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Black carbon (BC) is a short-lived climate forcer affecting Arctic climate through multiple mechanisms, which vary substantially from winter to summer. Several models still fail in reproducing BC seasonal variability, limiting the ability to fully describe BC climate implications. This study aims at gaining insights into the mechanisms controlling BC transport from lower latitudes to the Arctic lower troposphere. Here we investigate the drivers controlling black carbon daily and seasonal variability in the Arctic using Generalized Additive Models (GAM). We analysed equivalent black carbon (eBC) concentration measured at the Gruvebadet Atmospheric Laboratory (GAL - Svalbard archipelago) from March 2018 to December 2021. The eBC showed a marked seasonality with higher values in winter and early spring. The eBC concentration averaged 22 ± 20 ng m-3 in the cold season (November - April) and 11 ± 11 ng m-3 in the warm season (May - October). The seasonal and interannual variability was mainly modulated by the efficiency of wet scavenging removal during transport towards the higher latitudes. Conversely, the short-term variability was controlled by boundary layer dynamics, local-scale, and synoptic-scale circulation patterns. During both the cold and the warm season, the transport of air masses from western Europe and northern Russia was an effective pathway for the transport of pollution to the European Arctic. Finally, in the warm season we observed a link between the intrusion of warm air from lower latitudes and the increase in eBC concentration. Changes in synoptic scale circulation system and precipitation rate in the northern hemisphere, linked to climate change, are expected to modify BC burden in the Arctic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Optical properties of surface aerosols at Dome C, Antarctica in 2007-2013 and their potential source areas are presented. Scattering coefficients (ssp) were calculated from measured particle number size distributions with a Mie code and from filter samples using mass scattering efficiencies. Absorption coefficients (sap) were determined with a 3-wavelength Particle Soot Absorption Photometer (PSAP) and corrected for scattering by using two different algorithms. The scattering coefficients were also compared with ssp measured with a nephelometer at the South Pole Station (SPO). The minimum sap was observed in the austral autumn and the maximum in the austral spring, similar to other Antarctic sites. The darkest aerosol, i.e., the lowest single scattering albedo ?o ˜ 0.91 was observed in September and October and the highest ?o ˜ 0.99 in February and March. The uncertainty of the absorption Ångström exponent aap is high. The lowest aap monthly medians were observed in March and the highest in August – October. The equivalent black carbon (eBC) mass concentrations were compared with eBC measured at three other Antarctic sites: the SPO and two coastal sites, Neumayer and Syowa. The maximum monthly median eBC concentrations are almost the same (~3 ± 1 ng m-3 ) at all these sites in October-November. This suggests that there is no significant difference in eBC between the coastal and plateau sites. The seasonal cycle of the eBC mass fraction exhibits a minimum f(eBC) ˜ 0.1% in February-March and a maximum ~4-5% in August-October. Source areas were calculated using 50-day FLEXPART footprints. The highest eBC concentrations and the lowest ?o were associated with air masses coming from South America, Australia and Africa. Vertical simulations that take BC particle removal processes into account show that there would be essentially no BC particles arriving at Dome C from north of latitude 10°S at altitudes < 1600 m. The main biomass-burning regions Africa, Australia and Brazil are more to the south and their smoke plumes have been observed at higher altitudes than that so they can get transported to Antarctica. The seasonal cycle of BC emissions from wildfires and agricultural burning and other fires in South America, Africa and Australia were calculated from data downloaded from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED). The maximum total emissions were in August-September but the peak of monthly average eBC concentrations is observed 2 – 3 months later in November not only at Dome C but also at SPO and the coastal stations. The air mass residence-time-weighted BC emissions from South America are approximately an order of magnitude larger than from Africa and Oceania suggesting that South American BC emissions are the largest contributors to eBC at Dome C. At Dome C the maximum and minimum scattering coefficients were observed in austral summer and winter, respectively. At SPO ssp was similar to that observed at Dome C in the austral summer but there was a large difference in winter, suggesting that in winter SPO is more influenced by sea spray emissions than Dome C. The seasonal cycles of ssp at Dome C and at the SPO were compared with the seasonal cycles of secondary and primary marine aerosol emissions. The ssp measured at SPO correlated much better with the sea-spray aerosol emission fluxes in the Southern Ocean than ssp at Dome C. The seasonal cycles of biogenic