Factors influencing the amount of atmospheric black carbon over the southern ocean and the Tropical Western Pacific Ocean

Black carbon (BC) has direct and indirect climatic effects and can be transported over long distances. Knowledge of the concentration and distribution of BC aerosol in the globe is of significant climatic importance. During the 34th Chinese Antarctic Research Expedition (CHINARE), the concentrations of BC were measured by multi-angle absorption photometer (MAAP). The factors influencing the level of BC were investigated based upon NOx and other data measured synchronously. Excluding the influence of ship emissions, the BC concentrations of the ocean areas from Zhongshan station to France station, and the Ross Sea in the Southern Ocean, and the tropical Western Pacific Ocean was 7.86 ng/m3±15.52 ng / m3, 4.73 ng/m3±11.52 ng/m3, and 17.80 ng/m3±32.71 ng / m3, respectively. Further source analysis showed that BC concentrations over the Ross Sea reflect the natural background of the Antarctic continent, the relatively high BC concentrations over the tropical Western Pacific Ocean may be related to the terrestrial sources, and the estimated dry deposition flux of BC aerosol is much higher than the model results.