, and during summer when biomass burning aerosol is transported from the southern part of the continent by the monsoon flow. During summer months, the entire Sahelian region is under the influence of Saharan dust aerosols: the air masses in low levels arrive from West Africa crossing the Sahara desert or from the Southern Hemisphere crossing the Guinea Gulf while in the upper layers air masses still originate from North, North-East. The maximum of the desert dust activity is observed in this period which is characterized by large AOD (above 0.2) and backscattering values. It also corresponds to a maximum in the extension of the aerosol vertical distribution (up to 6 km of altitude). In correspondence, a progressive cleaning up of the lowermost layers of the atmosphere is occurring, especially evident in the Banizoumbou and Cinzana sites. Summer is in fact characterized by extensive and fast convective phenomena. Lidar profiles show at times large dust events loading the atmosphere with aerosol from the ground up to 6 km of altitude. These events are characterized by large total attenuated backscattering values, and alternate with very clear profiles, sometimes separated by only a few hours, indicative of fast removal processes occurring, likely due to intense convective and rain activity. The inter-annual variability in the three year monitoring period is not very significant. An analysis of the aerosol transport pathways, aiming at detecting the main source regions, revealed that air originated from the Saharan desert is present all year long and it is observed in the lower levels of the atmosphere at the beginning and at the end of the year. In the central part of the year it extends upward and the lower levels are less affected by air masses from Saharan desert when the monsoon flow carries air from the Guinea Gulf and the Southern Hemisphere inland.

scholarly journals Long-term simulations (2001–2006) of biomass burning and mineral dust optical properties over West Africa: comparisons with new satellite retrievals

2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 28587-28626 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Malavelle ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
V. Pont ◽  
C. Liousse ◽  
F. Solmon
Keyword(s):  
Remote Sensing ◽  
Optical Properties ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Regional Scale ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Deep Blue ◽  
Satellite Retrievals

Abstract. The West African region is characterized by large concentrations of smoke and biomass burning aerosols, which could significantly modify the regional radiative budget and the hydrological cycle. Here, we propose long-term (2001–2006) RegCM simulations of aerosol optical properties over West Africa together with their spectral dependences. Results of simulations are evaluated at local and regional scale by using surface network (AERONET/PHOTON) and remote sensing observations (MODIS, MISR, OMI) especially during the dry season, December-January-February, DJF. New original satellite retrievals are tested and compared to RegCM simulations. Concerning AOD, we obtain values in agreement with AERONET/PHOTON observations at the local scale but some differences clearly appear between simulated AOD and regional MISR, OMI and MODIS view, especially over (1) the central Africa and (2) the gulf of Guinea during DJF. Concerning simulated SSA (for visible wavelengths), our results display (1) comparable values with level 2 AERONET/PHOTON local observations together with (2) non negligible differences with satellite (MODIS Deep blue, OMI and MISR products) observations. In most cases, satellite SSA is found to be higher than those simulated by RegCM and retrieved through AERONET/PHOTON network. In parallel, we also note significant differences on retrieved SSA from each satellite (OMI, MISR, MODIS Deep Blue) remote sensing techniques over this specific region. Finally, our work highlights that the spectral dependence of aerosol optical properties is a useful parameter to adapt so that modeled simulations should be be better evaluated and constrained.

scholarly journals Influence of biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions on ozone, carbon monoxide and black carbon at the Mt. Cimone GAW-WMO global station (Italy, 2165 m a.s.l.)

