New particle formation events observed at the King Sejong Station, Antarctic Peninsula – Part 2: Link with the oceanic biological activities

Abstract. Marine biota is an important source of atmospheric aerosol particles in the remote marine atmosphere. However, the relationship between new particle formation and marine biota is poorly quantified. Long-term observations (from 2009 to 2016) of the physical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles measured at the Antarctic Peninsula (King Sejong Station; 62.2∘ S, 58.8∘ W) and satellite-derived estimates of the biological characteristics were analyzed to identify the link between new particle formation and marine biota. New particle formation events in the Antarctic atmosphere showed distinct seasonal variations, with the highest values occurring when the air mass originated from the ocean domain during the productive austral summer (December, January and February). Interestingly, new particle formation events were more frequent in the air masses that originated from the Bellingshausen Sea than in those that originated from the Weddell Sea. The monthly mean number concentration of nanoparticles (2.5–10 nm in diameter) was >2-fold higher when the air masses passed over the Bellingshausen Sea than the Weddell Sea, whereas the biomass of phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea was more than ∼70 % higher than that of the Bellingshausen Sea during the austral summer period. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is of marine origin and its oxidative products are known to be one of the major components in the formation of new particles. Both satellite-derived estimates of the biological characteristics (dimethylsulfoniopropionate, DMSP; precursor of DMS) and phytoplankton taxonomic composition and in situ methanesulfonic acid (84 daily measurements during the summer period in 2013 and 2014) analysis revealed that DMS(P)-rich phytoplankton were more dominant in the Bellingshausen Sea than in the Weddell Sea. Furthermore, the number concentration of nanoparticles was positively correlated with the biomass of phytoplankton during the period when DMS(P)-rich phytoplankton predominate. These results indicate that oceanic DMS emissions could play a key role in the formation of new particles; moreover, the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton could affect the formation of new particles in the Antarctic Ocean.

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New particle formation events observed at the King Sejong Station, Antarctic Peninsula – Part 2: Link with the oceanic biological activities

10.5194/acp-2018-1181 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Eunho Jang ◽

Ki-Tae Park ◽

Young Jun Yoon ◽

Tae-Wook Kim ◽

Sang-Bum Hong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Austral Summer ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Taxonomic Composition ◽

Number Concentration ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Marine Biota ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Air Masses ◽

Bellingshausen Sea ◽

The Antarctic

Abstract. Marine biota is an important source of atmospheric aerosols in the remote marine atmosphere. Long-term observations (from 2009 to 2016) of the physical properties of atmospheric aerosol particles measured at the Antarctic Peninsula (King Sejong Station; 62.2° S, 58.8° W) and satellite-derived estimates of the biological characteristics were analyzed to identify the link between new particle formation and marine biota. New particle formation events in the Antarctic atmosphere showed distinct seasonal variations, with the highest values occurring during austral summer (December, January and February). Interestingly, new particle formation events were more frequent in the air masses that originated from the Bellingshausen Sea than in those that originated from the Weddell Sea. The monthly mean number concentration of nanoparticles (2.5–10 nm in diameter) was > 2-fold when the air masses passed over the Bellingshausen Sea than the Weddell Sea, whereas the biomass of phytoplankton in the Weddell Sea was more than ~ 70 % higher than that of the Bellingshausen Sea during the austral summer period. Dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is of marine origin and its oxidative products are known to be one of the major components in the formation of new particles. Both satellite-derived estimates of the biological characteristics (dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP; precursor of DMS) and phytoplankton taxonomic composition) and in situ methanesulfonic acid (MSA; oxidation product of DMS) analysis revealed that DMS(P)-rich phytoplankton were more dominant in the Bellingshausen Sea than in the Weddell Sea. Furthermore, the number concentration of nanoparticles was positively correlated with the biomass of phytoplankton during the period when DMS(P)-rich phytoplankton predominate. These results indicate that oceanic DMS emissions could play a key role in the formation of new particles; moreover, the taxonomic composition of phytoplankton could affect the formation of secondary organic aerosols in the Antarctic Ocean.

