In chemistry, brown carbon (Cbrown/BrC) is brown smoke released by the combustion of organic matter. It coexists with black carbon when released in the atmosphere.[1]
Black carbon is primarily released by high-temperature combustion and brown carbon is emitted mainly by biomass combustion. These two are the two most important light absorbing substances in the atmosphere. The climate and radiative transfer are highly impacted by the absorptive properties of these substances.[2]
Overview
Discovery
Light absorbing
atmospheric warming
.
While the function of black carbon created by biomass burning in relation to the warming of air has as of now been known, the lesser-known part of brown carbon has recently been discovered.[3]
Brown carbon aerosols
The way light reflects off brown carbon causes the material to appear brown or yellow. In respect to soot carbon (as an aerosol called black carbon) these light reflecting particles are collectively called brown carbon, highlighting their optical properties.[1]
It was seen that particles from combustion or from residential coal usage can contain substantial amounts of brown carbon. This particulate matter appears light brown, and not black as would be expected for pure sootparticles.[1]