Carbonaceous aerosol components, which include black carbon (BC), urban primary organic aerosols (POA), biomass burning aerosols, and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) from both urban and biogenic precursors, have been previously shown to play a major role in the direct and indirect radiative forcing of climate. The primary objective of the CARES 2010 intensive field study is to investigate the evolution of carbonaceous aerosols of different types and their effects on optical and cloud formation properties.