Scientists map changes in soot particles emitted from wildfires

Scientists map changes in soot particles emitted from wildfires.

They say climate models aren't getting the full picture of how soot affects Earth's climate.

Scientists flew more than 60 research flights through wildfire plumes.

They picked up young particles relatively close to fires, as well as particles that had evolved for hours.

The main instrument used to characterize black carbon particles is the Single Particle Soot Photometer (SP2) This instrument sends a stream of particles one-by-one through a laser beam and picks up flashes of light when the particles vaporize.

It can glean information about thousands of particles per second, including their sizes and the thickness of their coatings.