An intensive study on aerosol optical properties and affecting factors in Nanjing,China

The optical properties of aerosol as well as their impacting factors were investigated at a suburb site in Nanjing during autumn from 14 to 28 November 2012. More severe pollution was found together with lower visibility. The average scattering and absorption coefficients（B sca and B abs） were 375.7 ± 209.5 and 41.6 ± 18.7 Mm~（-1）, respectively. Higher ？ngstr？m absorption and scattering exponents were attributed to the presence of more aged aerosol with smaller particles. Relative humidity（RH） was a key factor affecting aerosol extinction. High RH resulted in the impairment of visibility, with hygroscopic growth being independent of the dry extinction coefficient. The hygroscopic growth factor was 1.8 ± 1.2 with RH from 19% to 85%.Light absorption was enhanced by organic carbon（OC）, elemental carbon（EC） and EC coatings,with contributions of 26%, 44% and 75%（532 nm）, respectively. The B sca and B abs increased with increasing N_（100）（number concentration of PM_（2.5）with diameter above 100 nm）, PM_1 surface concentration and PM_（2.5）mass concentration with good correlation.