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Cristofanelli ◽  
F. Fierli ◽  
A. Marinoni ◽  
F. Calzolari ◽  
R. Duchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Monoxide ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Dispersion Model ◽  
Anthropogenic Pollution ◽  
Global Scale ◽  
Local Source ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Large Variability ◽  
Air Masses

Abstract. This work investigates the variability of ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO) and equivalent black carbon (BC) at the Italian Climate Observatory "O. Vittori" (ICO-OV), part of the Mt. Cimone global GAW-WMO station (Italy). For this purpose, ICO-OV observations carried out in the period January 2007–June 2009, have been analyzed and correlated with the outputs of the FLEXPART Lagrangian dispersion model to specifically evaluate the influence of biomass burning (BB) and anthropogenic emissions younger than 20 days. During the investigation period, the average O3, CO and BC at ICO-OV were 54 ± 3 ppb, 122 ± 7 ppb and 213 ± 34 ng m−3 (mean ± expanded uncertainty with p < 95%), with clear seasonal cycles characterized by summer maxima and winter minima for O3 and BC and spring maximum and summer minimum for CO. According to FLEXPART outputs, BB impact is maximized during the warm months from July to September but appeared to have a significant contribution to the observed tracers only during specific transport events. We characterised in detail five "representative" events with respect to transport scales (i.e. global, regional and local), source regions and O3, CO and BC variations. For these events, very large variability of enhancement ratios O3/CO (from −0.22 to 0.71) and BC/CO (from 2.69 to 29.83 ng m−3 ppb−1) were observed. CO contributions related with anthropogenic emissions (COant) contributed to 17.4% of the mean CO value observed at ICO-OV, with the warm months appearing particularly affected by transport events of air-masses rich in anthropogenic pollution. The proportion of tracer variability that is described by FLEXPART COant peaked to 37% (in May–September) for CO, 19% (in May–September) for O3 and 32% (in January–April) for BC. During May–September, the analysis of the correlation among CO, O3 and BC as a function of the COant indicated that ICO-OV was influenced by air-masses rich in anthropogenic pollution transported from the regional to the global scale. On the other side, CO and O3 were negatively correlated during October–December, when FLEXPART does not show significant presence of recent anthropogenic emissions and only a few observations are characterized by enhanced BC. Such behaviour may be attributed to an ensemble of processes concurrent in enhancing O3 with low CO (upper troposphere/lower stratosphere intrusions) and to O3 titration by NO in polluted air-masses along with lower photochemical activity. An intermediate situation occurs in January–April when CO and O3 were almost uncorrelated and BC enhancements were associated to relatively old (10 days) anthropogenic emissions.

Aerosol optical properties and mixing state of black carbon in the Pearl River Delta, China

2016 ◽  
Vol 131 ◽  
pp. 196-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haobo Tan ◽  
Li Liu ◽  
Shaojia Fan ◽  
Fei Li ◽  
Yan Yin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Pearl River Delta ◽  
River Delta ◽  
Pearl River ◽  
Mixing State ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
The Pearl River Delta ◽  
The Pearl River

scholarly journals Sensitivity of aerosol radiative effects to different mixing assumptions in the AEROPT 1.0 submodel of the EMAC atmospheric-chemistry–climate model

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (5) ◽  
pp. 2503-2516 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Klingmüller ◽  
B. Steil ◽  
C. Brühl ◽  
H. Tost ◽  
J. Lelieveld
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Radiative Transfer ◽  
Black Carbon ◽  
Atmospheric Chemistry ◽  
Radiative Forcing ◽  
Climate Model ◽  
Mixing Rule ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Internal Mixing ◽  
Aerosol Radiative

Abstract. The modelling of aerosol radiative forcing is a major cause of uncertainty in the assessment of global and regional atmospheric energy budgets and climate change. One reason is the strong dependence of the aerosol optical properties on the mixing state of aerosol components, such as absorbing black carbon and, predominantly scattering sulfates. Using a new column version of the aerosol optical properties and radiative-transfer code of the ECHAM/MESSy atmospheric-chemistry–climate model (EMAC), we study the radiative transfer applying various mixing states. The aerosol optics code builds on the AEROPT (AERosol OPTical properties) submodel, which assumes homogeneous internal mixing utilising the volume average refractive index mixing rule. We have extended the submodel to additionally account for external mixing, partial external mixing and multilayered particles. Furthermore, we have implemented the volume average dielectric constant and Maxwell Garnett mixing rule. We performed regional case studies considering columns over China, India and Africa, corroborating much stronger absorption by internal than external mixtures. Well-mixed aerosol is a good approximation for particles with a black-carbon core, whereas particles with black carbon at the surface absorb significantly less. Based on a model simulation for the year 2005, we calculate that the global aerosol direct radiative forcing for homogeneous internal mixing differs from that for external mixing by about 0.5 W m−2.

