Particulate carbon content in rain at various temperate and tropical locations

Particulate organic and black carbon concentrations in rain were determined in various source or remote regions, in order to gain information on the incorporation of atmospheric carbonaceous particles in hydrometeors. The analyses of rainwaters indicate that all the samples contained particles derived from combustion. Data obtained on a sample basis, show an important areal and temporal variability of the composition of rain carbonaceous particles, a variability which is reported to that of the black carbon to total carbon ratio, Cb/Ct, ranging from 10 to 72%. In addition to the fluctuations of the aerosol atmospheric burden, these variations may be related to alterations of the organic fraction of the particles or their involvement in in-cloud nucleation processes during atmospheric transport. Also, a comparison of the mean relative abundance of black carbon in aerosols and in rainwaters, gives evidence of a partial disappearance of the organic particles, a phenomenon which could be due to their dissolution when incorporated in the hydrometeors. Precipitation scavenging ratio values of black carbon particles, which range from 100 to 370, are similar to those found for sulphate anthropogenic aerosols. Due to their hygroscopic properties and mean size, black carbon aerosols could possibly trace the physico-chemical processes involved in the incorporation of fine combustion particles into hydrometeors. It is also suggested that smoke particles may act as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). Consequently, emissions of particulates derived from combustion in some tropical or industrial regions could result locally in alteration of cloud albedo and precipitation regimes.