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The prevalence of aerosols in the lowest layer of the atmosphere, the troposphere, is well known, however, their contribution to the Earth's climate remains uncertain. Aerosols contribute to the climate in two ways; directly, by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, and indirectly, by acting as cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and influencing cloud radiative properties. Aerosols exist as a complex mixture of chemicals and morphologies, which influences their ability to form CCN and scatter or absorb radiation.
The presence of an organic coating or shell surrounding the aerosol core has the ability to influence water uptake of an aerosol, the amount of scattered light or the amount of absorbed solar radiation and to affect how the aerosol behaves in subsequent heterogeneous reaction with gas-phase oxidants. It is therefore important to characterise the optical properties of coated aerosols to further understand their effect on the climate.