scholarly journals Insights into the aging of biomass burning aerosol from satellite observations and 3D atmospheric modeling: evolution of the aerosol optical properties in Siberian wildfire plumes

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 357-392
Author(s):  
Igor B. Konovalov ◽  
Nikolai A. Golovushkin ◽  
Matthias Beekmann ◽  
Meinrat O. Andreae
Keyword(s):  
Optical Properties ◽  
Long Range ◽  
Biomass Burning ◽  
Organic Aerosol ◽  
Satellite Observations ◽  
Long Range Transport ◽  
Aerosol Optical Properties ◽  
Smoke Plumes ◽  
Range Transport ◽  
Aerosol Aging

Abstract. Long-range transport of biomass burning (BB) aerosol from regions affected by wildfires is known to have a significant impact on the radiative balance and air quality in receptor regions. However, the changes that occur in the optical properties of BB aerosol during long-range transport events are insufficiently understood, limiting the adequacy of representations of the aerosol processes in chemistry transport and climate models. Here we introduce a framework to infer and interpret changes in the optical properties of BB aerosol from satellite observations of multiple BB plumes. Our framework includes (1) a procedure for analysis of available satellite retrievals of the absorption and extinction aerosol optical depths (AAOD and AOD) and single-scattering albedo (SSA) as a function of the BB aerosol photochemical age and (2) a representation of the AAOD and AOD evolution with a chemistry transport model (CTM) involving a simplified volatility basis set (VBS) scheme with a few adjustable parameters. We apply this framework to analyze a large-scale outflow of BB smoke plumes from Siberia toward Europe that occurred in July 2016. We use AAOD and SSA data derived from OMI (Ozone Monitoring Instrument) satellite measurements in the near-UV range along with 550 nm AOD and carbon monoxide (CO) columns retrieved from MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) and IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) satellite observations, respectively, to infer changes in the optical properties of Siberian BB aerosol due to its atmospheric aging and to get insights into the processes underlying these changes. Using the satellite data in combination with simulated data from the CHIMERE CTM, we evaluate the enhancement ratios (EnRs) that allow isolating AAOD and AOD changes due to oxidation and gas–particle partitioning processes from those due to other processes, including transport, deposition, and wet scavenging. The behavior of EnRs for AAOD and AOD is then characterized using nonlinear trend analysis. It is found that the EnR for AOD strongly increases (by about a factor of 2) during the first 20–30 h of the analyzed evolution period, whereas the EnR for AAOD does not exhibit a statistically significant increase during this period. The increase in AOD is accompanied by a statistically significant enhancement of SSA. Further BB aerosol aging (up to several days) is associated with a strong decrease in EnRs for both AAOD and AOD. Our VBS simulations constrained by the observations are found to be more consistent with satellite observations of strongly aged BB plumes than “tracer” simulations in which atmospheric transformations of BB organic aerosol were disregarded. The simulation results indicate that the upward trends in EnR for AOD and in SSA are mainly due to atmospheric processing of secondary organic aerosol (SOA), leading to an increase in the mass scattering efficiency of BB aerosol. Evaporation and chemical fragmentation of the SOA species, part of which is assumed to be absorptive (to contain brown carbon), are identified as likely reasons for the subsequent decrease in the EnR for both AAOD and AOD. Hence, our analysis reveals that the long-range transport of smoke plumes from Siberian fires is associated with major changes in BB aerosol optical properties and chemical composition. Overall, this study demonstrates the feasibility of using available satellite observations for evaluating and improving representations in atmospheric models of the BB aerosol aging processes in different regions of the world at much larger temporal scales than those typically addressed in aerosol chamber experiments.

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