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Albedo of the ice covered Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas

The Cryosphere ◽

10.5194/tc-6-479-2012 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 479-491 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

A. I. Weiss ◽

J. C. King ◽

T. A. Lachlan-Cope ◽

R. S. Ladkin

Keyword(s):

Sea Ice ◽

Surface Albedo ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Open Water ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

First Year ◽

Pack Ice ◽

Bellingshausen Sea ◽

The Mean ◽

The Antarctic

Abstract. This study investigates the surface albedo of the sea ice areas adjacent to the Antarctic Peninsula during the austral summer. Aircraft measurements of the surface albedo, which were conducted in the sea ice areas of the Weddell and Bellingshausen Seas show significant differences between these two regions. The averaged surface albedo varied between 0.13 and 0.81. The ice cover of the Bellingshausen Sea consisted mainly of first year ice and the sea surface showed an averaged sea ice albedo of αi = 0.64 ± 0.2 (± standard deviation). The mean sea ice albedo of the pack ice area in the western Weddell Sea was αi = 0.75 ± 0.05. In the southern Weddell Sea, where new, young sea ice prevailed, a mean albedo value of αi = 0.38 ± 0.08 was observed. Relatively warm open water and thin, newly formed ice had the lowest albedo values, whereas relatively cold and snow covered pack ice had the highest albedo values. All sea ice areas consisted of a mixture of a large range of different sea ice types. An investigation of commonly used parameterizations of albedo as a function of surface temperature in the Weddell and Bellingshausen Sea ice areas showed that the albedo parameterizations do not work well for areas with new, young ice.

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Cryptophyte and Photosynthetic Picoeukaryote Abundances in the Bransfield Strait during Austral Summer

Water ◽

10.3390/w14020185 ◽

2022 ◽

Vol 14 (2) ◽

pp. 185

Author(s):

Vladimir Mukhanov ◽

Evgeny Sakhon ◽

Alexander Polukhin ◽

Vladimir Artemiev ◽

Eugene Morozov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chemical Properties ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Significant Shift ◽

Bransfield Strait ◽

Bellingshausen Sea ◽

Diverse Community ◽

Physical And Chemical ◽

The Antarctic ◽

And Chemical Properties

A remarkable shift in the species composition and size distribution of the phytoplankton community have been observed in coastal waters along the Antarctic Peninsula over the last three decades. Smaller photoautotrophs such as cryptophytes are becoming more abundant and important for the regional ecosystems. In this study, flow cytometry was used to quantify the smallest phytoplankton in the central Bransfield Strait and explore their distribution across the strait in relation to physical and chemical properties of the two major water masses: the warmer and less saline Transitional Zonal Water with Bellingshausen Sea influence (TBW), and the cold and salty Transitional Zonal Water with Weddell Sea influence (TWW). Pico- and nano-phytoplankton clusters were distinguished and enumerated in the cytograms: photosynthetic picoeukaryotes, cryptophytes (about 9 µm in size), and smaller (3 µm) nanophytoplankton. It was shown that nanophytoplankton developed higher abundances and biomasses in the warmer and less saline TBW. This biotope was characterized by a more diverse community with a pronounced dominance of Cryptophyta in terms of biomass. The results support the hypothesis that increasing melt-water input can potentially support spatial and temporal extent of cryptophytes. The replacement of large diatoms with small cryptophytes leads to a significant shift in trophic processes in favor of the consumers such as salps, which able to graze on smaller prey.

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New particle formation events observed at King Sejong Station, Antarctic Peninsula – Part 1: Physical characteristics and contribution to cloud condensation nuclei

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-19-7583-2019 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 19 (11) ◽

pp. 7583-7594 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jaeseok Kim ◽

Young Jun Yoon ◽

Yeontae Gim ◽

Jin Hee Choi ◽

Hyo Jin Kang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽

Aerosol Particles ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Physical Characteristics ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Condensation Nuclei ◽

Source Rate ◽

The Antarctic

Abstract. The physical characteristics of aerosol particles during particle bursts observed at King Sejong Station in the Antarctic Peninsula from March 2009 to December 2016 were analyzed. This study focuses on the seasonal variation in parameters related to particle formation such as the occurrence, formation rate (FR) and growth rate (GR), condensation sink (CS) and source rate of condensable vapor. The number concentrations during new particle formation (NPF) events varied from 1707 to 83 120 cm−3, with an average of 20 649 ± 9290 cm−3, and the duration of the NPF events ranged from 0.6 to 14.4 h, with a mean of 4.6±1.5 h. The NPF event dominantly occurred during austral summer period (∼72 %). The measured mean values of FR and GR of the aerosol particles were 2.79±1.05 cm−3 s−1 and 0.68±0.27 nm h−1, respectively, showing enhanced rates in the summer season. The mean value of FR at King Sejong Station was higher than that at other sites in Antarctica, at 0.002–0.3 cm−3 s−1, while those of growth rates were relatively similar to the results observed by previous studies, at 0.4–4.3 nm h−1. The derived average values of CS and source rate of condensable vapor were (6.04±2.74)×10-3 s−1 and (5.19±3.51)×104 cm−3 s−1, respectively. The contribution of particle formation to cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentration was also investigated. The CCN concentration during the NPF period increased by approximately 11 % compared with the background concentration. In addition, the effects of the origin and pathway of air masses on the characteristics of aerosol particles during a NPF event were determined. The FRs were similar regardless of the origin and pathway, whereas the GRs of particles originating from the Antarctic Peninsula and the Bellingshausen Sea, at 0.77±0.25 and 0.76±0.30 nm h−1, respectively, were higher than those of particles originating from the Weddell Sea (0.41±0.15 nm h−1).

