The Increasing Trend of Black Carbon and Organic Carbon in Jordan During the Period of 2007 to 2018

Abstract

During the last decades, carbonaceous aerosol extinctions such as black carbon and organic carbon extinctions exhibit an increasing trend across the globe. Measurements of carbonaceous aerosol in Jordan were done using satellite data during the period 2007 to 2018. These measurements were done in four locations of Jordan - Irbid in the north, Amman and Az-Zarqa in the middle, and Ma’an in the south. Black carbon extinction in Jordan increased slightly (slope = 0.0001) during this period, while organic carbon extinction increased slightly (slope = (0.7 – 10) x10-5) in three locations and decreased slightly in one location (Irbid location (slope = -2x10-5)). Organic carbon extinction measurements were greater than black carbon extinction measurements in all locations with varying ratios depending on the location of the measurements. Black carbon and organic carbon scattering measurements have the same behavior as extinction, with larger values in the north and smaller values in the south. Scattering values of organic carbon are larger than black carbon scattering values. Scattering values of organic carbon increased slightly in all locations (slope = 0.0001) while scattering values of black carbon decreased in three locations (Irbid, Amman, and Ma’an) and increased in one location (Az-Zarqa). Column mass density and surface mass concentration measurements show that organic carbon had larger values than black carbon in all locations besides that both organic carbon and black carbon had values decreasing when we go from north to south.

Keywords

• black carbon, organic carbon, extinction, scattering