The carbonaceous aerosol is one of the important components of the aerosol and plays a significant role in changing climate, fluctuating air quality and health of the living being. These carbonaceous aerosols emitted by the partial burning of fossil fuels through several processes such as emissions from industries, traffic and biomass burning including domestic heating. The carbonaceous aerosol is separated in elemental carbon and organic carbon. The optical determination methods of carbonaceous aerosol classify the refractory carbon as black carbon (BC) and light-absorbing carbonaceous aerosols as brown carbon (BrC). BrC includes a huge and variable assemblage of organic compounds. BrC is a refractory aerosol from the thermo-chemical point of view and never evaporates up to 400°C under inert atmospheric condition. Brown carbon has high absorbance in the blue and ultraviolet (UV) region of the solar spectrum. Recently, brown carbon attracted the interest of researchers due to its role in climate change. The brown carbon produced by the partial burning of hydrocarbons/tar material (smoldering) and sunlight-induced oxidation of biogenic material. In this book chapter, authors provide a detailed review of source characterization, geographical distribution, chemistry and possible environmental and climate impacts of brown carbon.
Elsevier, Management of Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CEC) in Environment, 2021.