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Observation of aerosol size distribution and new particle formation under different air masses arriving at the northwesternmost South Korean island in the Yellow Sea

Atmospheric Research ◽

10.1016/j.atmosres.2021.105537 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 255 ◽

pp. 105537

Author(s):

Jong-Uk Park ◽

Hyun-Jae Kim ◽

Jinsoo Choi ◽

Jin-Soo Park ◽

Junghwa Heo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Size Distribution ◽

Yellow Sea ◽

Particle Formation ◽

The Yellow Sea ◽

Aerosol Size Distribution ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Air Masses ◽

South Korean

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Open ocean and coastal new particle formation from sulfuric acid and amines around the Antarctic Peninsula

Nature Geoscience ◽

10.1038/s41561-021-00751-y ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

James Brean ◽

Manuel Dall’Osto ◽

Rafel Simó ◽

Zongbo Shi ◽

David C. S. Beddows ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sulfuric Acid ◽

Antarctic Peninsula ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Open Ocean ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

The Antarctic

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CCN measurements at the Princess Elisabeth Antarctica Research Station during three austral summers

10.5194/acp-2018-245 ◽

2018 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Paul Herenz ◽

Heike Wex ◽

Alexander Mangold ◽

Quentin Laffineur ◽

Irina V. Gorodestkaya ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Southern Ocean ◽

Aerosol Particle ◽

Aerosol Particles ◽

Source Region ◽

Austral Summer ◽

Research Station ◽

Air Masses ◽

Potential Source ◽

The Antarctic ◽

Aitken Mode

Abstract. For three austral summer seasons (2013–2016, each from December to February) aerosol particles arriving at the Belgian Antarctic research station Princess Elisabeth (PE), in Dronning Maud Land in East Antarctica were characterized in terms of number concentrations of total aerosol particles (NCN) and cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN), the particle number size distribution (PNSD), the aerosol particle hygroscopicity and the influence of the air mass origin on NCN and NCCN. In general NCN was found to range from 40 to 6700 cm−3 with a median of 333 cm−3, while NCCN was found to cover a range between less than 10 and 1300 cm−3 for supersaturations (SS) between 0.1 and 0.7 %. It is shown that the aerosol is Aitken mode dominated and is characterized by a significant amount of freshly, secondarily formed aerosol particles, with 94 % and 36 % of the aerosol particles are smaller than 90 nm and &approx; 35 nm, respectively. Measurements of the basic meteorological parameters as well as the history of the air masses arriving at the measurement station indicate that the station is influenced by both, continental air masses originating from the Antarctic inland ice sheet (continental events – CE) and marine air masses originating from the Southern Ocean (marine events – ME). CEs came along with rather constant NCN and NCCN values, which we denote to be Antarctic continental background concentrations. MEs however cause large fluctuations in NCN and NCCN caused by scavenging due to precipitation or new particle formation based on marine precursors. The application of Hysplit back trajectories in form of the potential source contribution function (PSCF) analysis indicate, that the region of the Southern Ocean is a potential source of Aitken mode particles. For particles larger than &approx; 110 nm (CCN measured at SS of 0.1 %) the Antarctic ice shelf regions were found to be a potential source region, most likely due to the emission of sea salt aerosol particles, released from snow particles from surface snow layers by sublimation, e.g., during periods of high wind speed, leading to drifting or blowing snow. On the basis of the PNSDs and NCCN, the critical diameter for cloud droplet activation and the aerosol particle hygroscopicity parameter κ were determined to be 110 nm and 1, respectively, for a SS of 0.1 %. The region of the Antarctic inland plateau however was not found to feature a significant source region for CN and CCN measured at the PE station in austral summer.

