Particulates 悬浮粒子
（重定向自Particulate carbon）
![This diagram shows types, and size distribution in micrometres, of atmospheric particulate matter](/Images/godic/202502/01/Airborne-particulate-size-chart.svg2249.png")
![This animation shows aerosol optical thickness of emitted and transported key tropospheric aerosols from 17 August 2006 to 10 April 2007, from a 10 km resolution GEOS-5](/Images/godic/202502/01/-Atmospheric_Aerosol_Eddies_and_Flows_-_NASA_GSFC_S.ogv2249.jpg")
![Movie map of distribution of aerosol particles, based on data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite.
* Green areas show aerosol plumes dominated by larger particles.
* Red areas show aerosol plumes dominated by small particles.
* Yellow areas show where large and small aerosol particles are mixing.
* Gray shows where the sensor did not collect data.](/Images/godic/202502/01/-MODAL2_M_AER_RA.ogv2249.jpg")
![2005 radiative forcings and uncertainties as estimated by the IPCC.](/Images/godic/202502/01/Radiative-forcings.svg2249.png")
Atmospheric particulate matter – also known as particulate matter (PM) or particulates – are microscopic solid or liquid matter suspended in the Earth's atmosphere. The term aerosol commonly refers to the particulate/air mixture, as opposed to the particulate matter alone. Sources of particulate matter can be man-made or natural. They have impacts on climate and precipitation that adversely affect human health.