Campaign datasets for Biomass Burning Observation Project (BBOP)

This field campaign will address multiple uncertainties in aerosol intensive properties, which are poorly represented in climate models, by means of aircraft measurements in biomass burning plumes. Key topics to be investigated are: 1. Aerosol mixing state and morphology 2. Mass absorption coefficients (MACs) 3. Chemical composition of non-refractory material associated with light-absorbing carbon (LAC) 4. Production rate of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) 5. Microphysical processes relevant to determining aerosol size distributions and single scattering albedo (SSA) 6. CCN activity. These topics will be investigated through measurements near active fires (0-5 hours downwind), where limited observations indicate rapid changes in aerosol properties, and in biomass burning plumes aged >5 hours. Aerosol properties and their time evolution will be determined as a function of fire type, defined according to fuel and the mix of flaming and smoldering combustion at the source.