secondary aerosols were estimated from monthly average phytoplankton biomass concentrations obtained from the CALIOP satellite sensor data. The analysis suggests that a large fraction of the biogenic scattering aerosol observed at Dome C has been formed in the polar zone but it may take a month for the aerosol to be formed, grown and get transported from the sea level to Dome C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Measurements of total ozone column and effective cloud transmittance have been performed since 1995 at the three Norwegian sites Oslo/Kjeller, Andøya/Tromsø and in Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). These sites are a subset of 9 stations included in the Norwegian UV monitoring network, which uses GUV multi-filter instruments and is operated by DSA and NILU. The network includes unique data sets of high time-resolution measurements that can be used for a for broad range of atmospheric and biological exposure studies. Comparison of the 25-year records of GUV (global sky) total ozone measurements with Brewer direct sun measurements show that the GUVs provide valuable supplements to the more standardized ground-based instruments. The GUVs can fill in missing data and extend the measuring season at sites with reduced staff and/or characterized by harsh environmental conditions, such as Ny-Ålesund. Also, a harmonized GUV can easily be moved to more remote/unmanned locations and provide independent total ozone column datasets. The GUV in Ny-Ålesund captured well the Arctic ozone hole in March/April 2020, whereas the GUV in Oslo recorded a mini ozone hole in December 2019 with total ozone values below 200 DU. For all the three Norwegian stations there is a slight increase in total ozone from 1995 until today. Measurements of GUV effective cloud transmittance in Ny-Ålesund indicate that there has been a significant change in albedo during the past 25 years, most likely resulting from increased temperatures and Arctic ice melt in the area surrounding Svalbard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding aerosol size distributions is crucial to our ability to predict aerosol number concentrations. When of favourable size and composition, both long range transported particles as well as locally formed ones may serve as Cloud Condensation Nuclei (CCN); small changes may have a large impact on the low CCN concentrations currently characteristic of the Arctic environment. Here, we present a cluster analysis of particle size distributions (PSD, size range 8-500 nm) simultaneously collected from three high Arctic sites across Europe during a three year period (2013-2015). Two sites are located in the Svalbard archipelago: Zeppelin research station (474 m above ground), and the nearby Gruvebadet Observatory (about 2 km distance from Zepplelin, 67 m above ground). The third site (Villum Research Station - Station Nord, 30 m above ground) is 600 km to the west-northwest of Zeppelin, at the tip of north-eastern Greenland. An inter-site comparison exercise is carried out for the first time including the Gruvebadet site. K-means analysis provided eight specific aerosol categories, further combined into broad PSD with similar characteristics, namely: pristine low concentrations (12-14 %), new particle formation (16-32 %), Aitken (21-35 %) and accumulation (20-50 %). Confined for longer time periods by consolidated pack sea ice regions, the Greenland site shows PSD with lower ultrafine mode aerosol concentrations during summer, but higher accumulation mode aerosol concentrations during winter relative to the Svalbard sites. By association with chemical composition and Cloud Condensation Nuclei properties, further conclusions can be derived. Three distinct types of accumulation mode aerosol are observed during winter months, associated with sea spray (largest detectable sizes), Arctic haze (main mode at 150 nm) and aged accumulation mode (main mode at 220 nm) aerosols. In contrast, locally produced and most likely of marine biogenic origin particles exhibit size distributions dominated by the nucleation and Atiken mode aerosol during summer months. The obtained data and analysis set now the stage for future studies; including apportioning the relative contribution of primary and secondary aerosol formation processes to the aerosol size distribution in high Arctic, and elucidating anthropogenic aerosol dynamics, transport and removal processes across the Greenland sea. In a region of enormous importance for future climate on Earth, it is imperative to continue strengthening international scientific cooperation, in order to address important research questions on scales beyond singular station or measurement events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Air Ion Spectrometer (AIS) was deployed for the first time at the Concordia station at Dome C (75°06' S, 123°23' E; 3220 m above sea level), Antarctica during 22 December 2010-16 November 2011 for measuring the number size distribution of air ions. In this work, we present results obtained from this air ion dataset together with aerosol particle and meteorological data. The main processes that modify the number size distribution of air ions during the measurement period at this high-altitude