Future chemical measurements in the Arctic atmosphere

Abstract International Arctic Systems for Observing the Atmosphere (IASOA) activities and partnerships were initiated as a part of the 2007–09 International Polar Year (IPY) and are expected to continue for many decades as a legacy program. The IASOA focus is on coordinating intensive measurements of the Arctic atmosphere collected in the United States, Canada, Russia, Norway, Finland, and Greenland to create synthesis science that leads to an understanding of why and not just how the Arctic atmosphere is evolving. The IASOA premise is that there are limitations with Arctic modeling and satellite observations that can only be addressed with boots-on-the-ground, in situ observations and that the potential of combining individual station and network measurements into an integrated observing system is tremendous. The IASOA vision is that by further integrating with other network observing programs focusing on hydrology, glaciology, oceanography, terrestrial, and biological systems it will be possible to understand the mechanisms of the entire Arctic system, perhaps well enough for humans to mitigate undesirable variations and adapt to inevitable change.

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Planetary and synoptic scale adjustment of the Arctic atmosphere to sea ice cover changes

Geophysical Research Letters ◽

10.1029/2007gl030218 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 34 (17) ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

E. Sokolova ◽

K. Dethloff ◽

A. Rinke ◽

A. Benkel

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Ice Cover ◽

The Arctic ◽

Synoptic Scale ◽

Arctic Atmosphere

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The Water and Energy Budget of the Arctic Atmosphere

Journal of Climate ◽

10.1175/jcli3414.1 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 18 (13) ◽

pp. 2515-2530 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Tido Semmler ◽

Daniela Jacob ◽

K. Heinke Schlünzen ◽

Ralf Podzun

Keyword(s):

Energy Budget ◽

Climate Model ◽

Small Sample Size ◽

Regional Climate ◽

Arctic Region ◽

Analysis Data ◽

Small Sample ◽

The Arctic ◽

Energy Fluxes ◽

Arctic Atmosphere

Abstract The Arctic plays a major role in the global circulation, and its water and energy budget is not as well explored as that in other regions of the world. The aim of this study is to calculate the climatological mean water and energy fluxes depending on the season and on the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) through the lower, lateral, and upper boundaries of the Arctic atmosphere north of 70°N. The relevant fluxes are derived from results of the regional climate model (REMO 5.1), which is applied to the Arctic region for the time period 1979–2000. Model forcing data are a combination of 15-yr European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Re-Analysis (ERA-15) data and analysis data. The annual and seasonal total water and energy fluxes derived from REMO 5.1 results are very similar to the fluxes calculated from observational and reanalysis data, although there are some differences in the components. The agreement between simulated and observed total fluxes shows that these fluxes are reliable. Even if differences between high and low NAO situations occur in our simulation consistent with previous studies, these differences are mostly smaller than the large uncertainties due to a small sample size of the NAO high and low composites.

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Polyfluoroalkyl compounds in the Canadian Arctic atmosphere

Environmental Chemistry ◽

10.1071/en10131 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

pp. 399 ◽

Cited By ~ 46

Author(s):

Lutz Ahrens ◽

Mahiba Shoeib ◽

Sabino Del Vento ◽

Garry Codling ◽

Crispin Halsall

Keyword(s):

Gas Phase ◽

Environmental Concern ◽

Canadian Arctic ◽

High Volume ◽

Ambient Air ◽

Coast Guard ◽

The Arctic ◽

Particle Phase ◽

Method Performance ◽

Arctic Atmosphere

Environmental contextPerfluoroalkyl compounds are of rising environmental concern because of their ubiquitous distribution in remote regions like the Arctic. The present study quantifies these contaminants in the gas and particle phases of the Canadian Arctic atmosphere. The results demonstrate the important role played by gas–particle partitioning in the transport and fate of perfluoroalkyl compounds in the atmosphere. AbstractPolyfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs) were determined in high-volume air samples during a ship cruise onboard the Canadian Coast Guard Ship Amundsen crossing the Labrador Sea, Hudson Bay and the Beaufort Sea of the Canadian Arctic. Five PFC classes (i.e. perfluoroalkyl carboxylates (PFCAs), polyfluoroalkyl sulfonates (PFSAs), fluorotelomer alcohols (FTOHs), fluorinated sulfonamides (FOSAs), and sulfonamidoethanols (FOSEs)) were analysed separately in the gas phase collected on PUF/XAD-2 sandwiches and in the particle phase on glass-fibre filters (GFFs). The method performance of sampling, extraction and instrumental analysis were compared between two research groups. The FTOHs were the dominant PFCs in the gas phase (20–138 pg m–3), followed by the FOSEs (0.4–23 pg m–3) and FOSAs (0.5–4.7 pg m–3). The PFCAs could only be quantified in the particle phase with low levels (<0.04–0.18 pg m–3). In the particle phase, the dominant PFC class was the FOSEs (0.3–8.6 pg m–3). The particle-associated fraction followed the general trend of: FOSEs (~25 %) > FOSAs (~9 %) > FTOHs (~1 %). Significant positive correlation between ∑FOSA concentrations in the gas phase and ambient air temperature indicate that cold Arctic surfaces, such as the sea-ice snowpack and surface seawater could be influencing FOSAs in the atmosphere.

