Dear Colleagues,

Carbonaceous aerosols influence the climate directly through the scattering and absorption of solar radiation. Despite the latest progress quantifying the absorptive properties of black carbon (BC) particles, large uncertainties remain regarding the magnitude of the direct radiative forcing of light-absorbing organic particles, so-called “Brown Carbon” (BrC). BrC is an umbrella term for hundreds to thousands of organic compounds with various functionalities. BrC is largely emitted by combustion activities, but recent laboratory evidence points to its formation via secondary reactions. The absorption coefficient of BrC particles spans nearly four orders of magnitude, depending on source characteristics and secondary formation, and can alter the mixing state (and hence the direct radiative forcing) of BC particles. These factors complicate the radiative treatment of light-absorptive carbonaceous aerosols.

This Special Issue will focus on the impacts of source emissions, mixing state, and atmospheric processing on the absorptive and scattering properties of carbonaceous aerosols (BC and BrC). Special attention will be given to work investigating the formation of secondary BrC particles and their optical properties using field or laboratory measurements. We also encourage the submission of manuscripts seeking to improve the representation of light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols using electromagnetic model calculations (e.g., Mie theory, Rayleigh–Debye–Gans theory) and real-world mixing state representation.

Dr. Georges Saliba
Dr. Antonios Tasoglou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• Brown carbon
• Black carbon
• Absorptive and scattering properties
• Mixing state
• Secondary organic aerosol