Atmospheric aerosols for the Caatinga Biome: Profile, Hygroscopicity and Formation of
New Particles
Aerosols, Black Carbon, Hygroscopicity
The size and elemental composition of aerosol particles are variable.
important factors that influence their radiative effect and their role as condensation nuclei of
cloud (CCN). Knowledge of the characteristics of aerosols at regional and local scales,
their temporal changes and interrelations with solar radiation, are of great importance for
atmospheric research. The aerosol interferes in the climate, in different ways, through its
interactions with radiation and clouds, by absorbing and scattering solar radiation, aerosols
modify the terrestrial radiative balance, thereby increasing the planetary albedo and producing a
tendency for the climate to cool, in turn, the absorption of radiation has an opposite effect
and the tendency is for the atmospheric layers to warm up the balance between cooling and
Heating depends on the properties and environmental conditions of the aerosol. This job has
with the objective of carrying out an investigation about the population of aerosols through three
aerosol, black carbon (BC) and cloud condensation nuclei collection campaigns
(CCN), two of which were held in Guaiúba-CE (environment with almost no urban pollution
within the Caatinga Biome) and one held in a fortress (environment with a high concentration
pollution), three pieces of equipment were used in this work, a spectrometer
scanning mobility particle sizer
spectrometer (SMPS) a BC 1054 multispectrum carbon black monitor (BC) and a counter
cloud condensation nuclei (CCNC), the campaigns lasted on average __ days, with
the objective of better understanding the aerosol populations for the caatinga biome as well as
comparison with the polluted environment, an observational analysis was initially performed
of the aerosol and BC profiles, and then the investigation was carried out in order to determine the
hygroscopicity κ for the regions, it was found that a for the polluted environment has greater
concentration of aerosols when compared to the measurement in a clean environment, as well as values
much higher than BC, the hygroscopicity for both environments showed the same
value (κ = 0.19), this value is very close to that found by Almeida,
(2019) for Fortaleza-CE, this value is less hygroscopic compared to the continental aerosol
global, in which it has an average of 0.27, and much less hygroscopic than the continental aerosol
European with average values of 0.36.