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Radiation in the Arctic Atmosphere and Atmosphere – Cryosphere Feedbacks

Physics and Chemistry of the Arctic Atmosphere - Springer Polar Sciences ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-33566-3_10 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 591-672

Author(s):

Claudio Tomasi ◽

Boyan H. Petkov ◽

Angelo Lupi ◽

Mauro Mazzola ◽

Christian Lanconelli ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Arctic ◽

Arctic Atmosphere

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Observation of HClO3 and HClO4 in the Arctic atmosphere

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-16908 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Yee Jun Tham ◽

Nina Sarnela ◽

Carlos A. Cuevas ◽

Iyer Siddharth ◽

Lisa Beck ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gas Phase ◽

Ozone Depletion ◽

Surface Ozone ◽

Negative Ion ◽

The Arctic ◽

Research Station ◽

Visible Absorption ◽

Data Set ◽

Near Surface ◽

Arctic Atmosphere

Atmospheric halogens chemistry like the catalytic reaction of bromine and chlorine radicals with ozone (O3) has been known to cause the springtime surface-ozone destruction in the polar region. Although the initial atmospheric reactions of chlorine with ozone are well understood, the &#64257;nal oxidation steps leading to the formation of chlorate (ClO3-) and perchlorate (ClO4-) remain unclear due to the lack of direct evidence of their presence and fate in the atmosphere. In this study, we present the first high-resolution ambient data set of gas-phase HClO3 (chloric acid) and HClO4 (perchlorate acid) obtained from the field measurement at the Villum Research Station, Station Nord, in high arctic North Greenland (81&#176;36&#8217; N, 16&#176;40&#8217; W) during the spring of 2015. A state-of-the-art chemical ionization atmospheric pressure interface time-of-flight mass spectrometer (CI-APi-TOF) was used in negative ion mode with nitrate ion as the reagent ion to detect the gas-phase HClO3 and HClO4. We measured significant level of HClO3 and HClO4 only during the springtime ozone depletion events in the Greenland, with concentration up to 9x105 molecule cm-3. Air mass trajectory analysis shows that the air during the ozone depletion event was confined to near-surface, indicating that the O3 and surface of sea-ice/snowpack may play important roles in the formation of HClO3 and HClO4. We used high-level quantum-chemical methods to calculate the ultraviolet-visible absorption spectra and cross-section of HClO3 and HClO4 in the gas-phase to assess their fates in the atmosphere. Overall, our results reveal the presence of HClO3 and HClO4 during ozone depletion events, which could affect the chlorine chemistry in the Arctic atmosphere.

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Changing sources and environmental factors reduce the rates of decline of organochlorine pesticides in the Arctic Atmosphere

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-9-515-2009 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

pp. 515-540 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

S. Becker ◽

C. J. Halsall ◽

W. Tych ◽

R. Kallenborn ◽

M. Schlabach ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Water Exchange ◽

Significant Decline ◽

Primary Sources ◽

The Arctic ◽

Secondary Sources ◽

Increasing Trend ◽

Cyclical Behaviour ◽

Harmonic Regression ◽

Arctic Atmosphere ◽

Isomeric Ratios

Abstract. An extensive database of organochlorine (OC) pesticide concentrations measured at the Norwegian Arctic Monitoring Station was analysed to assess longer-term trends in the Arctic atmosphere. Dynamic Harmonic Regression (DHR) is employed to investigate the seasonal and cyclical behaviour of chlordanes, DDTs and hexachlorobenzene (HCB), and to isolate underlying inter-annual trends. Although a simple comparison of annual mean concentrations (1994–2005) suggest a decline for all of the OCs investigated, the longer-term trends identified by DHR only show a significant decline for p,p'-DDT. Indeed, HCB shows an increase from 2003–2005. This is thought to be due to changes in source types and the presence of impurities in current use pesticides, together with retreating sea ice affecting air-water exchange. Changes in source types were revealed by using isomeric ratios for the chlordanes and DDTs. Declining trends in ratios of trans-chlordane/cis-chlordane (TC/CC) indicate a shift from primary sources, to more ''weathered'' secondary sources, whereas an increasing trend in o,p'-DDT/p,p'-DDT ratios indicate a shift from use of technical DDT to dicofol. Continued monitoring of these OC pesticides is required to fully understand the influence of a changing climate on the behaviour and environmental cycling of these chemicals in the Arctic as well as possible impacts from ''new'' sources.

