Slow bleaching of water-insoluble brown carbon from biomass burning: Implication for direct radiative effect
2026-08-21
Biomass burning organic aerosol (BBOA) is a major source of atmospheric brown carbon (BrC), which contributes to climate through solar radiation absorption. Chemical aging (bleaching) of BrC diminishes light absorption over time. Although recent modeling studies have emphasized the need to account for bleaching when assessing BrC’s climate impacts, a parameterization representing the entire BBOA matrix has been lacking. Here, we develop a bleaching parameterization for the whole BrC in BBOA based on laboratory experiments that systematically varied temperature and relative humidity. The bleaching timescale increases under low-humidity and low-temperature conditions, likely due to enhanced aerosol viscosity. Implementing this parameterization in a global model increases the simulated direct radiative effect (DRE) of BrC by 1.5 to 2 times relative to previous estimates, with associated uncertainties exceeding 10% of the total organic aerosol DRE. The present scheme particularly shows elevated fresh BrC concentrations in boreal regions, suggesting that bleaching dynamics may influence not only radiative forcing but also snow darkening effects.