LAUSR

Abstract The physical and chemical characteristics of aerosols have a significant effect on scattering coefficients (σsp). In this research, a single particle aerosol mass spectrometer (SPAMS) and a scanning mobility particle sizer spectrometer (SMPS) were used to measure the chemical composition and size distribution of aerosol number concentration. During the observation time, the average σsp varied from 11.64 to 485.84 Mm−1, with an average of 114.16 ± 77.87 Mm−1. For relative humidity greater than 75%, the optical hygroscopic growth factor (f(RH)) increased rapidly, with an approximate distribution of 3.41 ± 0.78. During the night of July 15th, nitrate and sulfate increased by 5.93 and 1.32 times, respectively, compared with daytime values. The peak of the average size distribution of the aerosol number concentration during the observation period (341.0 cm−1) was located in the Aitken mode of 58.3 nm. After particle size conversion from the vacuum aerodynamic diameter to the mobility diameter, the particle size range of the aerosol mass spectrometer ranged from 138.2–723.4 nm, all of which are distributed in accumulation mode. Source apportionment revealed that secondary, biomass, and carbonaceous aerosols are the primary facilitators in 327.8–406.8 nm, accounting for 21.3%, 25.7%, and 33.3%, respectively. The fixed scattering coefficients were calculated using the Mie model, according to the source apportionment of aerosol number concentration for modifying the aerosol refractive index. From July 6th–11th, the calculation and observation results of σsp exhibit excellent consistency and a Pearson coefficient of 0.66. Therefore, the accurate size distribution of the chemical composition and source apportionment of aerosols are of great significance for the simulation of atmospheric optics.