[1] A single-particle soot photometer (SP2) was flown on a NASA WB-57F high-altitude research aircraft in November 2004 from Houston, Texas. The SP2 uses laser-induced incandescence to detect individual black carbon (BC) particles in an air sample in the mass range of $3-300 fg ($0.15-0.7 mm volume equivalent diameter). Scattered light is used to size the remaining non-BC aerosols in the range of $0.17-0.7 mm diameter. We present profiles of both aerosol types from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere from two midlatitude flights. Results for total aerosol amounts in the size range detected by the SP2 are in good agreement with typical particle spectrometer measurements in the same region. All ambient incandescing particles were identified as BC because their incandescence properties matched those of laboratory-generated BC aerosol. Approximately 40% of these BC particles showed evidence of internal mixing (e.g., coating). Throughout profiles between 5 and 18.7 km, BC particles were less than a few percent of total aerosol number, and black carbon aerosol (BCA) mass mixing ratio showed a constant gradient with altitude above 5 km. SP2 data was compared to results from the ECHAM4/MADE and LmDzT-INCA global aerosol models. The comparison will help resolve the important systematic differences in model aerosol processes that determine BCA loadings. Further intercomparisons of models and measurements as presented here will improve the accuracy of the radiative forcing contribution from BCA.Citation: Schwarz, J. P., et al. (2006), Single-particle measurements of midlatitude black carbon and light-scattering aerosols from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere,

[1] This analysis provides an up-to-date assessment of long-term rural ozone trends using all available data in the western (12 sites) and eastern (41 sites) USA. Rather than focus solely on average ozone values or air quality standard violations, we consider the full range of ozone values, reporting trends for the 5th, 50th and 95th percentiles. Domestic ozone precursor emissions decreased strongly during 1990-2010. Accordingly 83%, 66% and 20% of summertime eastern U.S. sites experienced statistically significant ozone decreases in the 95th, 50th and 5th percentiles, respectively. During spring 43% of the eastern sites have statistically significant ozone decreases for the 95th percentile with no sites showing a significant increase. At the 50th percentile there is little overall change in the eastern U.S. In contrast, only 17% (2 sites) and 8% (1 site) of summertime western U.S. sites have statistically significant ozone decreases in the 95th and 50th percentiles, respectively. During spring no western site has a significant decrease, while 50% have a significant median increase. This dichotomy in U.S. ozone trends is discussed in terms of changing anthropogenic and biomass burning emissions. Consideration is given to the concept that increasing baseline ozone flowing into the western U.S. is counteracting ozone reductions due to domestic emission reductions. An update to the springtime free tropospheric ozone trend above western North America shows that ozone has increased significantly from 1995 to 2011 at the rate of 0.41 AE 0.27 ppbv yr À1 . Finally, the ozone changes are examined in relation to regional temperature trends.

In the lowermost layer of the atmosphere-the troposphere-ozone is an important source of the hydroxyl radical, an oxidant that breaks down most pollutants and some greenhouse gases. High concentrations of tropospheric ozone are toxic, however, and have a detrimental effect on human health and ecosystem productivity. Moreover, tropospheric ozone itself acts as an effective greenhouse gas. Much of the present tropospheric ozone burden is a consequence of anthropogenic emissions of ozone precursors resulting in widespread increases in ozone concentrations since the late 1800s. At present, east Asia has the fastest-growing ozone precursor emissions. Much of the springtime east Asian pollution is exported eastwards towards western North America. Despite evidence that the exported Asian pollution produces ozone, no previous study has found a significant increase in free tropospheric ozone concentrations above the western USA since measurements began in the late 1970s. Here we compile springtime ozone measurements from many different platforms across western North America. We show a strong increase in springtime ozone mixing ratios during 1995-2008 and we have some additional evidence that a similar rate of increase in ozone mixing ratio has occurred since 1984. We find that the rate of increase in ozone mixing ratio is greatest when measurements are more heavily influenced by direct transport from Asia. Our result agrees with previous modelling studies, which indicate that global ozone concentrations should be increasing during the early part of the twenty-first century as a result of increasing precursor emissions, especially at northern mid-latitudes, with western North America being particularly sensitive to rising Asian emissions. We suggest that the observed increase in springtime background ozone mixing ratio may hinder the USA's compliance with its ozone air quality standard.

In 2017, western Canadian wildfires injected smoke into the stratosphere that was detectable by satellites for more than 8 months. The smoke plume rose from 12 to 23 kilometers within 2 months owing to solar heating of black carbon, extending the lifetime and latitudinal spread. Comparisons of model simulations to the rate of observed lofting indicate that 2% of the smoke mass was black carbon. The observed smoke lifetime in the stratosphere was 40% shorter than calculated with a standard model that does not consider photochemical loss of organic carbon. Photochemistry is represented by using an empirical ozone-organics reaction probability that matches the observed smoke decay. The observed rapid plume rise, latitudinal spread, and photochemical reactions provide new insights into potential global climate impacts from nuclear war.