ABSTRACT
Aerosols strongly affect visibility in the visible portion of the spectrum [1-3]. A wide range of values of the volume scattering and absorption coefficients has been reported [4]. The lack of agreement between observers can arise from accuracy limitations of the measurement instrumentation as well as variations in the aerosol sample and the sampling time and location. This serious problem was approached by the convening of the First International Workshop on Light Absorption by Aerosol Particles with the object of establishing instrumentation errors for various techniques. Various instruments were exposed to standardized aerosols, some typical of those in the atmosphere. These included ambient, Arizona road dust, ammonium sulfate [(NH4)2SO4], carbon (soot), methylene blue (a dye), and mixtures of these. The result of this conference have been reported separately [5,6].
