No abstract

Daily PM10 aerosol samples were collected at the Gruvebadet observatory, Ny-Å lesund (Svalbard Islands), during the spring-summer 2014 Italian Arctic Campaign. A total of 136 samples were analysed for ion (inorganic anions and cations, selected organic anions) composition aiming to evaluate the seasonal pattern of sulfate, as a key component of the Arctic haze. Ionic balances indicated a strong sulfate seasonality with mean spring concentration about 1.5 times higher than that measured in summer. The spring and summer aerosol was almost neutral, indicating that ammonia was the major neutralizing agent for atmospheric acidic species. The linear regression between sulfate from potential acidic sources (non-sea salt sulfate and non-crustal sulfate) and ammonium indicated that the mean sulfate/ammonium ratio was intermediate between semi-(NH 4 HSO 4 ) and complete ((NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 ) neutralization. Using sea-salt sodium as sea-spray marker, non-sea-salt calcium as crustal marker and methanesulfonic acid as biogenic marker, a detailed source apportionment for sulfate was carried out. The anthropogenic input (calculated as the differences between total sulfate and the sum of sea-salt, crustal and biogenic contributes) was found to be the most relevant -016-0517-7 contribution to the sulfate budget in the Ny-Å lesund aerosol in summer and, especially, in spring. In this last season, crustal, sea-salt, biogenic and anthropogenic sources accounted for 3.3, 12.0, 11.5 and 74.8 %, respectively.

Abstract. 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 by means of a tethered balloon (up to 1200 m a.g.l.) 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. The collected experimental data allowed a classification of the vertical profiles into different typologies, which allowed us to describe the seasonal phenomenology of vertical aerosol properties in the Arctic. During spring, four main types of profiles were found and their behavior 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 as a function of size. During the summer season, the impact from shipping caused aerosol and BC pollution plumes to be constrained close to the ground, indicating that increasing shipping emissions in the Arctic could bring anthropogenic aerosol and BC in the Arctic summer, affecting the climate.

No abstract

In situ atmospheric aerosol measurements have been performed from a Manta unmanned aircraft system (UAS) using recently developed miniaturized aerosol instruments. Flights were conducted up to an altitude of 3000 m (AMSL) during spring 2015 in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway. We use these flights to demonstrate a practical set of miniaturized instruments that can be deployed onboard small UASs and can provide valuable information on ambient aerosol.Measured properties include size-resolved particle number concentrations, aerosol absorption coefficient, relative humidity, and direct sun intensity. From these parameters it is possible to derive a comprehensive set of aerosol optical properties: aerosol optical depth, single scattering albedo, and asymmetry parameter. The combination of instruments also allows us to determine the aerosol hygroscopicity.

A general review of spider burrows and history of their research in eighteenth to nineteenth centuries are provided on the basis of the literature, which is dispersed and almost forgotten by majority of ichnologists. Moreover, burrows of the wolf spider Trochosa hispanica Simon, 1870 from a mountain meadow in Albania are presented. They are composed of an almost straight through gently curved to slightly winding vertical shafts (8.2-17.2 mm in diameter) with a basal, oval chamber, which is 14.5-30.6 mm wide. Above the ground level, some of them show a low, agglutinated chimney a cone composed of soil granules. The burrows are 83-235 mm long. They are comparable with the trace fossil Macanopsis Macsotay, 1967. Other spider burrows can form a simple shaft, which may be ascribed to the ichnogenus Skolithos Haldeman, 1840, or a shaft with the side oblique branches, which is is similar to the ichnogenus Psilonichnus Fürsich, 1981. Many spider burrows show one or more chambers. Their outlet may be closed with a trapdoor or show a chimney sticking above the ground. They may show scratch traces running parallel to the burrow. The burrows are domiciles in which spiders spend a part of, or even the whole life. They protect spiders against harsh environmental conditions, foremost against too low or to high temperature, sheet floods, or predators. Moreover, they can be also a place for copulation, oviposition, parental care, placement of cocoons, or shedding the exuvia. Burrowing spider are more common in in warmer climatic zones, in open space, above the water ground level, and less common in flooded. So far, very few examples of fossil spider burrows are recognised, mostly in Cenozoic sediments, even if spiders are known since the Carboniferous.

No abstract

During the 2013 Arctic campaign, direct measurements and size-segregated samplings of atmospheric aerosol were carried out from March to September at the Gruvebadet observatory in Ny-Å lesund (78°56 0 N, 11°56 0 E; Svalbard Islands). Continuous size distribution measurements (104 size classes) were performed both in the nano-(TSI-SMPS system) and micro-metric (TSI-APS device) range with a resolution of 10 min. Aerosol sampling was carried out on daily basis (PM 10 fraction, 00:01-23:59 UTC) and with a 4-day resolution (four-stage cascade impactor). A back-trajectory analysis was performed for specific events to understand transport processes and possible source areas of aerosol reaching Ny-Å lesund. Aerosol samples were analyzed for ion composition (inorganic cations and anions, selected organic anions) by a threechromatograph system after extraction in ultra-sonic bath. Special attention was spent in identifying and interpreting the seasonal pattern of natural and anthropic chemical markers. Sea spray aerosol was evenly distributed along all the sampling period with maxima related to wind speed. Its size distribution peaks in 1.0-2.5 or 2.5-10 lm, depending on the transport conditions and distance from source areas. Anthropic sulfate dominates the spring aerosol load (Arctic Haze), both in acidic form (H 2 SO 4 ) and in partially or totally neutralized ammonium salts. Biogenic contributions, marked by methanesulfonic acid, are relatively relevant in late spring-early summer and are distributed in the finest aerosol fraction (\1.0 lm).