Water-soluble organic compounds in biomass burning aerosols over Amazonia: 2. Apportionment of the chemical composition and importance of the polyacidic fraction

Chemical characterization was performed on carbonaceous aerosols from Rondônia in the Brazilian Amazon region as part of the European contribution to the Large-Scale Biosphere-Atmosphere Experiment in Amazonia (LBA-EUSTACH). The sampling period (October 1999) included the peak of the burning season as well as the dry-to-wet season transition. Characterization of the carbonaceous material was performed using a thermal combustion method. This enabled determination of total carbon aerosol (TC), black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC). A significant fraction of the BC material (on average ca. 50%) seemed to be highly refractory organic material soluble in water. A more detailed analysis of the water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) fraction of the TC was undertaken, involving measurements of WSOC content, HPLC separation (with UV detection) of the water-soluble components, and characterization of individual components by GC/MS. The WSOC fraction accounted for 45-75% of the OC. This high WSOC fraction suggests an aerosol derived mainly from smoldering combustion. Using GC/MS, many different compounds, containing hydroxy, carboxylate and carbonyl groups, were detected. The fraction of the WSOC identified by GC/MS was ca. 10%. Three classes of compounds were separated by HPLC/UV: neutral compounds (N), mono- and dicarboxylic acids (MDA), and polycarboxylic acids (PAs). The sum of these three groups accounted for about 70% of the WSOC, with MDA and PAs being most abundant (ca. 50%). Good correlations (r2 between 0.84 and 0.99) of BCwater (BC after water-extraction) and levoglucosan (both indicators of biomass combustion) with the water-soluble species (i.e., WSOC, N, MDA, and PAs), and their increase in concentrations during the burning period provided strong evidence that biomass burning is a major source of the WSOC. Particularly interesting is that PAs and, therefore, probably, humic-like substances (due to their polyacidic nature) are generated in significant amounts during biomass burning. These substances, due to their water solubility and surface tension-lowering effects, may play an important role in determining the overall cloud condensation nuclei activity of biomass burning aerosols, and consequently, could be important in cloud processes and climate forcing.