Effect of ambient humidity on the light absorption amplification of black carbon in Beijing during January 2013

Black carbon (BC) and its mixing state were measured with a ground-based single particle soot photometer in urban Beijing during the extremely polluted winter of 2013. Up to 70 ± 14% of the BC-containing particles were thickly-coated during periods of haze, compared to 37 ± 9% on non-hazy days. The thickly-coated number fraction (NFBC-thick) increased with increasing BC, reaching a plateau at ∼80-90% when BC concentrations were ≥15 μg m−3 and visibility was ≤2 km. Regional inflows brought more aged, highly thickly-coated BC to Beijing during haze. The absorption coefficient showed a distinct linear correlation with BC concentration; the mass absorption efficiency (MAE) of BC was acquired, with an overall mean of 4.2 ± 0.01 m2 g−1 at 870 nm. The MAE of BC amplified with increasing ambient relative humidity. This was largely explained by the increase in NFBC-thick, which was likely due to the enhanced production of secondary aerosol under humid conditions.