Carlos Mejia

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Sendova, Mariana

Area of Concentration

Environmental Science

Abstract

Black carbon (BC) is an aerosol released in the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels and biomass. It is a climate forcer which converts solar energy to thermal energy. In fact, excluding carbon dioxide, black carbon is the atmosphere’s primary absorber of visible solar radiation [1]. For this reason, BC affects snow by reducing its albedo and increasing its absorbed solar radiance [2]. This study uses on-site BC and albedo measurements as well as traffic data to quantify the change in snow albedo caused by nearby vehicle emissions in the Andes in Chile examining a period of 159 days. In this study, a statistically significant correlation was established between traffic volume and atmospheric BC concentration (R = 0.4, p-value 0.001.), a statistically significant negative correlation was established between traffic volume and albedo (R = -0.5, p-value 0. 8.1x10-7) and a statistically significant correlation was established between mean daily BC and albedo (R= -0.5, p-value 1.2x10-5). This indicates that traffic had a significant daily effect on the surrounding area’s snow albedo, shedding light on the immediate impact of BC emissions.

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