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Iodine observed in new particle formation events in the Arctic atmosphere during ACCACIA

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions ◽

10.5194/acpd-14-28949-2014 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 14 (21) ◽

pp. 28949-28972 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

J. D. Allan ◽

P. I. Williams ◽

J. Najera ◽

J. D. Whitehead ◽

M. J. Flynn ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Molecular Iodine ◽

Particle Formation ◽

The Arctic ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Sulphur Compounds ◽

Cloud Properties ◽

Coastal Sea ◽

Arctic Atmosphere ◽

Initial Source

Abstract. Accurately accounting for new particle formation (NPF) is crucial to our ability to predict aerosol number concentrations and thus cloud properties, which is in turn vital in simulating radiative transfer and climate. Here we present an analysis of NPF events observed in the Greenland Sea during the summertime as part of the Aerosol-Cloud Coupling And Climate Interactions in the Arctic (ACCACIA) project. While NPF events have been reported in the Arctic before, we were able, for the first time, to detect iodine in the growing particles using an Aerosol Mass Spectrometer (AMS) during a persistent event in the region of the coastal sea ice near Greenland. Given the potency of iodine as a nucleation precursor, the results imply that iodine was responsible for the initial NPF, a phenomenon that has been reported at lower latitudes and associated with molecular iodine emissions from coastal macroalgae. The initial source of iodine in this instance is not clear, but it was associated with air originating approximately 1 day previously over melting coastal sea ice. These results show that atmospheric models must consider iodine as a source of new particles in addition to established precursors such as sulphur compounds.

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Horizontally resolved structures of radar backscatter from polar mesospheric layers

Advances in Radio Science ◽

10.5194/ars-10-285-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

pp. 285-290 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

R. Latteck ◽

W. Singer ◽

M. Rapp ◽

T. Renkwitz ◽

G. Stober

Keyword(s):

Middle Atmosphere ◽

Beam Steering ◽

Lower Thermosphere ◽

The Arctic ◽

Phased Array Antenna ◽

Vhf Radar ◽

The North ◽

Expansion Stage ◽

Arctic Atmosphere ◽

High Flexibility

Abstract. The Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn, Germany (IAP) installed a new powerful VHF radar on the North-Norwegian island Andøya (69.30° N, 16.04° E) from 2009 to 2011. The new Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY) replaces the existing ALWIN radar which has been in continuous operation on Andøya for more than 10 yr. MAARSY is a monostatic radar operated at 53.5 MHz with an active phased array antenna consisting of 433 Yagi antennas each connected to its own transceiver with independent control of frequency, phase and power of the transmitted signal. This arrangement provides a very high flexibility of beam forming and beam steering. It allows classical beam swinging operation as well as experiments with simultaneous multiple beams and the use of modern interferometric applications for improved studies of the Arctic atmosphere from the troposphere up to the lower thermosphere with high spatial-temporal resolution. The installation of the antenna was completed in August 2009. An initial expansion stage of 196 transceiver modules was installed in spring 2010, upgraded to 343 transceiver modules in December 2010 and the installation of the radar was completed in spring 2011. Beside standard observations of tropospheric winds and Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes, multi-beam experiments using up to 91 beams quasi-simultaneously in the mesosphere have been carried out using the different expansion stages of the system during campaigns in 2010 and 2011. These results provided a first insight into the horizontal variability of Polar Mesosphere Summer and Winter Echoes in an area of about 80 km by 80 km with time resolutions between 3 and 9 min.

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Seasonal and interannual variations in the propagation of photosynthetically available radiation through the Arctic atmosphere

Elem Sci Anth ◽

10.1525/elementa.2020.00083 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

J. Laliberté ◽

S. Bélanger ◽

M. Babin

Keyword(s):

Large Data ◽

The Arctic ◽

Radiative Transfer Model ◽

Transfer Model ◽

The Sun ◽

Photosynthetically Available Radiation ◽

Data Set ◽

Melt Ponds ◽

Arctic Atmosphere ◽

Marine Productivity

The Arctic atmosphere–surface system transmits visible light from the Sun to the ocean, determining the annual cycle of light available to microalgae. This light is referred to as photosynthetically available radiation (PAR). A known consequence of Arctic warming is the change at the atmosphere–ocean interface (longer ice-free season, younger ice), implying an increase in the percentage of PAR being transferred to the water. However, much less is known about the recent changes in how much PAR is being transferred by the overlaying atmosphere. We studied the transfer of PAR through the atmosphere between May 21 and July 23 at a pan-Arctic scale for the period ranging from 2000 to 2016. By combining a large data set of atmospheric and surface conditions into a radiative transfer model, we computed the percentage of PAR transferred to the surface. We found that typical Arctic atmospheres convey between 60% and 70% of the incident PAR received from the Sun, meaning the Arctic atmosphere typically transmits more light than most sea ice surfaces, with the exception of mature melt ponds. We also found that the transfer of PAR through the atmosphere decreased at a rate of 2.3% per decade over the studied period, due to the increase in cloudiness and the weaker radiative interaction between the atmosphere and the surface. Further investigation is required to address how, in the warmer Arctic climate, this negative trend would compensate for the increased surface transmittance and its consequences on marine productivity.

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