**Apologies for cross-posting**
Dear All
An early announcement: We would like to draw your attention to a planned
session at the upcoming EGU General Assembly in Vienna, 15-20 April 2007.
- Call for papers will be open October 2006 until 15. January 2007
- Deadline for support applications: 8. December 2006
http://meetings.copernicus.org/egu2007/
One session will be dedicated to the
'Analysis and Characterization of Black Carbon in the Environment'
as outlined below. Please feel free to share this e-mail with potentially
interested colleagues.
Best regards, Michael Schmidt
----
Analysis and Characterization of Black Carbon in the Environment
(co-listed in Biogeosciences, Atmospheric Sciences, Hydrological Sciences,
Ocean Science & Soil Science Systems)
conveners: Michael W. I. Schmidt, [log in to unmask], Örjan Gustafsson,
[log in to unmask]
(co-sponsored by Biogeosciences, Atmospheric, Hydrological and Ocean
Science, and Soil Science Systems)' which can be found under the
Biogeosciences Programme
Black carbon (BC) has received increasing attention due to its importance in
a wide range of biogeochemical processes. For example, BC storage in ocean
sediments a represents long-term sink in the global carbon cycle, and BC
aerosols in the atmosphere affect Earthıs radiative heat balance. BC can be
a useful tracer for Earthıs fire history; it is a significant fraction of
the carbon buried in soils and sediments; and it is an important carrier of
organic pollutants. EGU meetings are very cross-disciplinary and thus
attractive for scientists from diverse backgrounds, including those studying
BC. One focus of the BC-meeting is to bring together the broad scientific
community studying black carbon in the environment to discuss the latest
research. This is the third meeting of this kind after Goldschmidt 1999 and
EGU 2005.
A second focus of the meeting is to discuss methodological aspects.
Variations in BC chemistry, along a combustion continuum, create serious
methodological problems, as every BC measurement method detects a unique
window of the BC spectrum. For example, methods which rely on optical
microscopes to detect charcoal particles fail to detect sub-micron soot
particles, while chemical or thermal methods which rely on the refractory
nature of BC fail to detect the partially charred material which can be
easily degraded. Effective atmospheric methods, which measure the
absorptivity of a sample, cannot be used when BC occurs within an absorptive
matrix, like soils or sediments. To address these methodological problems a
ring trial was held (2004-6) on 12 BC-containing samples and materials
potentially creating artifacts analyzed by 17 labs worldwide from soil,
atmospheric, marine and water sciences (http://www.geo.unizh.ch/phys/bc).
Results, implications and potential spin-off projects stemming from this
ring trial will be presented and discussed during the meeting.
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