Near-source dispersion and coagulation parameterization: Application to biomass burning emissions

Abstract

Aerosol size distributions near biomass-burning sources undergo rapid evolution, primarily due to coagulation, which significantly alters the particle number size distribution. Existing long-range aerosol transport and climate prediction models often overlook near-source dynamics involving simultaneous coagulation and dispersion. To bridge this gap, the present study introduces a coagulation-dispersion model and provides semi-analytical solutions for the effective size distribution parameters. The precise solution for a diffusion-less coagulating plume with spatially varying particle concentration supports the conceptual accuracy of the semi-analytical parameterization for dispersion-coagulation model. These solutions form the basis for a parameterization scheme that considers input parameters such as source dimensions, particle mass flux, particle size, and atmospheric conditions. Utilizing this parameterization for case-specific biomass burning emissions shows a decrease in number emission rate by approximately a factor of 600, while the count median diameter of the initial size distribution increases by around 7 times. Additionally, we estimate the optical properties of aerosols both before and after the introduction of the near-source parameterization scheme. Results indicate an increase by a factor of 4 in the aerosol extinction coefficient and by a factor of ∼20 in the scattering coefficient, which will significantly influence the calculation of aerosol optical properties in global models. These changes in optical properties primarily stem from modifications in aerosol size distribution resulting from near-source aerosol dynamics. The results are further discussed.

Keywords

• Aerosol
• Dispersion
• Coagulation
• Biomass burning
• Number emission
• Size distribution