site included new particle formation (NPF, observed on 85 days), wind-induced ion formation (observed on 36 days), and ion production and loss associated with cloud/fog formation (observed on 2 days). On days without observations of the foregoing processes or other anomalies, i.e. event-free days, the concentration of cluster ions (0.9-1.9 nm) exhibited a clear seasonality, with high concentrations in the warm months and low concentrations in the cold. Compared to event-free days, days with NPF were observed with higher cluster ion concentrations. A number of NPF events were observed with restricted growth below 10 nm, which were termed as suppressed NPF. There was another distinct feature, namely a simultaneous presence of two or three separate NPF and subsequent growth events, which were named as multi-mode NPF events. Growth rates (GRs) were determined using two methods: the appearance time method and the mode fitting method. The former method seemed to work better for the NPF events characterized by a fast particle GR, whereas the latter method usually worked better when the GR was slow. The formation rate of 2-nm positive ions (J2+) was calculated for all the NPF events for which a GR in the 2-3 nm size range could be determined. On average, J2+ was about 0.014 cm-3 s-1. The ion production in relation to cloud/fog formation in the size range of 8-42 nm seemed to be a unique feature at Dome C. These ions may, however, either be multiply charged particles but detected as singly charged in the AIS, or be produced inside the instrument, due to the cleavage of cloud condensation nuclei (CCN), possibly related to the instrumental behaviour under the extremely cold condition. For the wind-induced ion formation, our observation suggested that the ions likely from came more atmospheric nucleation of vapours released from the snow than from mechanical charging of shattered snow flakes and ice crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present results from a systematic study of vertical profiles of aerosol number size distribution and black carbon (BC) concentrations conducted in the Arctic, over Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). The campaign lasted 2 years (2011–2012) and resulted in 200 vertical profiles measured during the spring and summer seasons. In addition, chemical analysis of filter samples, aerosol size distribution and a full set of meteorological parameters were determined at ground to put on a firmer grounds the analysis of the vertical profiles. The collected experimental data allowed a classification of the vertical profiles into different typologies which allowed to describe a seasonal phenomenology of vertical aerosol properties in the Arctic. During spring, four main types of profiles were found and their behaviour was related to the main aerosol and atmospheric dynamics occurring at the measuring site. Background conditions generated homogenous profiles. Transport events caused an increase of aerosol concentration with altitude. High Arctic haze pollution trapped below thermal inversions promoted a decrease of aerosol concentration with altitude. Finally, ground-based plumes of locally formed secondary aerosol determined profiles with decreasing aerosol concentration located at different altitude in function of size. During the summer season, the impact from shipping caused aerosol and BC pollution plumes constrained close to the ground, indicating that increasing shipping emissions in the Arctic could bring anthropogenic aerosol and BC in the summer Arctic affecting the climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we present results from a systematic study of vertical profiles of aerosol number size distribution and black carbon (BC) concentrations conducted in the Arctic, over Ny-Ålesund (Svalbard). The campaign lasted 2 years (2011-2012) and resulted in 200 vertical profiles measured during the spring and summer seasons. In addition, chemical analysis of filter samples, aerosol size distribution and a full set of meteorological parameters were determined at ground to put on a firmer grounds the analysis of the vertical profiles. The collected experimental data allowed a classification of the vertical profiles into different typologies which allowed to describe a seasonal phenomenology of vertical aerosol properties in the Arctic. During spring, four main types of profiles were found and their behaviour was related to the main aerosol and atmospheric dynamics occurring at the measuring site. Background conditions generated homogenous profiles. Transport events caused an increase of aerosol concentration with altitude. High Arctic haze pollution trapped below thermal inversions promoted a decrease of aerosol concentration with altitude. Finally, ground-based plumes of locally formed secondary aerosol determined profiles with decreasing aerosol concentration located at different altitude in function of size. During the summer season, the impact from shipping caused aerosol and BC pollution plumes constrained close to the ground, indicating that increasing shipping emissions in the Arctic could bring anthropogenic aerosol and BC in the summer Arctic affecting the climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]