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Hygroscopic properties and cloud condensation nuclei activity of atmospheric aerosols under the influences of Asian continental outflow and new particle formation at a coastal site in eastern Asia

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics ◽

10.5194/acp-20-5911-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (10) ◽

pp. 5911-5922 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hing Cho Cheung ◽

Charles Chung-Kuang Chou ◽

Celine Siu Lan Lee ◽

Wei-Chen Kuo ◽

Shuenn-Chin Chang

Keyword(s):

Chemical Composition ◽

Cloud Condensation Nuclei ◽

Particle Formation ◽

Number Concentration ◽

Pollution Sources ◽

New Particle Formation ◽

Condensation Nuclei ◽

Air Masses ◽

Hygroscopic Properties ◽

Aerosol Hygroscopicity

Abstract. The chemical composition of fine particulate matter (PM2.5), the size distribution and number concentration of aerosol particles (NCN), and the number concentration of cloud condensation nuclei (NCCN) were measured at the northern tip of Taiwan during an intensive observation experiment from April 2017 to March 2018. The parameters of aerosol hygroscopicity (i.e., activation ratio, activation diameter and kappa of CCN) were retrieved from the measurements. Significant variations were found in the hygroscopicity of aerosols (kappa – κ – of 0.18–0.56, for water vapor supersaturation – SS – of 0.12 %–0.80 %), which were subject to various pollution sources, including aged air pollutants originating in eastern and northern China and transported by the Asian continental outflows and fresh particles emitted from local sources and distributed by land–sea breeze circulations as well as produced by processes of new particle formation (NPF). Cluster analysis was applied to the back trajectories of air masses to investigate their respective source regions. The results showed that aerosols associated with Asian continental outflows were characterized by lower NCN and NCCN values and by higher kappa values of CCN, whereas higher NCN and NCCN values with lower kappa values of CCN were observed in the aerosols associated with local air masses. Besides, it was revealed that the kappa value of CCN exhibited a decrease during the early stage of an event of new particle formation, which turned to an increasing trend over the later period. The distinct features in the hygroscopicity of aerosols were found to be consistent with the characteristics in the chemical composition of PM2.5. This study has depicted a clear seasonal characteristic of hygroscopicity and CCN activity under the influence of a complex mixture of pollutants from different regional and/or local pollution sources. Nevertheless, the mixing state and chemical composition of the aerosols critically influence the aerosol hygroscopicity, and further investigations are necessary to elucidate the atmospheric processing involved in the CCN activation in coastal areas.

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The Weddell Sea region: an important precipitation channel to the interior of the Antarctic ice sheet as revealed by glaciochemical investigation of surface snow along the longest trans-Antarctic route

Annals of Glaciology ◽

10.3189/172756499781821012 ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 29 ◽

pp. 55-60 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Qin Dahe ◽

Paul A. Mayewski ◽

Ren Jiawen ◽

Xiao Cunde ◽

Sun Junying

Keyword(s):

Ice Sheet ◽

Weddell Sea ◽

Sea Salt ◽

East Antarctica ◽

Antarctic Ice Sheet ◽

Air Masses ◽

Antarctic Plateau ◽

Salt Ions ◽

Surface Snow ◽

The Antarctic

AbstractGlaciochemical analysis of surface snow samples, collected along a profile crossing the Antarctic ice sheet from the Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctic Peninsula, via the Antarctic Plateau through South Pole, Vostok and Komsomolskaya to Mirny station (at the east margin of East Antarctica), shows that the Weddell Sea region is an important channel for air masses to the high plateau of the Antarctic ice sheet (>2000 m a.s.l.). This opinion is supported by the following. (1) The fluxes of sea-salt ions such as Na+, Mg2 + and CF display a decreasing trend from the west to the east of interior Antarctica. In |eneral, as sea-salt aerosols are injected into the atmosphere over the Antarctic ice sheet from the Weddell Sea, large aerosols tend to decrease. For the inland plateau, few large particles of sea-salt aerosol reach the area, and the sea-salt concentration levels are low (2) The high altitude of the East Antarctic plateau, as well as the polar cold high-pressure system, obstruct the intrusive air masses mainly from the South Indian Ocean sector. (3) For the coastal regions of the East Antarctic ice sheet, the elevation rises to 2000 m over a distance from several to several tens of km. High concentrations of sea salt exist in snow in East Antarctica but are limited to a narrow coastal zone. (4) Fluxes of calcium and non-sea-salt sulfate in snow from the interior plateau do not display an eastward-decreasing trend. Since calcium is mainly derived from crustal sources, and nssSO42- is a secondary aerosol, this again confirms that the eastward-declining tendency of sea-salt ions indicates the transfer direction of precipitation vapor.

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